Starring: Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement, Jonathan Brugh
I'm not too sure how to talk about this movie. For one, it's a mockumentary. And as awesome as they can be (which is very), they can also be quite hard to analyze in a review format, which is why I have instead decided to attempt to sum up my thoughts on this movie in a slightly different way than I usually would. In that, I'm just going to give you my thoughts on it. See what I try to do in The Vault is talk about the best movies I've seen, ones that I think are essential, but here you're just going to find my thoughts on a very odd film. As such, I'll probably spoil several aspects of this film in summing up how I felt about it. So, anyway, what did I think of What We Do in the Shadows?
This film is one of the most inventive and creative horror comedy films I've seen in some time. What We Do in the Shadows is a mockumentary about four friends living in a flat in New Zealand. And they all happen to be vampires. And one thing I loved about the film is the cast of characters. All of them are likable, memorable and feel surprisingly real. The film follows the events that lead up to The Unholy Masquerade, a massive ball for the vampires, witches and zombies of New Zealand. Like all good mockumentaries, What We Do in the Shadows doesn't feel like a piece of fiction. I mean obviously it isn't real, but it proposes a world where it could be. It's about the four main protaginists learning to function in everyday 21st century life. I mean, when your vampire film opens with the characters arguing over who's going to clean the dishes, you know that you've made a winner right there. It does feel natural, mainly thanks to the performances. The dialogue is very real feeling and very natural. And it's that very real feeling that not only makes this film so funny, but also gives it a strong emotional edge that never takes away from the laughs and is never in your face. The movie's not just funny, it can be sweet, or melancholic, or awkward, and it always feels genuine. The vampires in this film feel like real people, and that's what makes everything even funnier. That they aren't just vessels for jokes. They're relatable, and realistic, and so unbelievably awkward.
This of course leads to so many moments in this movie that I can point out as highlights. Like when Viago accidentally bites into a woman's main artery, causing blood to spill everywhere, or the encounter with a group of werewolves (not swearwolves) in the middle of the film. It's these phenomenally awkward moments that not only make the film hilarious, but also surprisingly sincere. I love how every character actually feels like they exist, they're not just typical vampire archetypes (okay, they are, but it illustrates just how these characters would function in the 21st century, and that's still awesome). Another thing that adds to how great the movie is is the existence of characters like Jackie, Nick and Stu. Each of these characters provides a fresh perspective on vampyric life, being one of the vampire's familiars, a newly turned vampire and a normal human respectively. It really adds to the documentary feeling that the filmmakers were going for. It's the likability of these characters and the natural way that the scenes play out that make this film so hilarious and endlessly creative (particularly the dinner scene and ensuing chase. Seriously, try to watch that scene without laughing). There's such an easygoing and even improvisational feel to the dialogue and acting that I can't help but love it. It's funny in a way that a lot of comedies aren't, and that's pretty awesome.
It's charm is also pretty apparent. All of the characters are so socially inept that you just have to love them. Viago especially just has this innocence to him that you can't help but root for him, and the ending where he finally turns the woman that he's been following for years into a vampire is incredibly satisfying. The ending as a whole is actually pretty good actually. It works from a writing point of view, but it also fits with what the movie was going for.
I will admit something though. It's pretty much one of the only mockumentaries that I've seen. Yeah, I haven't even seen any of Christopher Guest's films or even This is Spinal Tap. Trust me though, I'm going to do everything in my power to correct that. This movie is absolutely fantastic, and definitely one of the funniest, most original and overall best films I've seen this decade. It isn't perfect, the plot isn't exactly complex and well written, there aren't any massive character arcs and the structure is far from conventional, but you can put all of those things down to it's documentary-esque style, and considering that's done so well here, none of those things even effect the film that much. I'm not even joking, What We Do in the Shadows was so inventive and just so wonderful, and undoubtedly one of the best films in recent memory. Seriously, go check it out. It's a pretty strange, yet also pretty wonderful experience. It makes me want to go out and get more into mockumentaries, because if this is anything to go by, the genre really has a lot to offer.
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