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The odd housemates of vampire-comedy What We Do in the Shadow |
Director: Jermaine Clement, Taika Waititi
Cast: Taika Waititi (Viago), Jermaine Clement (Vladislav),
Jonathan Brugh (Deacon), Ben Fransham (Petyr), Jackie Van Beek (Jackie), Cori
Gonzalez-Macuer (Nick), Stu Rutherford (Stu), Rhys Darby (Anton)
The life of a vampire – in between all the blood, what do
you actually do? How do you fill the (never ending) time of immortality? Or,
more mundanely, how do you find friends to live with? Jermaine Clement and
Taika Watiti’s excellent flat-share comedy is a free-wheeling but very sweet
vampire and buddy-movie comedy, set in a vampire flat share. It’s Being Human with more jokes, and more
heart.
Opening their doors to a fly-on-the-wall mockumentary crew
(whom they have taken a solemn vow not to eat), we enter the lives of four
vampire friends who live in Wellington. Viagro (Taika Waititi) is a 379-year
old dandy: prissy, with a hatred of clutter. Vladislav is a 862-year old former
Vlad-the-Impaler style tyrant, still not completely over torturing people in
the basement (though definitely ashamed of this vice). Deacon (Jonathan Brugh)
is a youthful 183, the baby of the group, a self-absorbed rock-n-roll Byronite
type. Petyr is 8,000 years old, and is a Nosferatu-style monster who never
comes out of the basement. Their lives are turned upside down when Deacon
accidentally turns boorish Nick (Cori Gonzalez-Macuer) – though this also
introduces them to Stu (Stu Rutherford), a genial and immensely likeable chap
whom they all take a shine to.
What We Do in the
Shadows is a very funny spoof of nearly every vampire cliché you can
imagine. Each vampire takes on the style and characteristics of a different
sub-school of vampire dramas. It rolls along with a genial looseness, creating
heart-warmingly endearing characters – despite the fact that the film doesn’t
stint on watching our heroes brutally spill blood and guts as they eat various
guests. Of course things like this are juxtaposed with brilliant belly laughs –
something about vampires bickering about the washing up and the cleaning rota
is just inherently hilarious. Watching them dress up for a night out (unable to
see their own reflections) is a gem sequence.
The film shows each of its characters are frozen in time,
sort of man-children, stuck in their own time periods and totally adrift in the
modern world. It’s part of what makes them endearing. Throw in a couple of
sweet plotlines, most notably Viagro’s romantic longing for the woman he moved
to New Zealand for almost 60 years ago (and who now resides in a care home),
and you’ve got a winner. The group’s interaction with Stu is wonderfully sweet
– despite their initial irritance with (and hunger for) the ruddy-faced human
in their midst, they quickly all bond with his straightforward calmness and his
understanding of everything from the internet to working the TV.
It’s packed with plenty of hilariously inventive gags around
vampire-lore. Our heroes spend every night prowling nightclubs – hampered by
the fact that before they can enter anywhere, they need to be invited in (we
see several snapshots of them attempting to get invitations from impassive
bouncers). In confrontations they hiss and fly at each other in a way that’s
just this side of silly. Viagro constantly bemoans the mess his housemates make
when they eat their victims, without clearing up (he futilely attempts to get
them to put towels down to protect the sofa). But there are also endearing
spins – the vampires crowd around the computer to watch a youtube video of a
rising sun, something they’ve obviously not seen for centuries.
The later introduction of a rival werewolf pack adds further
comedy opportunities, with the werewolves headed up by an uptight control freak
who enforces rules on everything from physical conduct to the use of foul
language. It’s just one of many expert beats in a superb comedy.
What We Do in the
Shadows is acted with such lightness and openness, it’s very easy to not
notice that it’s brilliantly handled. In the hands of other groups of
comedians, this could have been smug, self-satisfied and more about the actors
amusing themselves than the audience. Instead this is a gleeful series of
scenes, the movie like a big hilarious party we’ve been invited to join. As
well as being sharply written and directed, the acting is fantastic.
It’s an unusual, dark comedy – but it’s got a lot of heart
and a lot of brains. It’s a comedic joy, that would certainly reward constant
viewing – each scene contains comic highlights. Highly recommended!
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