Good comedies are hard to come by these days. I mean good
comedies that do more than beg for laughs by providing a good cinematic
foundation for those laughs. For me, the contemporary Hollywood “funny
movies” rarely ever work, and we’re bombarded with their kind constantly
throughout a given year. However, there is a subgenre perfectly
tailored to aim for laughs and still hold on to its artistic merit: the
mockumentary.
This is Spinal Tap (1984), Waiting For Guffman (1996), and Man
Bites Dog (1992) are some good additions that come to mind within this
subgenre, and What We Do in the Shadows is up there with the best of
them.
Many documentaries tend to follow a person or group of people in
order to expose how they get through life, or how they will overcome an
obstacle. By documenting this footage, we simply watch someone progress
through life, and if that person is interesting, it makes the movie
memorable. What We Do in the Shadows takes this documentary structure
and adds an absurd fictional concept: What if a documentary crew
followed five vampires around in contemporary society? As a result, a
new classic is born.
