I wasn't sure about this one, I cannot remember anything about Flight of the Concords (sp?) and comedy is a sticky thing for me. I find that I laugh out loud more often during dramas, horror, thrillers etc than comedies. I thought GRAND BUDAPEST, ZERO THEOREM and THE DOUBLE were hilarious. But this surprised me... a lot.
Blade, Twilight, Werewolves, Zombies, they all make an appearance. The plot is actually quite funny in itself... it isn't meaty by any means, but it is also a joke: as the documentary team follows three vampires 'flatting' together: one who is very... camp, shall we say, another who is self-described as being hot... because he is a vampire, of course, and another who seems like a satirical-take on your stereotypical long-hair/metal-head. Oh, and an 8,000 year old friend who doesn't seem to possess the skills of communication.
They begin to talk the crew through how they try to socialise, which leads to some amusing scenes of vampires trying to have a nightlife. Then they talk the crew through how they capture/seduce people in order to drink their blood. More funny scenes follow, leading to one of these victims escaping from the flat. Of course he doesn't die, he becomes the new vamp in the gang. But.. He's young, he's stupid, he is not even over a hundred years old! When he introduces his human friend to his vampire friends, you just know its not gonna go well. I won't go any further, but from here the plot delves the movie into comedic chaos. I was missing jokes because I was laughing at the ones previous! There are no immature fart jokes here, there aren't any jokes that make you cringe in their lame delivery.... Even though they are throwing a lot of crud at the wall, most of it sticks. It is also filled with comedic variety. Physical humour, plain old slapstick, facial expressions/body language (especially that camp vampire who always leads the doco crew around, his facial expressions and eye-movements when following the cameras cracked me up every time), and obviously sarcasm and satire are underlying themes.
This thing felt that it was running on all cylinders for the entire movie. It also manages to feel effortless; there was no sense of them trying too hard for laughs - the mockumentary setting helped the film in this sense, despite the plot being thin. But, the wide range of comedy used, from slapstick to satire and everything in between, is probably the biggest reason why this movie does not feel forced.
I walked out of this movie in pain from laughter. After only 87 minutes! The entire place was in stitches for the entire movie, and I saw people from all ages as I walked out, all with giant grins, talking about this or that scene. I'm chuckling as I am writing this as its stimulating my memory and I am seeing it in my head.
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