What We Do in the Shadows

A pseudo-documentary about vampires that humorously targets vampire stereotypes and successfully makes you laugh while cleverly parodying their lifestyle and daily routine. It doesn't often happen to me that I laugh out loud at a movie for so long that my laughter smoothly transitions into the next laugh caused by the next joke. And when it happens, I consider it a rarity. It happened to me during this film all the time, because there are dozens, if not hundreds, of good (and often pretty sophisticated) jokes. (11/07/2014)

A documentary about a community of undead in New Zealand. I didn't really feel like watching it, but the very first minute made me change my mind. The budget was obviously not huge, but it made the film all the better. I haven't had such a blast in a long time. I was even sorry it was over. All the characters were great, but Vlad and Jackie were my favorites. Great entertainment that I recommend to almost everyone. (10/07/2016)

I love it. It has its flaws, and the trio of über-cool vampires have their weaker moments in the middle, but it's impossible not to love this peculiar documentary (sorry, mockumentary). Waititi and Clement took it all the way and serve the viewer with a uniquely funny and detailed cross-section of vampire mythology, in which they manage to present all the otherwise stale motifs about sleeping in coffins or burning in the sunlight in an original and effective way, so that the story doesn't just run on quick gags – each supporting character has an important role to play in terms of revealing the whole well thought-out fictional world or the adaptation of the vampires to modern times. The whole thing would certainly work best as a multi-part sitcom, and I’m giving it 5* mainly due to my innate sympathy for Waititi's sense of humour, but it's still great fun and, from a certain point of view, a fountain of wisdom – the housemates' problems around washing and cleaning up reflect quite faithfully the cohabitation of university students in a shared flat. I could tell a story or two myself. (05/05/2018)

(49th KVIFF) Cute vampires (and werewolves, zombies and other similar creatures) in an incredibly funny mockumentary comedy. The midnight screening was worth it and the excited audience added to the experience. The film ends before it manages to build any sort of solid story through that relentless series of jokes. Those who say that a sitcom format would be more suitable for these vampires are right, after all, this is film is already a sitcom episode stretched to 90 minutes. (12/07/2014)

What We Do in the Shadows is a somewhat alternative horror comedy with a documentary style, in which we get a glimpse into the lives of supernatural creatures such as vampires and werewolves. Not a bad idea, but the film probably missed me as the target audience or I don't have the right sense of humour. Despite the many imaginative scenes I couldn't help feeling bored, which is a bit unpleasant for such a short film, and somehow I found the actions of the actors more awkward than funny at times, which was probably the point, but I just wasn't amused. In short, for me, a completely average film that has something going for it, but which I was unfortunately unable to appreciate. (12/05/2015)