What We Do in the Shadows—the television spin-off of New Zealand’s best-ever cult vampire mockumentary—is absolutely delightful and I would be failing in my duties as a pop cultural critic if I didn’t strongly advise that you watch it.
And yes, you can watch it without having seen the original film.
The 2014 mockumentary was written and directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, who also starred as Vladislav and Viago, respectively, two centuries-old vampires. Together with their roommates and fellow vampires, Deacon and the 8,000-year-old Petyr, they attempt to cope with modern life in Wellington, New Zealand. How can you hit the clubs when the bouncers won’t expressly invite you in? How can you feed on the blood of virgins when virginity has become decidedly less popular in the 21st Century?
You might think that the movie would exhaust this subject, but happily you’d be wrong! I watched the pilot for FX’s What We Do in the Shadows series at New York Comic-Con last October, and I’ve been looking forward to continuing the show ever since. The show both honors the original movie takes its new characters in surprising directions.
The series introduces three new vampires: Nandor The Relentless (Kayvan Novak), who seems the most excited for the documentary, along with romantic partners Laszlo (Matt Berry) and Nadja (Natasia Demetriou). Matt Berry might out-Matt-Berry himself as Laszlo, and his relationship with Nadja is funny and touching. It’s also fantastic to see how the dynamic expands by adding a female creature of the night, compared to the film’s all-male crew of vampires.
Rounding out the group is Nandor’s human familiar/servant, Guillermo (Harvey Guillen). Guillermo is, frankly, adorable, and his dedication to Nandor immediately becomes the heart of the show.
The series kicks off when a visit from vampire leader “Baron Afanas” throws the roommates into turmoil—the Baron sent them to the New World hundreds of years ago, and he’s a trifle confused about why they haven’t conquered it yet.
The show’s commitment to honoring both the deep silliness of the humor and the visceral horror (there is a lot of blood) of vampire life creates a wonderful tension that might be even stronger than the original film’s. Possibly best of all, however, is the location change. Watching these bloodsucking monsters navigate life in New York (where, let’s face it, a vampire is only like the fifth weirdest thing you’re going to see on the subway) is endlessly fun.
There are a few other elements at work that I am loathe to spoil but trust me when I say that you want to invite this show into your home, and indeed, your heart. (OK, fine, I’ll say this: Mark Proksch as Colin Robinson may be my favorite non-Tick television character of the year, but seriously I don’t want to give anything else about him away.)
Here, have a trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyZi3rJPENs
The 10-episode series premieres tonight on FX at 10pm. The show was written by Jemaine Clement, Stefani Robinson, and Tom Scharpling, and directed by International Treasure Taika Waititi.
So much looking forward to this.
My only quibble with the movie was the need to be invited into a club to enter it. I get it was used as the set up for a couple of good jokes, just struck me as odd.
I think it was an episode of Buffy that established that public places and businesses weren’t subject to that restriction, the same with abandoned homes or a home where the occupant(s) have died.
Yeah, it seemed weird until I realized that club bouncers literally have to decide who can and can’t come in as part of their job. Thus, even if it’s a public place, it’s not a place with guaranteed admission for everyone. So it kind of made sense.
Twist: the Civil Rights Act means that US vampires no longer need an invitation to enter any building categorised as a “public accommodation”.
Hm, not sure that “vampirism” is a protected class.
@3, Okay, I’ll buy that explanation :-D
Didn’t The Simpsons establish that vampires ARE a protected class?
@2: Are you serious? Because one specific American show decided one completely arbitrary set of vampire rules, a New Zealand one has to follow them decades later?
It’s like vampires and the sun. It wasn’t in any of the original vampire myths, or literature –definitely not in Dracula or, say, Carmilla. Then Murnau’s Nosferatu made it up, and it has sort of become canon.
Vampire rules change from one fictional universe to another, that’s all.
P.S. The public vs private dwelling rule does make sense, though; Emma Bull used it to good effect in War for the Oaks, back when Sarah Michelle Gellar wasn’t even born.
@8 – thanks for the clarification. I’ve never watched Buffy, so I had no idea what they were quibbling about. Not being able to get into a place without being invited is pretty standard vamp lore.
On a slightly broader note, I’m not sure why anyone would assume – once you got past assuming the WWDITS and Buffy fictional worlds are the same (obviously they are not) – that laws in one country would apply to another sovereign nation. We had same-sex marriage years before they did in the US, as one recent example
Forgive me for being a little sensitive right now to any implication that US law or non-government organisation should dictate or influence the law in NZ.
@7 – we don’t have the term “protected class” in NZ. Although we do have much more comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation compared to the US, so even if supernatural beings were publicly acknowledged but somehow not covered by explicit provisions, the provisions against discrimination on the grounds of health or physical ability would apply. You must make “reasonable provision” to ensure your premises are accessible.
Haven’t watched the show yet, but isn’t it early days in terms of their “coming out”? Maybe they haven’t gotten as far as venues realising how they need to accommodate this clientele. It might even need a prosecution or two, because if I ran a bar, I wouldn’t be that delighted to have non-imbibing vamps trying to prey on my clients. (Of course, more vamp-oriented bars would insist on cover charges for everyone, and vamp-curious humans would frequent them for a thrill.)
A Tongue In-Cheek Vampire Poem, by Evelyn Kiernan-Jones
Monday through Friday I stay at home, I really do prefer to eat alone. For me blood banks are such a treat, conveniently the building is just down the street. Saturday and Sunday with friends I dine, plying them with the very best of wines. Little do they know they’re the main course, and to be honest I don’t feel any remorse. I like my blood gently stirred not shaken, finishing what’s left when I awaken. Licking my lips for the very last drop, when fully sated that’s when I stop. The bodies are then buried in the ground, of course in the cemetery where they won’t be found. Any guilt I have doesn’t last long, for I can’t in any way right my wrongs.
For anyone not watching this yet, the latest episode features a bunch of surprise appearances by famous actors who’s played vampires in the past, all part of a vampire council. It was a lot of fun to watch.