New Import Flix: What We Do In The Shadows

Despite what one Film says, Vampires don't Suck.  Today's Film is What We Do In The Shadows, a 2014 Horror Comedy from New Zealand.  The Film is a mix of Dracula, The Odd Couple and This is Spinal Tap.  Interesting combination, huh?  The basic Premise is that a Documentary Crew was given the right to shoot a quartet of Vampires in their 'flat' as they prepare for the yearly gathering known as The Masquerade.  You can't sue me, White Wolf!  With one half of The Flight of the Conchords behind this (Jermaine Clement), you know that this is going to be quirky.  The question at hand is this: is it good?  To find out (with very limited SPOILERS), read on...

A Documentary Team is allowed to follow some lovely folks around for a few months before they attend a big event.  Unfortunately, they are Vampires.

 The group of Vampires are trying to adjust to life in the modern world, but are still pretty cool about the idea that they have to kill humans and drink their blood for sustenance.

When they get a new housemate (no SPOILERs), things in the house get more complicated as he doesn't quite fit in.

There is also an issue with some local Werewolves (led by At Midnight regular Rhys Darby).

The Documentary style allows them to play with the focus.  For example, one of the group has a Familiar/Slave who sets up people to be killed and cleans up after them.

All of this builds towards the Masquerade, but there's no guarantee that they will all make it there (and back) in one piece.  To find out more, watch the Film.

Despite my low expectations, this one was quite good.  Don't get me wrong- I don't hate Jermaine Clement or anything.  I was just unsure of what to expect as far as the tone, so I didn't get too hyped up.  The worst kind of Bad Movies are Bad Comedies, so I didn't want one of those.  Thankfully, I got nothing of the sort.  The movie isn't always laugh-out-loud funny (at least for me), but it is consistently-entertaining, clever and engaging.  The Film plays with some Vampire Tropes well- like having them sketch each other in their outfits in lieu of mirrors- and turns some other Tropes into Vampire ones- like making being a Familiar like being in 'the friend zone.'  In that respect, it does quite well.  One thing I will note is that they do a couple of time jumps and change the Story in big ways when they do that.  It is a little bit of a cheat, but not an unforgivable one.  What Documentary Crew would just cut out 6 Months of Footage though, to be fair.  In spite of minor gripes, the Film is fun, fresh (even if it is just an expansion of their 2006 Short Film) and different.  I wasn't expecting it to be this good.  To put things in perspective, imagine how much more pleasant waking up your spouse/roommate is in comparison to what Viago has to do...

Next up, I return to my roots- trashy Horror Films.  With babes and bugs, this one is sure to be interesting.  Stay tuned...