From the far reaches of the Milky Way Galaxy, It's Retro Nerd Girl with a film review for you.
Today I'll be reviewing the movie What We Do In The Shadows released in 2014.
Starring:
Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, Jonny Brugh,
Directed by:
Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi
Genre:
Comedy, Horror
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) Rating:
R
Budget:
$1,600,000 (estimated)
Current IMDb Rating When Reviewed:
7.7
The Synopsis is:
This is a documentary style comedy following the day to day lives of vampires of different eras living together in the “modern” times of the 2010’s in Wellington, New Zealand.
Story:
What We Do In The Shadows began as an idea between Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi that blossomed into a short film starring, written and directed by the two, What We Do In The Shadows: Interviews With Some Vampires in 2005, by Defender Films.
It was a cute little mockumentary detailing comedic situations that real life vampires would encounter in the modern day. It was a low budget production with bulky over the counter vampire teeth and minimal special effects. However, they were able to deliver the premise of the film being that of a documentary and confessional style reality view of the not so glamorous lives of real vampires.
I had the pleasure of watching this short film and it is truly a treat to see the idea for the full feature film at its infancy. You can see that many of the characters underwent changes. One dramatic difference in the short from the feature was that the vampires drank alcohol to cope with their obvious depression, which didn’t make it to the final film.
What is so endearing to the story is that many influences for the film does not stem from any one film or era of the genre of vampire films. It borrows from all of them and it feels like a tribute to these classic beloved stories.
- Nosferatu (1922)
- Dracula (1931)
- The Lost Boys (1987)
- Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
- Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997)
- Blade (1998)
- Van Helsing (2004)
Twilight (2008) is one of the stories that would have been an easy parody to use because it was the more recent and relevant property in the genre. However, the film stays full clear of it or at least there are no obvious jabs, proving that it is a more sophisticated project.
The joy of all joys in this film is that none of the influences are punchlines or moments for the characters to wink at the audience waiting for us to catch the joke. It also refrains from any current trendy pop culture references that often cheapen comedies.
The story relies on the characters and though there are many of them they never feel underused. What ends up being hilarious is the ridiculous series of events and the way the characters naturally react to them.
That natural reaction stemmed from the fact that the 150 page script was withheld from the cast and most of the film was improvisation. This really added depth to the documentary element to the film. Even moments of awkward glances into the camera feels so very authentic.
Pacing:
At 1 hour and 26 minutes the film feels longer than it is because there is a lot that happens in the film to so many characters. Somehow, it all works in a beautiful symphony making the pacing quite effortless. By the end, you just want to see more or even just re-watch the film. It’s so good.
Challenge:
The challenge in this film are situational issues that emerge and not particularly ever one thing, person, or villain.
Empathy:
The empathy in this film is less focused on the narrative but on the characters.
The film begins with the vampire Viago talking to the camera following him around his home and observing his daily activities with his other vampire roommates. He is the mother hen of the house making sure everything runs smoothly. He is a soft spoken romantic German count paying homage to Anne Rice’s romantic and sensitive vampires like Louis de Pointe du Lac from Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994). What is also so very endearing is that he is almost always smiling and so very positive about everything with such care for others, even his victims. About the worst of his personality is that he nags in a very passive aggressive manner, but in each instance, you get the sense that it took a lot of tolerance before he is willing to actually confront someone about something. He’s awkward and prissy at the same time. What an endearing character.
Deacon is a Romanian vampire of humble beginnings that became a Nazi and has a devil may care elitist attitude. He is the youngest vampire in the house and adds a cocky edge to everything he does. He is a mix between Dracula from Van Helsing (2004), Deacon Frost from the film Blade 1998 donning his 90’s leather pants, and a little dash of David from the Lost Boys 1987. He seems like the ultimate unlikable character, but he has a sentimental side that is actually quite complex and even… adorable. For instance, to give you some insight into his morally distorted mind, he turns into a dog to get “lucky” and then he juxtaposes that with the focus of knitting.
Vladislav is a medieval vampire in the story who is also from Romania, named after Vlad the Impaler and refers to himself as "Vlad the poker". He resembles Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) being a highly sensitive but moody vampire with a flair for the dramatics. He’s another character that could come off as ridiculously unlikable, because he does hilariously compare humans to sandwiches, but the audience finds sympathy with Vlad because at one time in history he was an all powerful vampire that has fallen from his high horse so to speak. He has lost his potency as well as his belief of his abilities. That vulnerability is so endearing and it helps that he is well liked by his housemates and he still holds a lot of respect from them. They support him as he learns to be a little more comfortable with who he has become.
