DARKNESS DENIZENS WILL BRIGHTEN YOUR DAY

MOVIE
What We Do In The Shadows
Taika Waititi, Jermaine Clement 
Directors Taika Waititi, Jermaine Clement
Review Ray Chan

This New Zealand comedy-mockumentary is certainly based on an inspired premise, even if it mostly chronicles the adventures of a group of vampires in an era when hardened viewers might feel that spoofs and satires of ghouls, zombies and the like are not particularly original.
    Yet What We Do in the Shadows overcomes this perception by wringing fresh gags of sublime silliness out of stereotyped characters and situations, resulting in one of the funniest movies in recent years.
    Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi deliver impressively on all fronts: writing, producing, directing and acting.
    Clement is half of the Flight of the Conchords duo, while Waititi is a well-known Kiwi film and TV comedy director whose star is sure to shine brighter after this release.
    The pair have a long history of performing together, and it shows in the ease of their largely improvised banter as they play two of four vampires who share a house in the city.
    The youngest member of the group, Deacon (Jonathan Brugh), is a lascivious lad of 183. Waititi's character, the foppish Viago, dates from the 18th century, while Clement's Vladislav, has a bloody track record in the pre-modern era. Petyr (Ben Fransham), a desiccated Nosferatu-esque bloodsucker residing in the basement, is so ancient he hasn't even tried to adjust to the world of mobile phones and dance clubs.
    The roommates invite a film crew into their decrepit, suitably creepy mansion to document their lives – or un-lives, even – as they prepare for an annual festive gathering of the local paranormal folk. And, unlike the uninterested characters in most found-footage flicks, they’re ridiculously proud to be on camera — preening, posturing, pouting and posing at every opportunity.
    Waititi’s elegantly elfin character walks us through the nightly ritual of rising from his coffin, unable to repress his glee at playing to an audience.
    Later, the quartet childishly flaunt their superhuman powers by transforming into bats and engaging in fights, bully their human minions (who do their bidding in the hopes of getting bitten and therefore become immortal), and bicker over who's going to wash the sink full of bloody dishes.
    But while the creatures are certainly supernatural, they're also recognisably human, with dynamic personalities — and that's why sight gags such as a chore wheel on the wall don't come across as cheap or tired.
    Clement and Waititi craft a minimal but effective narrative, as the foursome’s bonds are tested by the advent of a freshly fanged vampire (Cori Gonzalez-Macuer), who exhibits all the casualness of a typical millennial.
    We also see a gang of werewolves treading on the vampires’ personal space. The furry fiends, rough and tough gangsters, do their best to match the coolness of the bat-winged brigade, but are hampered by their unavoidable lupine transformations every time there’s a full moon.
    Clement and Waititi clearly realise that comedy comes not just from mocking tropes but from the scruffy human pretensions that give birth to them.
    What We Do In The Shadows is perfectly paced, and perfectly pitched. Like all the best scary and/or funny films there’s also a message, and not surprisingly, it’s about overcoming difference and everyone learning to get along together.
    It also shines a light on the difficulties faced by the older generation in having to adapt to modern life. And despite the hilarity, the film touches on the loneliness of the immortal – “this is what happens when you are a vampire, you have to watch everyone die,” says Deacon.

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