What We Do in the Shadows

The tone -- deadpan, wistful, silly but never stupid -- is just right and puts What We Do in the Shadows next to "This Is Spinal Tap" as a mockumentary that shows its subjects as human -- in this case, inhuman -- in their hopes and fears.

The film sympathetically renders the small humiliations and inconveniences of life as an old-world vampire struggling with modernity.

Unless this is an unusually great year for comedy, there will be few funnier or more quotable movies than What We Do In The Shadows.

Here it is at long last: a truly great vampire comedy. And also the funniest horror film to come out of New Zealand since Braindead.

The film’s writers, directors and stars lovingly impale bloodsucker mythology with the sharpened wooden stick of comedy. As with “Shaun of the Dead,” their satire is a crude but effective tool.

What We Do In the Shadows is the type of little movie that you watch and feel like you've discovered something really special. It's a total surprise; a silly, scary delight.

Some genre fans who prefer the silly to the satiric may bite, but the anemic pic isn’t remotely weird or witty enough for cult immortality.

Brilliant. One of the best movies of 2015. This witty mockumentary greatest strength is the deadpan manner in which the jokes delivered. Up there with Spinal Tap as the best of this genre.

Solidly funny and much more in line with the show then I was expecting.....

A Flight of the Conchords mockumentary which inspects the lay of the vampire social scene in modern-day New Zealand. I was hoping for better. What We Do in the Shadows seems like it's constantly on the verge of doing something really hilarious, but can't quite flip the switch. The landscape is ripe for this kind of a satire, too, with so much empty romanticism hovering around the fantasy genre. Most of the fun comes from picking apart the hallmarks of the **** game, exposing them for the lame parlor tricks and absurd handicaps they really are. Mystically swapping a plate of noodles for worms, for example, to the mild annoyance of the victim. Failing to enter a night club because the bouncer doesn't explicitly invite them in. In most films, these would be appetizers for the main entree, but in this case there's no second course. This would've made for a brilliant skit on a sketch comedy show, but it just doesn't have the depth for its own feature-length. Even a very short one.

The movie is funny only if you watch it once. But it becomes dated and doesn't really reward repeat viewings which I think most comedies should. It does not hit that mark and therefore takes away its timelessness on a rewatch.

So I reluctantly decided to watch this film, that had oh such good ratings from critics and audiences alike. What did I see? Well, level of production inferior to some of YouTube videos nowadays, for starters. Everything looks dirt-cheap with laughable effects and poor camera work. I read that the budget was 1.6 million dollars, yet it looks 1.59 million dollars cheaper. But it's not just about the looks, right? It's a comedy, after all, it's the writing that matters! Well unfortunately the jokes here are pure **** mostly. It's all dirt-cheap puns about how werewolves act like dogs, so they smell and run after sticks. Or how these guys are vampires, so they can't wear silver necklases as it burns, and they bite people. Oh wow, my belly just hurts so much from all the laughter. There's also some unnecessary vulgarity, which doesn't really help anything. The only reasons this was not a 1/10 are that were like 2 moderately amusing gags, and the whole thing lasts less than an hour and a half, so while it is a tedious bore, it's not as long as it could've been. I heard about this movie after its director and writer Taika Waititi (or whatever) was praised for "bringing his charm and wit" to Thor Ragnarok, which I'm yet to watch. Well if Thor Ragnarok has the same level of humor as this than it's likely also f*cking borderline unwatchable trash. After the credits one of the characters says something along the lines of "You will forget the contents of this movie". I wish I did, honestly.