10/13: What We Do in the Shadows

10/13

Today's movie was Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement's vampire faux-documentary What We Do in the Shadows. I'm a huge fan of Taika Waititi; something about this man drives straight to my funny bone. Throw in Jemaine Clement in a comedy about a group of vampires navigating apartment living with one another and we got a party. 

Faux-documentaries are a dime a dozen it seems, but What We Do in the Shadows feels fresh, hilarious (I laughed obnoxiously out loud numerous times), and, probably best of all, quintessentially New Zealand. One of the best aspects of the film as a horror fan as well was the attention given to vampire lore and, while it is expertly subverted and made fun of, isn't crapped all over. In many ways this movie feels like an answer to the Twilight series; there's vampires and werewolves coexisting, but ya know, it's not stupid. I think that's truly the indicator of a good horror comedy: respect. It's something that Cabin in the Woods and Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, for example, understand, that the comedy can't come first. The horror needs to be the foundation and that's what sells the comedy. 

In that way What We Do in the Shadows succeeds as an uproarious take on the vampire genre. The horror aspects are damn cool and well made, making the comedy of vampires intermingling and traversing coexisting with other creatures of the night all the more hilarious. 

Per usual, well done Taika. 

10/10