Vampires Are Dorky
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One of the reasons I loved “Let the Right One In” is because it was a fresh take on the vampire genre. Whereas vampires are often portrayed as attractive, sexy, aristocratic and powerful, LTROI imagined a vampire as extraordinarily vulnerable–young, lonely, desperate and poor.
Similarly “What We Do in the Shadows” is fantastic because it’s another fresh take on the vampire genre. Only this time the filmmakers don’t imagine them as vulnerable, they imagine them as dorky–kind of every day blokes who have to deal with flat mates, chore wheels and cleaning up all the blood–there’s so much blood!
“What We Do in the Shadows” does for vampires what “This is Spinal Tap” did for rockers–it makes them less sex gods and exposes them more as dork gods. And it’s so very very funny because it does so.
One of my favorite scenes is a montage of newly-turned vamp, Nick, going around bragging about being a vampire. He wears a fang necklace and screams “Twilight!” at people. Because, you know, the “Twilight” franchise is known as being the pinnacle of cool.
Later, Nick eats a French fry and almost immediately begins to vomit up gallons of blood. Chips are his “favorite food.” And suddenly being a vampire isn’t so cool. “Don’t believe the hype” he says forlornly into the camera.
“What We Do in the Shadows” is gleefully–almost impudently–absurd (which, of course makes it brilliant). At one point, Nick introduces his friend Stu to the gang. And the gang immediately take to human Stu, making Nick feel left out. There’s a scene of Stu showing the old vampires how to take selfies…and, of course, porn. No wonder they like Stu! Deacon gets annoyed at Nick because he wears a jacket similar to his. Viago is tired of Deacon never cleaning all the (literally) bloody dishes. It’s over-the-top silly. Plus, you know, it’s the guys who brought you “Eagle Vs. Shark,” Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi. So, obviously see it immediately.
TWILIGHT!!