The Vampires are Coming to America in First What We Do in the Shadows Teasers
What We Do in the Shadows sheds a light, although not sunlight, on a very important cultural divide. Not New Zealand and America, although the new series will take place in the states. The culture shock is more like the Middle Ages and millennials. The vampire series based on Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s 2014 masterpiece is coming to FX and we finally got the first look. Meet the new roommates.
The original mockumentary followed Viago (Waititi), Vlad (Clement), and Deacon (Jonny Brugh) through a tumultuous few months as vampire roommates living in New Zealand. The insanely hilarious film depicted the pitfalls of being an undead 19th-century dandy living in modern times. The gag was that they actually were reasonably well adjusted but were slow to update things like their attire.
The friends touched on the existence of vampires elsewhere in the world and justified why they were in New Zealand (love, of course). In reality, Waititi and Clement were making a name for themselves as the top filmmakers in their home country before taking over on major projects like Clement starring in Moana and Waititi directing Thor: Ragnarok.
The other geographically located vampires brings us to today where we find roommates Nandor (Kayvan Novak) and Laszlo (Matt Berry) living together in New York. It doesn’t really matter where they are because they won’t be giving up the old ways anytime soon. The pair have to lean on their living familiar, Guillermo (Harvey Guillen) to help them navigate.
I was leery of seeing anyone else take over the cape and fangs, but I am so pleased with what I see. Nandor and Laszlo have a very Vlad and Deacon vibe with a twist. I also feared that the movie had tapped every ‘vampires among us’ joke there was, but I was so very wrong. Three new clips share a dazzling sampling of the hilarity in store.
There is old money, and then there is very very very very old money. Nandor visits a grocery store but finds that ancient coins don’t go as far as they used to.
Another clip goes to the very gothic home Nandor and Laszlo share. This is my favorite humor where they vacillate between ordinary concerns like the number of party guests but can be quickly derailed by the powerful effect of omens.
Lastly, there’s a hostile interaction between Laszlo and girlfriend Nadja (Natasia Demetriou). She seems much more amenable than the Beast of the film, but relationships are hard. Best of luck to them both.
What We Do in the Shadows will consume my every waking hour on FX this spring.
Featured Image: What We Do in the Shadows. Via: FX
