What We Do in the Shadows

Nailing the same absurdity-tinged-with-horror tone as the movie that preceded it, this endlessly quotable mockumentary proves that the "vampire roommate" premise still has plenty of bite. Genius co-creators Taika Waititi and Jermaine Clement made smart moves by transferring the action in What We Do in the Shadows to Staten Island, New York ("That's where the boat dropped us off," explains Nadja), and shaking up the vampire mix. Fans of the film may have expected to see retreads on the characters they remember from the original, and Nandor and Laszlo could creditably pass for the film's Vladislav and Deacon. But Nadja injects a note of wanton sexuality into the proceedings -- the film's vampires mostly struck out, lovewise -- and Colin's oatmeal-bland relentless drone gives the undead vampires a (really boring) common enemy to bond over. 

The plight of Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) proves to be a rich source of gags as well. Ten years in the service of Nandor, he expects to be made a vampire any day now. Meanwhile, he dutifully takes Nandor shopping, lights candles to ready the house for Nandor's nightly wakeup call ("Very scary, Master," he says approvingly as Nandor rises from his casket), and lugs out dead bodies. "Being a vampire's familiar is like being a friend ... who's also a slave," he admits. Meanwhile, Nandor and company barely notice his service, content instead to argue over how to mark victims so that the roomies will know who belongs to whom ("Use Sharpie, name of month, date, year," advises Nadja), or where they should hold their next Blood Feast. Even if you've never had a house chore wheel or argued over who left the most dishes, watching this quartet of flatmates work out their daily differences is bloody delightful.