- I'll admit that I checked out What We Do in the Shadows largely because of how much I enjoyed Taika Waititi's acting and directing contributions to Thor: Ragnarok and everything Jemaine Clement has ever done, most notably including Flight of the Conchords. As such, I was honestly a little disappointed by their vampire-focused comedy/horror mockumentary. A few parts of this incredibly goofy film were admittedly hilarious, but it turned out to be one of those rare movies that feels much too long despite having a runtime of 85 minutes.
- The film is arranged around the admittedly odd notion that a house full of vampires would invite a documentary crew to follow them around for a few months. Proving the old adage that no two vampires are alike, the house is initially shared between the fastidious Viago (Waititi), "classic" vampire Vladislav (Clement), an irresponsible youngster named Deacon (Jonathan Brugh), and the ancient Petyr (Ben Fransham). Eventually, they add an overly talkative vampire named Nick (Cori Gonzalez-Macuer) and a popular human named Stu (Stu Rutherford), not to mention the familiar Jackie (Jackie Van Beek), who drops by to help with chores and to deliver fresh victims.
- What We Do in the Shadows is at its best when treating mundane aspects of having roommates, such as who hasn't washed the dishes in five years, or when depicting the difficulty vampires have with dressing up for a night on the town (mirrors are not an option, naturally). Likewise, the encounters with the much-despised werewolves (led by Rhys Darby) are also quite amusing, as is a visit from two easily hypnotized police officers (Karen O'Leary, Mike Minogue). Unfortunately, that amounts to about fifteen total minutes of footage. The remainder, despite an impressively long tracking shot and a few entertaining special effects, is fundamentally little more than a short joke stretched out just a little too long.
