Review of What We Do in the Shadows (2014) by Kevin P — 17 Sep 2018

Strengths: Anyone who has seen and enjoyed Taika Waititi's (Viago) work will love this. He co-directs, co-writes, and co-stars and is great in all three roles. Seriously, he's just an all-around hilarious dude. The premise of the film is truly cool. Vampires are a seriously overdone concept by this point, so finding a way to make it unique is commendable. Going the comedic mockumentary route was an unexpected stroke of genius. It led to plenty of laughs. I appreciated how different each character was. They varied in age, from 8,000 years old to fresh newborn vampire and all had some quirks that made them special. I loved how they bonded with the human, Stu (Stu Rutherford). Jermaine Clement (Vladislav), Jonathan Brugh (Deacon), Ben Fransham (Petyr), and everyone else involved are all funny. They also do well to throw nods to other vampire films, from the stuff like Blade and Lost Boys down to Twilight. It's clear the filmmakers had a blast playing with the vampire stereotypes.

Weaknesses: Though it only runs for 85 minutes, there are a handful of moments that seemed to drag. The plot is nothing special and is mostly forgettable. It's as if the focus was on the jokes, which did make for a funny film, just not one that does much more to stand out. As great as most of the characters are, there are a few who don't do a whole lot and seem to kind of just be there.

Overall: Takia does it again. There's something about his brand of comedy that just works for me. This movie is filled with laughs and nods to vampire history and it does so in a natural way. The cast is hilarious and the mockumentary style gives us something unique at a time when that's hard to come by.