There are two terribly important things that I need to say first.
I loved What We Do In The Shadows’ movie counterpart. And I absolutely ADORE the new FX series.
Didn’t think I would, to be honest. I’ve watched the film so many times, watched the original short, and done so much research into the tactics used by Clement and Waititi to make such a patently hilarious mockumentary, that I was convinced nothing could come even close, and that this would be a shameless cash grab. And while I wasn’t sold on episode 1, by the following week I was crying through my laughter at the shenanigans of Nandor, Nadja, Laszlo, and Guillermo. And don’t even get me started on Colin Robinson, the energy vampire who sucks the life out of everyone with the misfortune of getting dragged into one of the most boring conversations he can devise.
I should have known that, after the movie, there was nothing the writers could do to mess up this vampire goldmine. In the age of sparkles and moping, vampires in fiction have become something of a joke (a fact which irks me beyond belief). Consequently, hardly anyone is willing to even entertain the notion of vampires in fiction anymore, and a spoof was expected to surface. “Vampires Suck” tried hard to make this happen, but aside from some on point gags, like the Segway in the forest and the contractually-obliged shirtlessness, it held very little appeal to a discerning audience of any calibre.
Not true for WWDITS. The on-the-nose humour that somehow comingled expertly with actual vampire fiction tropes and absurd situations made it a complete masterpiece. Clement and Waititi made no attempt to drag laughter from their audience, so much as they laid out flat and intricate gags and waited for viewers to come to them.
The series is no different. It went from tentative to in-your-face brilliance in the space of one episode, and it hasn’t let up since.
I never thought I’d love a vampire comedy more than the real thing, but I think now, that WWDITS, both film and series, are the height of contemporary vampire fiction. That’s kind of sad, but it’s also uplifting. It offers a valid platform of vampire fiction plot points and atmosphere to aspire to for writers.
Plus, it’s too hilarious to pass up.
No idea how I’m going to survive without my weekly dose of vampires that flat together in Staten Island.
