Editorials
From ‘Interviews With Some Vampires’ to ‘Wellington Paranormal’ – The Evolution of ‘What We Do in the Shadows’
Vampires have been lurking in the shadows of our scary stories for thousands of years, finding their way into several different cultures and eventually turning into movie stars. With so many variations of these legends, it’s only natural that some of the specifics behind this classic monster often seem silly when judged by modern standards. If you think about it, from crippling garlic allergies to needing an invitation every time you want to enter a building, being a vampire might not be as fun as it sounds. Of course, leave it to Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement to turn the less-appealing aspects of Vampiric immortality into the basis for one of the best horror-comedies of all time.
2014’s What We Do in The Shadows isn’t just hilarious, it’s also an expertly crafted love-letter to gothic horror, and now that FX’s television spin-off is currently airing its third season, I thought that it might be fun to take a look back at the origins of this franchise and how it evolved into a comedic powerhouse.
Before they were Oscar/Emmy winning legends, Clement and Waititi were just a couple of comedians from New Zealand experimenting with film and music. After working in the comedy groups So You’re a Man and The Humourbeasts, the duo eventually decided to channel their love of vampire media into a half-hour mockumentary titled What We Do in The Shadows: Interviews with Some Vampires. While the 2005 short didn’t gain much international attention, it would pave the way for bigger and bloodier laughs.
Using the same setup of a documentary crew attempting to capture the more mundane aspects of undead life in New Zealand, the short works a lot like its eventual feature adaptation, only on a smaller scale. Not only was the budget tighter, leading to silly-looking fangs and costume design reminiscent of a live-action session of Vampire: The Masquerade, but the whole experience was also originally condensed into a single night casually chatting with these vampire flat-mates. Fortunately, Waititi, Clement and Jonny Brugh were already excellent as these early versions of Viago, Vladislav (here called Vulvus) and Deacon, obviously taking inspiration from characters popularized by writers like Stoker and Anne Rice.
Interviews with Some Vampires even features quite a few prototypes of some of the later film’s now-iconic jokes, boasting that same tongue-in-cheek energy as the vampires discuss why they prefer virgin blood and bicker over cleaning duties. I’d also argue that the cheaper presentation actually makes the documentary aspect more convincing, especially when the gang dresses up for a night on the town and we get to see real reactions from the locals. Curiously, the short also feels remarkably like a scrapped pilot for a TV series rather than an attempt at selling an idea for a feature film, which makes a lot of sense when you consider the franchise’s future.
I’ve lost friends because of how often I quote “dead but delicious”.
Despite the short’s overall quality, it took years to secure financing in order to expand it into a feature. Luckily, the mid-2000s saw an inexplicable boom in vampire media, with everything from Twilight to True Blood and even 30 Days of Night doing their best to once again put these fanged creatures in the spotlight. So, in 2012, Waititi and Clement dusted off their fangs and returned to the world of What We Do in The Shadows, this time backed by the New Zealand Film Commission and a respectable budget.
While the feature follows the same basic premise as the original short, it also expands on the mythology, featuring more supernatural monsters like zombies and “swear-wolves” as well as adding a time-sensitive plot device with the upcoming Unholy Masquerade. The film also introduces a new vampire archetype in the main cast through Petyr, a Count-Orlok-esque monster that lives in the flat’s basement. Even with a few recycled jokes, the added production value and better characterization make this a worthy successor to Interviews with Some Vampires, and a classic in its own right.
In an effort to keep the documentary spirit alive despite the larger budget and a couple of effects-heavy sequences, Waititi and Clement supposedly kept their 150-page screenplay a secret in order to encourage improvisation, resulting in hundreds of hours of comedic footage that were later edited into a 90-minute film. This also means that there are plenty of hilarious bonus videos out there for those who can’t get enough of the gang’s vampiric shenanigans, and I’d recommend that fans check them out.
There’s no denying that the cast’s career-making performances helped to turn What We Do in The Shadows into a cult movie phenomenon (Clement’s Vladislav will always be my spirit animal), but I’d argue that the film is successful because it doesn’t look down at the material it’s parodying. There’s genuine passion for vampire stories here, and the film always finds a way to laugh with the characters, not necessarily at them, which I think makes all the difference.
The movie’s success even led to a highly underrated spin-off show that’s only recently been gaining traction outside of New Zealand. Created and executive-produced by Waititi and Clement, 2017’s Wellington Paranormal sees the two bumbling police officers that appear in the original film attempt to face other paranormal threats in the heart of New Zealand. Featuring the same mockumentary style as the movie, the show takes a little while to find its footing, but you’ll soon be begging for more Cops-styled antics as Officers O’Leary and Minogue attempt to arrest everything from aliens to vengeful ghosts. While it appears that the show’s upcoming fourth season will be its last, I’d recommend it to anyone who likes their supernatural cop shows with a dash of Kiwi flavor.
