Vampires Vampires Vampires

What We Do in the Shadows is a terrible title for a good movie. Just try saying it five times fast: What we do in the shadows what we do in the shadows what we do in the shadows whatwedointheshadowswhatwedointheshadows.

Fortunately, the film manages to surpass this difficulty to become a very funny entry in the documentary/mockumentary category. It's also a time-warp episode back to when Twilight was hip.

It was a long time ago.

The film features Peter, Viago, Deacon, and Jermaine from Flight of the Concords as vampires who live in a house together in New Zealand, and have agreed to be followed around by documentarians. Refreshingly, their vampirism is the traditional, centuries-old, pale, burned by silver type. You know, the one where they can transform into bats.

Much of the humor revolves around their inability to pass as humans.

I don't know, they look fine here, very human

Confronted by demons they thought had long passed them by -- an ex-lover, an ex-lover who is literally old, and their memories -- they seem to be constantly meditating on everything and nothing at all, and occasionally getting into bat fights. It's half comic, half thoughtful, with a lot of blood.

As the foursome delve into the town's social scene and practice their many hobbies developed over centuries, it becomes clear that, actually, what they aren't trying to do is be human: what they're trying to do is be happy.

With the blood.

There's also a bit of a werewolf rivalry, but I won't give it all away. I'm just relieved that someone finally revived a genre that was, well, a bit dead.

What We Do In The Shadows: 3/4 stars. Mind the gore.