What We Do In The Shadows

K-15 HBO / Disney+ series, 2019 -2023, seasons 1-4; 10 episodes à appr. 30 min

UPDATE: After enjoying a wicked season 3, the new season 4 is FINALLY available via Disney+ – and I can confirm that this wicked Vampire rom-com is still as hilarious and entertaining as described below. Highly recommended  🙂

Here my review from May 2021, after viewing the first 2 seasons:

Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s 2014 mockumentary is a must-watch, so this series was one of the reasons I ended up with HBO – especially since the DVDs are nearly impossible to get (at least if you boycott Amazon on principle *).

Taika Waititi and his wry humor should already be widely known thanks to Thor, JoJo Rabbit and The Mandalorian and serve as a recommendation. In this TV vampire saga, Jemaine Clement is the creative mastermind, but Taika is still involved as writer, producer and director.

While the film revolved around a vampire group in modern-day New Zealand, the series is set in Staten Island, New York. What We Do in the Shadows follows three vampires who have been roommates for hundreds and hundreds of years in the style of a mockumentary/ reality TV show.

I had my first LOL moment within the first 5min, the meeting on the subject of hygiene and marking the expiration date of those “snacks” rioting in the basement….

This should illustrate the tone, in reality Big Brother & Co style they take on and make fun of the usual vampire / horror film standards and clichés, such as bats, capes, glitter, disco / rave club for night creatures, werewolves as enemies etc. The magnificent bloodthirsty ensemble Kayvan Novak (Nandor), Matt Berry (Laszlo Cravensworth), Natasia Demetriou (Nadja), Mark Proksch (Colin Robinson) and Harvey Guillén (Guillermo de la Cruz) do live up to the classy nonsense of Monty Pythons. And an energy vampire like Colin is something each of us has surely met before in real life … Despite the absurd scenes and dialogues, they create believable characters and keep the story exciting. Various scenes (Lazlo’s gardening hobby!!) or a whole episodes (vampire orgy!) you simply have to watch over and over to enjoy every detail, and every time it gets funnier… So it’s not just a random sequence of nonsense, but indeed intelligent comedy. But, yeah, still hilarious.
And there are remarkable guest appearances, e.g. Mark Hamill, Tilda Swinton, Jaley Joel Osment, Danny Trejo, Dave Bautista and Wesley Snipes, among others.

Summing up, there are so many reasons why you should watch this series – and of course the movie. Season 3 should have been on now but was unfortunately delayed due to various Covid restrictions. However, the spin-off series Wellington Paranormal should soon be available on HBO as well.

* because there are other online service providers that treat their staff and suppliers better and where I rather invest my money than with this insatiable juggernaut. And yes, you can actually live without A., as I have for over 3 years.