Probably the best cop show on TV right now.
In 2019 we’d also see FX’s What We Do in The Shadows, another Television spin-off that I consider to be the best incarnation of the franchise so far. Still taking place in the same world as the original film (and featuring quite a few familiar faces), the show follows a new group of vampire roommates in Staten Island as they go about their day-to-day lives, once again shot as a mockumentary. One might assume that this formula would get old at this point, but the series (also produced by Waititi and Clement) manages to recapture lightning in a bottle with its incredible writing and casting.
Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry (channeling some of that seductive energy from his character in Darkplace), Natasia Demetriou and Mark Proksch are all fantastic as this new troupe of mal-adjusted creatures of the night, with their characters feeling like brand new additions to this world instead of made-for-TV analogues of the film’s ensemble. Demetriou’s Nadja and Proksch’s Colin Robinson are my personal favorites, with Nadja’s witty remarks and Robinson’s energy-draining hijinks providing us with some of the show’s best moments. Of course, everyone gets the chance to shine as the series goes on, with even the human familiar Guillermo (played to perfection by Harvey Guillén) becoming an unexpected standout, with his relationship with Novak’s Nandor serving as the emotional core of the show.
While TV spin-offs have a reputation of watering down source material in order to produce enough content for a full season, the episodic format actually works in What We Do in The Shadows‘ favor, allowing the show to turn tropes like vampiric orgies and possessed dolls into fully-fledged episodes with plenty of character development in between. Hell, we even get to see an unexpected reunion of some of our favorite cinematic bloodsuckers. What’s not to love?
The production value is also really impressive for a half-hour comedy, with the series’ overall design and effects being inspired by Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. There’s plenty of practical movie magic and atmospheric photography on display here, and it all contributes to the spooky laughs. In all honesty, between the perfect casting and attention to detail behind the scenes, I wouldn’t mind watching this show for another ten years, and I suspect (and hope) that other horror fans feel the same way.
It may have began as a quirky short made by a group of Kiwi comedians over a decade and a half ago, but What We Do in The Shadows somehow evolved into a huge franchise without losing any of the wit and charm that made the original idea so funny in the first place, and I respect that. With several iconic characters and highly quotable lines resulting in a respectable fan-base, there’s no telling where Clement and Waititi’s brainchild will go next (I’d personally love to see that long-awaited We’re Wolves spin-off), but I know I’ll be here to watch it with a crucifix and some holy water on hand. Just in case it was a real documentary all along.
One hell of an ensemble.
Horror was thriving so well in the 1980s that movies like Pen Densham’s The Kiss (1988) would understandably get lost in the shuffle, only to then gain their fans later on in life. Even still, this one Canadian-American curio has had a more challenging time than others, as far as contemporary reevaluations go, which is very likely due to the movie’s limited availability—at least as of this write-up.
However, the scarceness of The Kiss, while a bit annoying, makes it like catnip for ‘80s horror completists everywhere. Hopefully, a lot of them will walk away satisfied after watching this hidden gem.
Even though The Kiss was intended as the first of several horror collaborations between Astral Pictures and TriStar, as well as the first feature produced by Densham, Richard B. Lewis and John Watson’s Trilogy Entertainment Group, it ended up being the only one produced from that former union. Once the movie was released, TriStar’s distribution jitters—they opted for a regional rollout—did the $6-million flick no favors. TriStar’s cold feet toward horror releases have been well noted, but The Kiss still did a tad better than Night of the Creeps (1986), another genre outing that flopped due to its regional opening.
Shot in Montreal, but set in Albany, New York, The Kiss—which was still called The Host just a few months before its October premiere—concerns an average middle-class family and their forthcoming situation. The uncanny problem in store for them was, in fact, set in motion some years earlier. As that hot and dusty flashback to the Belgian Congo shows, a familial curse was set upon the two Dunbar sisters well before Meredith Salenger’s teenage character was born.
Meredith Salenger, Nicholas Kilbertus and Mimi Kuzyk in The Kiss
The Kiss, which was based on a story by co-writer Stephen Volk (Ghostwatch) and penned by both Volk and Tom Ropelewski, has the outward appearance of The Stepfather (1987). This movie, though, is anything but a gender-flipped retread of that classic domestic disturber. For starters, The Kiss is far less grounded in reality—that much is clear from its unsettling opening scene. There, a trusting girl (Priscilla Mouzakiotis) is the victim of her own deceptive aunt (Céline Lomez); the movie’s titular act, and the story’s first shock, becomes the means of transferring an ancient evil from one host to another.
