Two thirds of Flight of the Conchords serve up one of the most refreshing vampire films in years…
Written, directed and starring Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi,What We Do In The Shadows is a hilarious and original concept that has no business maintaining the standard that it does for nearly 90 minutes. A faux documentary about a collection of hapless vampires is potentially a one note joke but in the hands of Clement and Waititi it becomes laugh out loud funny and extremely clever whilst being more of a homage to the vampire genre rather than just a straight send up.
The film looks great as well, mixing a vintage feel and props with present day New Zealand and the soundtrack whilst unobtrusive is both perfect and incredibly strong. All these factors together make for a lovingly made film that ranks as one of the funniest of 2014. Jemaine Clement in particular has a Midas touch and the scenes he shares with Rhys Darby (Murray for Flight of the Conchords fans) are predictably a joy. Darby playing the alpha male in a group of werewolves is worth the admission fee alone.
Crucially the special effects are minimalist but convincing so even a relatively small budget does nothing to derail the films authentic vampire charm. As an antidote to the endless series of po-faced vampire TV shows and films, What We Do In The Shadows is pretty much perfect.