Petyr is the oldest vampire reminiscent of Count Orlok from Nosferatu 1922, There is also a striking resemblance to the modernized version of the character as Kurt Barlow in Salem’s Lot 1979. He is a more ancient beast that communicates minimally, however there is some emotion toward him in the way that Deacon who he turned into a vampire and the others care for him and react to his ultimate demise in the film. He means something to these characters and we hold on their pain for a little while, there are even consequences, which is even more realistic than the circumstance. As well the tone does not shift. There are still comedic moments within the scenes, but it doesn’t undermine the motivations and truth for the characters.
Petyr turns a young man by the name of Nick into a vampire which disrupts the house. Nick seems to be a medley of the rebellious vampires in The Lost boys and the sensitive emo vampires in Twilight (2008). Nick brings new challenges to the group as they must teach him the rules of being a vampire and in particular he poses a challenge for Deacon being that he is now the young vampire in the group. There is an interesting dynamic between the two vampires where they can learn from each other.
Nick allows the audience to understand what it is like to make the transition from human being to vampire and what the challenges are. He is naive, but proud and boastful about being a vampire. He often makes some missteps along the way that puts everyone in danger. What makes him likeable is that he has a unique way of communicating with the audience in a very intimate way. Of all of the characters, he is the most realistic portrayal in the reality TV / documentary format. In his behavior we grow to understand that deep down inside he really wants to be a part of a family where he feels he belongs. He longs for acceptance.
Nick also brings a human friend by the name of Stu, into the fold of vampires that they cannot devour. Somehow, this quiet mild mannered all around good guy really becomes a valued member of the house and someone the gang feel as if they need to protect. Just one look into the camera by Stu can melt your heart.
Deacon has a human familiar by the name of Jackie who is desperate to become a vampire. In fact, it is quite common for humans to be familiars to vampires with the promise of preserving their youth and gaining a certain kind of immortality. Jackie is a brilliant character, showing us the misery of her stature and the resentment she has for it. It’s so palpable that there is a sense of vindication when she finds a loophole around waiting for Deacon to turn her.
Technical:
One of the coolest features about the film is the artwork that went along with a lot of the dialogue to help tell the legacy of these old characters and the depth to which their historic lore expanded. They used wonderful ink sketches, wood cuts, paintings and even comedic photos to help to beautiful article what is being told as factual in the tale.
More incredible detail was put into the art direction, sets, and costumes giving each character and setting the proper scene, for comedy or drama adding to the authenticity of the environment.
There are some levitating and flying special effects and transformation visual effects but it's all minimally done, but just enough to assist the story and not eclipse it by stealing attention from the characters.
The film was shot in Wellington, New Zealand in September 2012.
The hill where the vampires have a run-in with the werewolves is the same hill filmed in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), where Frodo and the hobbits are running from the Black Rider and hiding under the roots of a tree. The building used for the exterior shots of the vampires' house used to be Peter Jackson's office.
The music had a unique blend of whimsy and the macabre to put the cherry on top of this black comedy. The score for the film was composed by Plan 9, an American neo-psychedelic band from Rhode Island.
The film's opening credits feature the song "You're Dead" by Norma Tanega, and the ending feature the song "Lastochka" was by the Russian rock band Leningrad.
Enjoyment:
It took 9 years to bring the film to the screen and one full year to edit about 125 hours of footage down to a 90-minute movie.
After a successful Kickstarter fund-raising campaign and becoming one of the most heavily pirated films of 2014, it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and received high critical acclaim.
It seemed to instantly build a cult following and a fan base of people who couldn’t stop talking about the little independent film that could.
It took me a little while to see it, but when I finally did it was such a surprise revealing that the fabulously Gothic life of vampires are not as glamorous as it appears in movies. I’m a big fan of vampire movies, at least mostly the older ones. What works for me in this film is just all of the details and how clever they are all placed in the story to make the moments hilarious such as the polite werewolves not being swear wolves and undressing to save on having to ruin their clothes when they change.
Besides werewolves we have, witches, zombies and demons that exist in the story so this world is expansive with plenty of room for the audience to imagine more about it after the film is over. Among all this, every single performance was extraordinarily in sync with the comedy and dramatics.
Again, this is a movie about characters and the actors were immersed in the motivations for their characters.
For these characters, their world is real and we are observers that they interact with based on their ridiculous challenges. We get to be part of the story. That’s what makes the story as it is told so brilliant.
With every laugh, every hilarious detail, with every trial and tribulation, and folly we grow closer to each character cherishing every moment we got to spend with them until the end.
My Rating:
9
That sums up my review. I hope you liked it. This is Retro Nerd Girl signing off!
Take care movie lovers! I'm off to the next review!
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