Review of What We Do In The Shadows - the undead prove to be hilarious

Review of What We Do In The Shadows - the undead prove to be hilarious

This hilarious tale about a group of vampire housemates in New York is full of killer gags and a seductive blood-sucking comedy.

For some reason, television loves a good vampire, but for some reason, the eternal torment of immortal parasitic killers lends itself more to melodrama than humour. Whether it's Buffy the Vampire Slayer's undeniable attraction to vampires, or the Twi-lite of The Vampire Diaries, bloodsucking fiends are usually far less funny than the lovely and charismatic new comedy What We Do In the Shadows.

As the series is based on a 2014 film of the same name, it is co-written and co-directed by Flight of the Conchords' Jemaine Clement and Thor: Ragnarok's Taika Waititi. Although they starred in the original film, they hand over the acting responsibilities to a new gang of undead roommates, and make the most of the comedians who play them, as they struggle not only to transform Staten Island into a vampire colony, but also to live together as a foursome (plus familiars) in relative peace and harmony.

It has been a smooth transition from a large screen to a small screen. Kavan Novak plays Nandor (I kept hearing him as Nandos, which added an extra comic flourish to the story), better known as Nandor the Relentless, a formerly noteworthy pillager who now keeps his vampire house in a state of acceptable hygiene. He also enjoys the stationery section of a supermarket, which means I can honestly sympathize with him.

Matt Berry plays Laszlo, the headstrong blusterer who enjoys "sexual intercourse" - and just hearing how he says it may completely put you off any human contact for life - and Natasia Demetriou plays Nadja, the temptress searching for the reincarnated version of her former lover Gregor who still has his head.

Colin Robinson is a "psychic vampire", drained of the life force of his victims through boring them to the point of inertia. He may not have as many things to do as Colin, but Mark Prokcsh does the most with the least. Turning a pencil into a sharpener is a remarkable feat, as is turning the office irritant into a demon.

As aristocratic underworld overlord Baron Afanas, a visitor from the Old World, shows up to visit them, the humdrum coexistence of the two parties is thrown into slight turmoil. As the ancient Baron Afanas used to doing things the traditional way, he is appalled that his roommates have not yet made all of America a dark side. “But as you can see, the place is huge,” Laszlo says.

In the Shadows, there is no slacking off. It is filled with gags, from Nandor getting stuck in his coffin and having to jimmy himself out with a butter knife, to Laszlo bemoaning the persecution of their kind, when they were driven out of Europe 200 years ago. He laments, "They didn't like the color of our skin.". "And Nadya, who never fails to get you laughing with her deadpan one-liners, adds, "Or the fact that we ate people!".

But What We Do in the Shadows also has a hint of a heart. Nandor's familiar Guillermo, who even lives under the stairs, is dying to be turned into a vampire after years of faithful service to his master. He has hidden the light, found virgins, and disposed of corpses in attempts to impress Nandor. However, Nandor's gratitude and appreciation can only go so far. The quality of the writing here is evident when a picture of Antonio Banderas in Interview With the Vampire becomes a moment filled with emotional significance.

It's easy to fall for What We Do In the Shadows, with all the hallmarks of a series that will be easy to love completely. The special effects are impressive, too, and we've come a long way since the first season of Buffy, when you had to squint through anything visually complex. This is rambunctious, silly, dry and deadpan, and I will never say "crepe paper" again.

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