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TV show review: CONTINUUM season 4
PHOTOGRAPHY

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS

Blu-ray review by David Blackwell

 

DETAILS:  85 minutes, audio commentary, featurette, deleted scenes, video extras, interviews, promo videos, poster gallery

VIDEO: 1.85:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen) 1080p High Definition

AUDIO: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio

Subtitles: English, English SDH

 

STUDIO: Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment/ Unison Films/ Defender Films/ The New Zealand Documentary Board/ The New Zealand Film Commission/ Shadow Pictures

RELEASE DATE:  7-21-2015

Four vampire flatmates are being filmed by a New Zealand documentary crew for six months in this latest spin on the vampire genre as comedy is mixed with the mockumentary style.  They act in the old ways as they try to get into 21st century nightclubs, get victims (preferably virgins), trade insults with werewolves (not swear wolves), share household chores, and learn to use the internet.  Their lives are complicated by the human friend of Nick, one of the people they turned into a vampire.  The documentary leads up to and after the Unholy Masquerade where vampires, zombies, and witches get together to mingle.

 

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS is an instant cult classic as you can believe there are vampires out there living mundane lives except for the whole having to live at night and get victims bit.  I was laughing at how they have no idea why they don’t appear in the mirror (and yet they can take pictures and be on video) and even the fake New Zealand Documentary Board bit that appears during the opening credits.  It is a nice tongue-in-cheek movie and vampire fans should love it.

 

SPECIAL FETAURES:

The audio commentary with co-writers/ co-directors Jemaine Clement and Takia Waititi is a little dry and boring as they provide details about the making of the movie, but the rest of the extras are fantastic.

 

BEHIND THE SHADOWS is a 17 minute behind-the-scenes featurette with interviews and behind-the-scenes footage

 

The rest of the extras are tied into the movie’s in-joke of being an actual documentary.

12 deleted scenes (about 31 minutes) show a cut funeral scene and a scene cut from the end while the fifty minutes of video extras present the original 30 minute short the movie is based on and other deleted bits from the movie (including a vampire and werewolf dance).  The interviews with three of the four flatmates, the police, werewolves (who talk about the people they killed when transformed), and a zombie are also a delight to watch.   Six promo videos and 50 artist posters for the movie round off the extras.

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:  WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS is a delightful vampire comedy with an almost perfect selection of extras you should also watch as you can see how they could have crafted the final movie.

 

This review is ©7-28-2015 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

 

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