How What We Do in the Shadows went from cult film to one of the funniest new TV series

Comic mockumentary about hapless vampires in gothic outfits who have trouble adapting to life in 21st-century New York is as brilliant as 2014 film it is based on

Blessed with wonderful timing and chemistry, and the same absurdist, profane humour, series will please hardcore fans of the film, its creators believe

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Kayvan Novak (left), Harvey Guillen (centre) and Matt Berry in a scene from What We Do In the Shadows. The series, premiering on Wednesday on FX, is based on the 2014 cult-hit movie from New Zealand. Photo: John P. Johnson/FX/AP

Published: 11:31am, 27 Mar 2019Updated: 2:25pm, 27 Mar 2019

Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi and Flight of the Conchords co-creator Jemaine Clement have identified a menace terrorising workplaces and city council meetings around the world.

He’s a vampire, but he doesn’t drink blood. He sucks out your happiness and will to live by telling you endless stories and creepily staring into your cubicle. This horrifying beast is the Energy Vampire in FX comedy What We Do in the Shadows, and just one of many reasons to tune in to the series, an early candidate for funniest new show of 2019.

The comedy is based on the pair’s 2014 film, a mockumentary about a group of hapless vampires bringing their gothic outfits and bloodthirsty habits to 21st century New Zealand. The series moves the action to Staten Island, New York, with a new group of equally hapless vampires, and it seems poised to break out big. Or at least big enough for its creators to notice this time around.

“Even when we were doing [the show] I didn’t realise how [beloved] the movie was,” Clement says. “We didn’t really know. It’s just a little New Zealand film. I didn’t know that it had such a following, really. That’s been a surprise: ‘Oh, a lot of people have watched this!’”