Making WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS: Behind the scenes of the original movie

Exploring The Great Vampire Comedy That Led to the Also-Great TV Series

The original film What We Do in the Shadows is a hilarious 2014 New Zealand mockumentary horror comedy that follows the lives of three roommates who are just trying to live normal lives—well, for vampires who are immortals and have to drink human blood. They struggle with not being able to dress in front of mirrors, trying to get into nightclubs, keeping up with chores, and trying to get along with their roommates.

Written and directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, the film is the first installment in what became a group of related projects. Clement and Waititi also star in the film, with Jonathan Brugh, Ben Fransham, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, Stu Rutherford, and Jackie van Beek.

The film led to two spin-off TV series:

  • Wellington Paranormal is a New Zealand mockumentary comedy horror TV series revolving around Officers Minogue and O'Leary, who first appeared in the movie. The show stars Mike Minogue, Karen O'Leary, and Maaka Pohatu.

  • There’s also the brilliant same-titled spinoff, What We Do in the Shadows, an American version that builds a mockumentary around a different set of vampire roommates, this time in Staten Island, New York. That show stars Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou, Harvey Guillén, and Mark Proksch. This show is especially notable for exploring ideas that have never been seen in vampire stories before.

Buy the What We Do in the Shadows movie from Amazon

Buy episodes of the What We Do in the Shadows TV series from Amazon

Buy the Wellington Paranormal TV series from Amazon

The video below is a rare visit behind the scenes of the making of the original movie.

Behind The Shadows - Making of What We Do In The Shadows

More from Monster Complex


Chris Well

Chris Well been a writer pretty much his entire life. (Well, since his childhood.) Over the years, he has worked in newspapers, magazines, radio, and books. He now is the chief of the website Monster Complex, celebrating monster stories in lit and pop culture. He also writes horror comedy fiction that embraces Universal Monsters, 1960s sitcoms, 1980s action movies, and the X-Files.

https://chriswell.substack.com/
Previous
Previous

Complete Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz: “The lingering dead don’t talk. I don’t know why.”

Next
Next

2022 Bram Stoker Awards Winners—presented at StokerCon 2023