After years of an extraordinary rebirth in popular culture that has seen the vampire figure invading our screens, big and small; from the young adult-oriented Twilight saga to animated family films such as Hotel Transylvania; TV series like True Blood or such critically acclaimed arthouse works as ‘Let the right one in’ or Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Only lovers left alive’, the ubiquity of this classic horror creatures is now close to saturation point.
Last thing we could have expected then is for a deadpan comic approach to help relieving our fatigue, but that’s what Kiwi actors/directors Taika Waititi and Jermaine Clement, one half of the celebrated comedy band Flight Of the Conchords, have achieved with this mockumentary about the everyday life of a vampire household in Wellington, their immortal habits crashing with the pitfalls of modern living as the source of its jokes.
Housemates Viago, Vladislav, Deacon and the Nosferatu-looking Petyr -four vampire stereotypes from different eras- are trying to adapt with diverse degrees of success to the requirements of a contemporary urban existence. The threat of sun light; new fashions and unkind bouncers who wouldn’t invite them in to the city’s nightclubs are some of their main daily problems. After accidentally converting Nick, a man they just intended to feed on, new complications arise as he finds it difficult to leave his human side behind and brings his best friend to socialize with them. The ongoing quarrels with a rival gang of werewolves, led by Rhys Darby better known for his role as the manager in the Flight of the Conchords series, and the eagerly awaited annual “monsters ball” carry on delivering the laugh-out loud gags.
Vampire comedies are hardly a new thing, since Polanski’s 1967 celebrated The Fearless Vampire Killers there have been plenty of examples with Mel Brooks, Buffy or, more recently, Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows among the most renowned for bringing laughter out of the frightening blood suckers. Yet very few have managed to get it right, as they need to carefully downplay the audience’s fear expectation through wit and wisdom to avoid their disappointment. The team Waititi-Clement have crafted a refreshingly hilarious spin on the subject, conquering audiences in every festival it has been screened at. It would be shocking indeed if it doesn’t become the popular hit it deserves to be. ★★★★
