What We Do in the Shadows

In this hilarious mockumentary the directors, who have gained a reputation well beyond their native New Zealand with their film Flight of the Conchords, provide a telling insight into the lives of modern-day vampires. Viago (aged 379), Deacon (aged 183), Vladislav (aged 862) and Peter (aged 8,000) are having a ball in their imposing baroque town house in Wellington. They are happy to talk candidly and somewhat conceitedly about their bizarre proclivities. As in any shared house, there are of course arguments, such as whose turn it is to wash the dirty dishes which are piling up. But every night is party night and it’s usually a pretty bloody affair. The camera crew accompany the vampires on their tours of the city’s nightclubs where they make new contacts, squabble with the werewolves and replenish their stock of young virgins. The film also provides an ironic commentary on today’s urban society in which we are prepared to offer up our services and our necks to vampires in return for the guarantee of eternal youth. These vampires are all too aware of this mortal desire and know just how to exploit it.