Review: What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

I’ve seen the movie What We Do in the Shadows pop up on quite a few of the blogs I read over the course of Halloween this year and last year, but for some reason my mind kept telling me that it was a Tim Burton movie with Johnny Depp in (I recently realised I was thinking about Dark Shadows) and so after looking up what it was actually all about, I had no idea what to expect, but based on the reviews I was kind of kicking myself for not watching it sooner.

What We Do in the Shadows (2014) is a documentary-style comedy based on a group of vampires, Viago (Taika Waititi), Vladislav (Jemaine Clement) and Deacon (Jonny Brugh) as they struggle through the mundane parts of living in the present times, like paying the rent, doing their fair share of flat chores, and getting dressed up for nightclubs, which is especially difficult when none of them have a reflection!

It’s one of the craziest scenarios I’ve ever seen, but it just works so well. Problems arise for the vampire friends throughout the movie, and they deal with them as they go, and other than the looming masquerade ball, that’s all there is to it really. With such a loose plot, I wondered how well the story would flow, but there were enough laughs from start to finish to keep me entertained. 

Things get difficult for the group when they are joined by very recently-turned vampire Nick (Cori Gonzalez-Macuer) who seems determined to tell anyone who will listen that he’s a vampire. Nick also introduces the group to technological advances such as Google, leading to one of my favourite moments:

Stu: [Showing the vampires Google] Anything you want to find you type it in.

Viago: I lost a really nice silk scarf in about 1912.

Deacon: Yes, now Google it.

Speaking of great quotes from this movie though:

Deacon: I think we drink virgin blood because it sounds cool.

Vladislav: I think of it like this. If you are going to eat a sandwich, you would just enjoy it more if you knew no one had f****d it.

I loved that this movie wasn’t constrained to just vampires. The inclusion of the werewolf pack was brilliant, and the scenes of the two groups arguing were so funny to watch. Honestly, this whole movie is hilarious, so you need to watch it like, now.

Since telling my fiance about What We Do in the Shadows, he really wants to see it now, so I’m going to have to watch it again soon! Oh, the hardships I deal with...ha.