In 2014, a tiny mockumentary from New Zealand landed at Sundance and basically changed the trajectory of modern comedy. It wasn't a blockbuster. It didn't have a massive marketing budget. Honestly, it was just a bunch of guys in ruffled shirts sitting around a kitchen table in Wellington arguing about who hadn't done the dishes for five years. But that’s the magic of the What We Do in the Shadows movie. It took the most overplayed, tired trope in cinema—the vampire—and made it feel human, pathetic, and hysterically mundane.
Before Taika Waititi was directing Thor movies and before Jemaine Clement was a household name for Flight of the Conchords fans everywhere, they were just two friends trying to figure out how a 183-year-old dandy would handle a nightclub dress code. It’s a simple premise.
Vampires are usually portrayed as sleek, sexy, or terrifying. Think Twilight or Dracula. In this film, they're just losers. They struggle with rent. They get bullied by werewolves at the park. They can't wear cool clothes because they have no reflection, so they have to draw pictures of each other to see if an outfit works. It's grounded. It’s silly. It’s perfect.
The Wellington Gothic Aesthetic
The film's greatness comes from its commitment to the bit. Shot by cinematographers Richard Bluck and DJ Stipsen, it looks like a low-budget documentary you’d find on public access television at 2:00 AM. This "deadpan" delivery is what makes the supernatural elements pop. When Viago (played by Waititi) accidentally hits a main artery while trying to bite a victim, the mess is horrific, but his reaction is pure politeness. He’s just so sorry about the sofa.
The house itself is a character. Located in the suburbs of Wellington, the flat is a crumbling Victorian mess filled with relics of centuries past. You’ve got Deacon (Jonathan Brugh), the "young" rebel who is only 183; Vladislav the Poker (Clement), a former tyrant who has lost his mojo; and Petyr, an 8,000-year-old Nosferatu lookalike who lives in a stone coffin in the basement.
The dynamic works because it mimics every shitty roommate situation you've ever had.
People often forget that the What We Do in the Shadows movie was actually based on a short film the duo made back in 2005. They sat on the idea for nearly a decade, letting the characters marinate. That patience paid off. The improvisation—which reportedly resulted in over 125 hours of footage—gives the movie a rhythm that scripted comedies rarely achieve. You can feel the actors trying not to crack each other up.
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Why Stu is the Secret Weapon
If you ask any die-hard fan who the best character is, they won't say one of the vampires. They’ll say Stu.
Stu Rutherford wasn't even an actor. He was a real-life friend of the directors who worked in IT. They told him he’d have a small part in the film and just to "act like himself." Because he wasn't trying to be funny, he became the ultimate straight man. The vampires’ obsession with him—and his willingness to teach them how to use Google and a digital camera—is the emotional core of the movie.
When the vampires introduce Stu to their world, they don't want to eat him. They want to protect him. It’s a weirdly wholesome twist in a movie that also features a man being chased by a vampire in the shape of a cat with a human face.
Breaking Down the "Werewolves, Not Swear-Wolves" Rule
One of the most quoted lines in modern cinema history happens in a dark park in Wellington. The vampire crew runs into a pack of werewolves led by Rhys Darby (who plays Anton).
The rivalry is petty. It’s not an epic war like Underworld. It’s a group of guys in tracksuits trying to maintain their dignity while dealing with the biological urge to chase a ball. The "Werewolves, not Swear-wolves" mantra is a masterclass in character writing. It tells you everything you need to know about Anton’s leadership style: he’s a middle-manager trying to keep a pack of monsters polite.
Rhys Darby’s performance here is legendary. His deadpan delivery of "What are we?" followed by the collective howl of the pack is peak New Zealand humor. It’s self-deprecating and incredibly dry.
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The Special Effects on a Shoestring Budget
You might think a movie about vampires would need a massive CGI budget. Nope.
Waititi and Clement used old-school practical effects whenever possible. The "flying" scenes? Often just actors on wires. The transformation sequences? Clever editing and prosthetic makeup. Even the scene where Vladislav turns into a cat (but keeps his human face) was done with a mix of physical props and basic digital compositing.
This gives the film a tactile, "hand-made" feel. It doesn't look like a polished Marvel product. It looks like something that actually happened in a New Zealand suburb. That "realness" is why it ranks so high on Best Comedy lists years later. It feels authentic.
The Legacy of the 2014 Original
It’s impossible to talk about the What We Do in the Shadows movie without mentioning what it spawned. We now have a massive hit TV show on FX and a spin-off called Wellington Paranormal.
But there’s a specific DNA in the original film that the TV show—as great as it is—sometimes loses in its higher production values. The movie is grittier. The stakes feel strangely higher because the characters are so isolated. While the show explores a broader world of vampires in America, the movie is a claustrophobic character study of four idiots stuck in a house together.
- The film grossed about $7 million against a $1.6 million budget.
- It holds a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.
- It effectively launched Taika Waititi’s career as a global directorial force.
The humor isn't just about "vampires doing human things." It’s about the loneliness of immortality. Vladislav misses his former glory. Viago misses the love of his life who is now an elderly woman in a nursing home. There is a streak of melancholy running through the film that makes the laughs land harder. It’s a movie about friendship and how, even if you live forever, you still need someone to remind you to put a towel down before you kill someone on the couch.
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What Most People Miss About the Ending
The ending of the movie is surprisingly optimistic.
After the chaos of the Unholy Masquerade, where the vampires are outed and Petyr is killed, the group actually finds a way to coexist with the werewolves. Sort of. They play Wii Sports together. It’s a subversion of every horror trope. Usually, the "masquerade" being broken leads to a massacre. Here, it leads to a slightly awkward social circle.
Nick, the newly turned vampire who initially ruins everything by telling everyone in bars that he’s "Twilight," eventually finds his place. It’s a commentary on how we all just want to belong to a tribe, even if that tribe involves sleeping in a cupboard and eating people.
How to Experience the Movie Today
If you’re coming to this after watching the TV series, you might be surprised by how different the tone is. It’s slower. It’s more "indie." But it’s essential viewing for anyone who loves mockumentaries.
If you want to dive deeper, look for the deleted scenes. There is a whole subplot about the vampires trying to pay their electricity bill that is just as funny as anything in the final cut. Also, keep an eye out for the cameos of Wellington locals who had no idea they were in a vampire movie during the street scenes.
The What We Do in the Shadows movie isn't just a cult classic; it’s a blueprint for how to do high-concept comedy on a low budget. It proves that you don’t need $100 million if you have a great script and a bunch of guys willing to hiss at each other in a public park.
Practical Next Steps for Fans:
- Watch the 2005 Short Film: It’s available on YouTube and shows the raw origins of Viago and Deacon. It’s fascinating to see how the jokes evolved over nine years.
- Track Down Wellington Paranormal: If you loved the cops (Karen and Mike) from the movie, they have their own show. It’s basically The X-Files meets The Office and it’s brilliant.
- Check the Credits: Watch the credits of the movie for the "tribute" to the various historical figures mentioned throughout. The attention to detail in the fake historical photos is incredible.
- Look for the Cameos: See if you can spot the overlap between the movie and the TV show. There is a "Council of Vampires" scene in the TV show that features the original cast in a way that will make any fan of the movie lose their mind.
Honestly, just go re-watch it. Every time I see the scene where they try to get into a nightclub ("We are vampires! We are coming in to suck your blood!"), I find a new background detail to laugh at. It’s a film that keeps giving. It’s the definitive vampire comedy, and it’s unlikely anything will ever top its specific, awkward charm.