Is it any good? It's bloody fantastic fun. As in bloody AND fantastic AND fun. Every vampire cliche is mined to consistently funny effect, helped by appealing performances from Taika Waititi (the fastidious 379-year-old Viago), Jemaine Clement (the ferocious 862-year old Vladislav), Jonathan Brugh (the hip young 183-year-old Deacon) and Ben Fransham (the Nosferatu-like 8000-year-old Petyr) as they prepare for the upcoming monster Masquerade Ball. Along the way they encounter new friends, old enemies, and bicker about mundane things like washing up, paying bills, going out and cleaning up after they kill. The laughs come thick and fast, with the jokes veering from obvious to clever, but always funny, whilst there's even a little bit of poignancy near the end about the plight of the vampire. In short, it's the funniest film I've seen this year. Oooh! Ooooh! I've just thought! It's, like, Interview with the Vampires!! Yes? Geddit?! What do you mean that joke has been made hundreds of times already?
I don't trust you. What do others think? Some people say it's little more than an over-extended sketch (which it is - the original 2006 short film is here), but their opinion is no reflection of the true quality of the film. NO REFLECTION, EH? AMIRITE?
Anything else I should know? Clement may be better known to some as one half of New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk band Flight of the Conchords. His relationship with Waititi goes back even further than that, but that's all bound to end in tears now that Waititi is bound for big things as director of the upcoming blockbuster Thor:Ragnarok. In the meantime, What We Do in the Shadows is available on Netflix, so check it out.
What does the Fonz think? This is Spinal Bat
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