What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

I'm in the twilights of my years and no longer part of "Generation Twilight", so initially I wasn't so hot on a vampire mockumentary. The idea seemed good enough for maybe 30 minutes of comedy, and not for a full feature movie. But What We Do In The Shadows is brilliantly done and really buckets of fun. It rides on the great actors, but also on a wonderful script and an ingenious mix of wobbly "porno camera" and perfectly placed special effects. The movie addresses various aspects of being a vampire in New Zealand today:

* sunlight leaking into your habitat

* vampire wannabes hassling you

* virgins can be incredibly hard to get by

* Wellington itself feels so dead you constantly have to remind yourself that you're actually undead

* discrimination is rife against immigrants (especially blood-sucking vampires from Transsylvania like yourself)

* same goes doubly for Nazi vampires

* feminist "familiars" (servants) constantly bickering while they're ironing your frills

* werewolves and vampire hunters constantly riding your ass

* mortal friends and chums frequently dieing off

* flatmates refuse to do bloody dishes

So you don't have to be part and parcel of the vampire hype to dig this flick. It's simply unusually great comedy.

Fmovies: The three lead vampires in this film were absolutely fantastic, especially Jonathon Brugh (His solo dance routine was one of the most awkwardly hilarious things I have ever seen!). I loved all three of the main characters and their interactions with Stu. I was laughing the whole way through this film which is continuously funny.

I actually found some of the scenes to be quite frightening, especially when the vampires are chasing one of their victims through their home! This scene was one of my favourites.

I don't think it needed to be a mockumentary though. Sometimes the shots were purposefully too long which felt unnecessary and just slowed the pace of the film. Some of the jolty, hand-held camera shots could be a bit annoying too. Otherwise, I loved it and definitely recommend it! I hope it claims top spot for its opening weekend in NZ.

Let me start with: I don't like "reality TV" at all. And there is a reason you have to put "", because it is anything but real. And while this isn't real either (obviously), it is so much more fun than anything and feels more like what good reality TV could be ... if there where Vampires that is.

The basics are clear. As is the fourth wall that is practically not existent, because we are in the middle of it all. Does it always make sense? Of course not, that is the nature of shows like that. How did the camera get in there beforehand? But at least the camera (or the guy holding it) get recognized a lot. The group of people behind this are popular, maybe not worldwide, before this movie came out, but at least "at home". And it shows, because of the chemistry they have. This is very well written and acted. Comedy timing is essential and in this case awesome.

What We Do in the Shadows fmovies. I laughed and laughed and laughed.

This is not a Vampire Movie, this is a mockumentary about some flatmates who happen to be vampires, just, y'know, incidentally.

It is laugh-out-loud (LOL, young people) funny for extended periods. There is a lot of under-stated humour, but it has the feel of Peter Jackson's Bad Taste, made on weekends over an extended period - "what can we do in this scene to make it even funnier?"

Being from NZ, I feel unsure whether I am on the the inside of an in-joke (the police officers, for example) but plenty of people seemed to get the Conchords, so who knows, really.

If you "get" The Office and you "get" The Conchords, you'll love it.

For true.

Bro.

I wasn't sure about this one, I cannot remember anything about Flight of the Concords (sp?) and comedy is a sticky thing for me. I find that I laugh out loud more often during dramas, horror, thrillers etc than comedies. I thought GRAND BUDAPEST, ZERO THEOREM and THE DOUBLE were hilarious. But this surprised me... a lot.

Blade, Twilight, Werewolves, Zombies, they all make an appearance. The plot is actually quite funny in itself... it isn't meaty by any means, but it is also a joke: as the documentary team follows three vampires 'flatting' together: one who is very... camp, shall we say, another who is self-described as being hot... because he is a vampire, of course, and another who seems like a satirical-take on your stereotypical long-hair/metal-head. Oh, and an 8,000 year old friend who doesn't seem to possess the skills of communication.

They begin to talk the crew through how they try to socialise, which leads to some amusing scenes of vampires trying to have a nightlife. Then they talk the crew through how they capture/seduce people in order to drink their blood. More funny scenes follow, leading to one of these victims escaping from the flat. Of course he doesn't die, he becomes the new vamp in the gang. But.. He's young, he's stupid, he is not even over a hundred years old! When he introduces his human friend to his vampire friends, you just know its not gonna go well. I won't go any further, but from here the plot delves the movie into comedic chaos. I was missing jokes because I was laughing at the ones previous! There are no immature fart jokes here, there aren't any jokes that make you cringe in their lame delivery.... Even though they are throwing a lot of crud at the wall, most of it sticks. It is also filled with comedic variety. Physical humour, plain old slapstick, facial expressions/body language (especially that camp vampire who always leads the doco crew around, his facial expressions and eye-movements when following the cameras cracked me up every time), and obviously sarcasm and satire are underlying themes.

This thing felt that it was running on all cylinders for the entire movie. It also manages to feel effortless; there was no sense of them trying too hard for laughs - the mockumentary setting helped the film in this sense, despite the plot being thin. But, the wide range of comedy used, from slapstick to satire and everything in between, is probably the biggest reason why this movie does not feel forced.

I walked out of this movie in pain from laughter. After only 87 minutes! The entire place was in stitches for the entire movie, and I saw people from all ages as I walked out, all with giant grins, talking about this or that scene. I'm chuckling as I am writing this as its stimulating my memory and I am seeing it in my head.

www.epilepticmoondancer.net

you'll probably love this- it follows the mockumentary format excellently but ups the ante because its following a cast of actual (in the worldof the movie) vampires. (oh and some werewolves make a hilarious cameo.). But within the conceit of being a mockumentary its played totally straight.

The few special effects scenes are really well done for the budget and all the more powerful because they knew to do it sparingly.