Flight of the Conchords’ Jemaine Clement co-directs and co-stars with Taika Waititi (Boy, Eagle vs Shark) in this horror comedy mockumentary about Viago (Waititi), Vladislav (Clement) and Deacon (Brugh), three vampire flatmates living in New Zealand who are trying to get by amid life’s obstacles, such as being immortal vamps with a constant need to source human blood and stay out of the sunlight (for example).
But apart from that, it’s the mundane stuff that has them stumped – like how to make rent, not being able to get a sense of their wardrobe as they can’t see themselves in the mirror and being unable to get into nightclubs unless the bouncers actively invite them in. And this is before the trio’s 8,000-year-old flatmate Petyr (Ben Fransham) turns 20-something hipster Nick into another vamp, and they must show introduce their new recruit the ropes of eternal life.
The comedy arises, as it did in Conchords, from these gentle absurdities alongside the vamps’ lack of self-awareness, as they wearily report the travails of their days (and nights) to camera, in this utterly hilarious film.