Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, Natasia Demeetriou, Harvey Guillén, Mark Proksch, Kristen Schaal, Lauren Collins, Tyler Alvarez, Aida Turturro, Catherine Cohen, Scott Bakula, Cree Summer, Donal Logue, Khandi Alexander, David Cross.
In the world of the ‘Mockumentary’, What We Do In The Shadows stands out as one of the finest examples of the genre. Not only does it have characters that are unassumingly charismatic, who you genuinely find yourself caring for, but the fact that it is able to develop, that the progressive nature of the writing, the situation and the narrative is fluid enough to keep the viewer on their toes, marks it out as one of the great comedies of the day.
The third series though turns another corner in the lives of the close-knit vampire household, and one that exemplifies the uncomfortable cool that underpins the lives of Laszlo, Nadja, Nandor, Guillermo and Colin Robinson.
In a series that advocates change, that consciously subverts the idea of how a community and passive friendship works within the vampiric world, to feel the depth of humanity at the very heart of the half hour show is to see the reflection of our own struggles, our own dysfunctional nature; this is arguably the reason why the show has garnered the loyalty it has received, why it continues to add creativity to the situation.
For Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, Natasia Demeetriou, Harvey Guillén, and Mark Proksch, the series could not be in better hands, and whilst the series relies on the five having an equal standing, to Kayvan Novak and Matt Berry the dichotomy of mismatched roommates arguably catches the eye.
The sense of melancholy and doomed existence without a love of his own marks Mr. Novak’s Nandor the Relentless as the perfect foil for the outgoing devil may care attitude, louche, wonderfully disreputable, and yet ultimately caring Laszlo Cravensworth, portrayed with absolute success by Matt Berry; it is this exaggerated either end of the spectrum that brings the whole saga together, and when the plot sees the energy vampire Colin Robinson, portrayed by the great Mark Proksch, suffer his own sense of mortality, the sense of loss is heightened.
What We Do In The Shadows may have started out as a sublime and bold, almost irreverent film that caused a huge fuss within the arthouse cinema world, but as its consistency on television goes from strength to strength, it continues to build upon its strong foundations and sees it in its true form, as one of the greats of its time.
Ian D. Hall