In the present day, Salenger’s role of Amy Halloran, a religious schoolgirl, is dealt a harsh blow in life once her mother, Hilary Halloran née Dunbar (Pamela Collyer), suddenly dies in a freak accident. But rather than a complete stranger sweeping the Halloran widower (Nicholas Kilbertus) off his feet some months later, Joanna Pacula’s character is that chosen temptress. Here, Pacula plays the grown-up version of the afflicted girl last seen in the movie’s opener. Since Amy’s mother is insistent about there being no reunion between estranged sisters, and she even contemplates buying a gun shortly before her tragic demise, it’s presumable that Aunt Felice poses a threat to her family.
The Kiss isn’t a movie ever too concerned about its own predictability. The audience is indeed often one step ahead of the story here, but also keep in mind how every one of those steps is loud. Take, for instance, the death of Amy’s mother; the Halloran matriarch goes out in garish, gruesome fashion, as a supernaturally commandeered truck sends Collyer’s character through a store window first, then leaves her one leg short. The directorial enthusiasm truly comes out in horrific moments such as these.
The Kiss is always sure to revel in its characters’ ills and misfortunes. So if the plot doesn’t impress, then its lurid parts should. Amy’s mother’s exit scene was proof of an eager, first-time horror director proving his worth. Then, bestie Heather (Sabrina Boudot) survives to tell the tale of a bizarre escalator mishap that, despite showing relatively less gore, spikes viewers’ empathy meter. The wilder bits of this movie, however, commence with that inevitable hookup between Felice and Amy’s bewitched father; their kitchen coitus is paralleled by Amy’s feverish classroom terror. The outcome there is a disquieting cross-cut of sex magic and a young woman’s menstrual onset plus hallucinations.
Sabrina Boudot in The Kiss
From foam appliances to bladders, that parade of special effects in The Kiss casts its own spell on the audience. Felice’s familiar, a visibly malevolent cat, was realized here with several models, some more articulate than others. Admittedly, the demon cat’s not as convincing as most of the effects here, but accepting that artifice, as opposed to fighting it, will make the whole experience way more enjoyable. As for the makeup used to manifest Felice’s inner villainy, it is more minimal and subtle than one might like; yet the work done to turn Pacula into an antithesis of herself is nonetheless compelling.
The otherworldly perils and dreadful goings-on wouldn’t work half as well as they do in The Kiss without the story’s contrast effect. Finding frights in picturesque, extremely ordinary settings was something that took off in the ‘80s, thanks to that sweeping shift to locales like the suburbs. And Amy’s home, a replica of a real Montreal suburban house, is the ideal battleground for any proper good-versus-evil story. It’s also prime real estate for this movie’s satanic panic-inspired horrors.
Because of their ostensibly similar plots, The Kiss has been compared to The Exorcist (1973). Except in Densham’s movie, the sinister, non-Christian entity targeting a teen girl lies within something less apparent and, perhaps, more devastating upon its exposure. To an outsider, Pacula’s Aunt Felice is too beautiful and unobjectionable to ever suspect of being a monster. More suspicious is how quickly she rips into the fabric of the Halloran home. Felice’s mere presence upsets the “texture of family life,” according to the director.
The demon cat in The Kiss
Taking out Amy’s mother and best friend, and distracting her father, would suggest The Kiss is playing by a different set of rules. It is initially leaving its adolescent target unsupported in a rather grim scenario. In contrast, though, this story offers up a surrogate parent who does her best to fill in the holes of Amy’s eroding home life. Mimi Kuzyk does good work as that family friend and doctor, Brenda, who guides the lost child without also steering her in any one direction; she is naturally skeptical of Amy’s accusations until it’s almost too late to do anything about them. So although The Kiss does an admirable job of undoing the main character’s support system, it never leaves her without a lifeline. This dark movie, in spite of everything that’s transpired, doesn’t deprive itself of light and hope.
The Kiss is a potent mélange of familiar ideas. If not for the director’s surprise flair for horror, though, the movie would have been less effective. What a shame that Pen Densham didn’t continue with the genre. As for Joanna Pacula, she is, too, owed credit as the wicked vixen opposite Meredith Salenger’s pitiable Amy; she never fails to be unsettling in her role. Pacula makes Aunt Felice a sexy yet intimidating character.
For horror that steadily doles out madness and menace, while also delivering a flashy and ghastly conclusion, The Kiss is certain to please. Yes, it’s cheesy all the way, but most favorably, everyone involved plays everything straight. That kind of commitment goes a long way with this movie.
The Kiss
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