The mockumentary is an oft forgotten sub-genre shuffled to the back like a cousin everyone is vaguely embarrassed by but no one can remember why. Even when it manages to excel like with 'This Is Spinal Tap' and 'District 9,' it's star never quite reaches escape velocity. Maybe 'What We Do In The Shadows' can change that.
We can all agree the vampire genre is looking pretty drained at the moment – zing! The final nail in the coffin probably being the eye-roll inducing 'Twilight' franchise but even more that these posh undead had one foot in the grave. But perhaps this movie will be the one to bring the genre back from the dead. Okay, now that I've got that out of my system…
Being hailed as a vampire comedy (vam-com?), 'What We Do In The Shadows' the New Zealand film stars Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement, Jonny Brugh, and Cori Gonzalez Macuer as vampiric roommates dealing with all the mundane pratfalls of living when you weren't smart enough to invest in precious metals at the end of the 19th century. Think about it. Not every living dead guy or gal could be filthy rich. Surely someone in the proletariat would notice if the 1% consisted mostly of blood-sucking monsters…wait.
When their 8000 year-old flatmate Petyr, turns 20-something human hipster Nick, into a vampire, the guys must teach him the ropes and guide him through his new found eternal life. And in return they are forced to learn a thing or two about modern society, fashions, technology, and the internet. But it”s the introduction of Nick”s human friend, Stu, that really changes the vampire”s lives and attitudes towards the ever-changing world around them.
If this trailer is any indication we are probably looking at the film that will turn cam-com into a genre much like the classic 'Shaun of the Dead' legitimized the zombie romantic comedy (zom-rom-com). If we're all very lucky, perhaps the gods of the green light will start to spitball other zany combinations. Personally I'm hoping for the werewolf western or magical girls in mechs.