What We Do in the Shadows
Unison Films | Release Date: February 13, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
76
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Portland OregonianJeff BakerJul 14, 2015
The tone -- deadpan, wistful, silly but never stupid -- is just right and puts What We Do in the Shadows next to "This Is Spinal Tap" as a mockumentary that shows its subjects as human -- in this case, inhuman -- in their hopes and fears. Read full review
90
SalonAndrew O'HehirJan 5, 2016
For a loose-limbed spoof with no real plot, “What We Do in the Shadows” is startlingly effective at creating characters we care about, which testifies to the fact that Clement and Waititi have created a world with clear governing laws (albeit ridiculous ones) and never violate those parameters. Read full review
90
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzFeb 26, 2015
There is so much love and understanding of all the genres the film is skewering that What We Do in the Shadows transcends its lowbrow inspirations. It's a real treat. Read full review
90
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeFeb 16, 2015
At a brisk 86 minutes, What We Do in the Shadows never sags or drags, delivering its comic punches with surgical precision and then getting off the stage. Being immortal doesn’t mean you have to lose your sense of timing. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsFeb 13, 2015
An irrepressibly charming B-movie that never over-stays its welcome, and is both conceptually clever and admirably well-executed. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineOleg IvanovFeb 9, 2015
The film sympathetically renders the small humiliations and inconveniences of life as an old-world vampire struggling with modernity. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyKevin P. SullivanFeb 11, 2015
What ends up carrying the movie is the sweetness of the characters, especially the lovelorn Viago and Stu (Stu Rutherford), the one human the group won’t eat because he’s genuinely just a good dude. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternFeb 19, 2015
What We Do in the Shadows has nonmedicinal virtues that many large-scale movies lack: unflagging energy, entertaining inventiveness, sustained ridiculousness and even, dare I say it, a spasm of eloquence in Deacon’s twisted tribute to the frailties of the human race. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinFeb 13, 2015
Clement and Waititi are intimate with the conventions of vampire movies and reality TV and must have had a crazy-great time blending the unblendable in the best SCTV tradition. But it’s the absence of camp that I keep coming back to. They scale it down and play it real. They’re undeadpan. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenFeb 12, 2015
What might seem unlikely to endure beyond standard sketch length proves surprisingly resilient in the hands of directors Clement and Waititi, the team responsible for the equally droll "Flight of the Conchords." Read full review
80
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisFeb 12, 2015
This weird and witty spoof filters the routines of the living through the lens of the long dead. Read full review
80
The DissolveNathan RabinFeb 11, 2015
Unless this is an unusually great year for comedy, there will be few funnier or more quotable movies than What We Do In The Shadows. Read full review
80
Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekFeb 10, 2015
What We Do in the Shadows is never as self-conscious as you fear it might be, and it has some of the loose, wiggy energy of early Jim Jarmusch, only with more bite. It makes getting poked a pleasure. Read full review
80
Total FilmRosie FletcherJan 9, 2015
Sharp as fangs, warm as fresh blood, this could be the funniest movie of the year. New Zealand’s answer to Edgar Wright. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeNov 18, 2014
A very funny Kiwi take on vampire lore and its application to the modern world. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonCath ClarkeNov 18, 2014
This isn’t much more than a series of ridiculously dotty sketches, and might have worked better as a sitcom, but it’s surprisingly hilarious. Read full review
80
EmpireDan JolinNov 18, 2014
Here it is at long last: a truly great vampire comedy. And also the funniest horror film to come out of New Zealand since Braindead. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovFeb 25, 2015
A gently parodic tone prevails throughout what is ultimately a pretty sweet take on bloodsuckers, even as Deacon and Nick flap their way through a “bat fight” (exactly what it sounds like) and the vamps face off against a pack of similarly esteem-challenged werewolves led by Conchords manager Rhys Darby. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesPatrick Z. McGavinFeb 26, 2015
What We Do in the Shadows is a bracing reminder of how the right burst of energy and style breathes fresh ideas into a genre threatened with creative exhaustion. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaFeb 20, 2015
The vampires in What We Do in the Shadows are symbolic of something else altogether: epic unkemptness. Read full review
75
Boston GlobePeter KeoughFeb 19, 2015
“Shadows” has its share of lines that will be repeated by fans ad infinitum (a favorite: “Yes, now Google it”). Read full review
75
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanFeb 19, 2015
The film’s writers, directors and stars lovingly impale bloodsucker mythology with the sharpened wooden stick of comedy. As with “Shaun of the Dead,” their satire is a crude but effective tool. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleFeb 19, 2015
An inspired and funny vampire comedy, one that’s more than just a smart premise but that remains fun and inventive from beginning to end. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Nathalie Atkinson Feb 12, 2015
Like a Christopher Guest movie with a widow’s peak, What We Do in the Shadows depicts a supposed “New Zealand Documentary Board” film gone gruesomely, hilariously awry. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversFeb 11, 2015
Here's a vampire movie for people who don’t like vampire movies. What We Do in the Shadows is packed with laughs, almost all of them are intentional. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloFeb 11, 2015
The result is more often amusing than gut-busting, but it doesn’t wear out its welcome, and that’s fairly impressive in itself. Read full review
75
ObserverRex ReedFeb 11, 2015
Unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. What the bloodsuckers in this frolic actually do, in or out of the shadows, is make you laugh. Read full review
75
The PlaylistDrew TaylorNov 18, 2014
What We Do In the Shadows is the type of little movie that you watch and feel like you've discovered something really special. It's a total surprise; a silly, scary delight. Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony LaneFeb 9, 2015
It was with both joy and mystification, therefore, that I found myself cackling at What We Do in the Shadows like a witch with a helium balloon. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreFeb 11, 2015
A one-joke comedy about vampires, and yet another mockumentary/fake documentary, a gimmick that has turned seriously stale in recent years. Read full review
60
Time OutDavid EhrlichFeb 10, 2015
A dryly amusing mockumentary from the Kiwis behind the similarly deadpan Eagle vs Shark and Flight of the Conchords, What We Do in the Shadows unfolds like the darkest movie that Christopher Guest never made. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle SmithFeb 11, 2015
Most of the best gags are in the early going and the film seems ever more stretched and thin as it goes on. It would have made a brilliant eight-minute sketch, though. Read full review
40
VarietyRob NelsonNov 18, 2014
Some genre fans who prefer the silly to the satiric may bite, but the anemic pic isn’t remotely weird or witty enough for cult immortality. Read full review
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