WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS: An Appreciation

The sixth and final season of the brilliant and hilarious FX series "What We Do in the Shadows" is rapidly coming to a close, so I thought I'd write a little appreciation to celebrate its fabulous run.

Based on the outstanding 2014 New Zealand film of the same name, written by Jermaine Clement and Taika Waititi, WWDITS premiered on March 27, 2019, to much acclaim and cult popularity.

The mockumentary style and structure are taken directly from the film but with a different cast of characters, a new location, and storylines that expand the universe set up by the movie.

The series follows the adventures of four vampire roommates on Staten Island, which are being filmed by a camera crew for a documentary about the undead.

The roommates are traditional vampires Nandor, Laszlo, Nadja, energy vampire Colin Robinson, and Nandor's long-suffering familiar (or servant), Guillermo.

The vampires, who have existed for thousands of years, routinely clash with the modern world, other supernatural beings, and each other. The relationships they begin or try to maintain weekly add further chaos and comedy to the proceedings.

All the while, Guillermo earnestly tries to balance his loyalty to Nandor and the others with his desire to become a vampire, complicated by the fact that he is a direct, bloodline descendant of vampire hunter Dr. Abraham Van Helsing.

The situations the roomies are thrust into, and the outrageous plotlines that develop are dependably clever and unendingly funny. New characters are brought in regularly to spice things up and add more laughs.

THE CAST

KAYVAN NOVAK as Nandor the Relentless

Novak is an English actor and comedian who, like much of the cast here, is not well known in America. In Britain, he co-created and starred in the very successful comedy series "Fonejacker" and "Facejacker" (which won several awards) and appeared on shows like "Family Affairs," "Holby City," "Spooks," and "Sirens." He is also a very busy voiceover performer who works in animated films, TV shows, and video games.

But his work as Nandor stands out as the finest of his career. Charming, bold, bright, and brilliantly capable of all types of comedy, Novak makes Nandor a genuinely three-dimensional character that you laugh at and truly care about. It is a layered, lovely, and hilarious performance.

MATT BERRY as Leslie "Laszlo" Cravensworth

In addition to being a successful and very funny stand-up comic, the very versatile Berry is a ubiquitous voiceover artist and contributor to tons of great cult comedies over the last 20 years or so. His credits include "Snuff Box," "The IT Crowd," "Toast of London" (which he also created and did the music for), "House of Fools," "Archer," "Portlandia," and "Aqua Teen Hunger Force."

He is also an incredibly talented musician who has released 12 albums and tours regularly with several bands.

Berry's character is an absolutely brilliant creation who gets the most laughs of anyone on the show. Laszlo is a pansexual former porn actor who is also an inventor, scientist, war veteran, scholar, artist, voracious lover, and husband to Nadja.

He is often preoccupied with sexual thoughts as he creates life, bartends (as regular human bartender Jackie Daytona), and makes topiary sculptures of vulvas in the yard, including those of his wife and mother.

Berry is magnificent in the role and gets a laugh almost every time he opens his mouth. His work and chemistry with the other performers are also top-notch.

NATASIA DEMETRIOU as Nadja of Antipaxos

Demetriou is my favorite cast member on the show, and Nadja is my favorite character. She is a British actress, writer, and comedian who got her start in the world of improv and has had success on Channel 4 sitcoms like "Stath Lets Flats," "Elle and Natasia" "This Time with Alan Partridge," and the Netflix reality/competition series "The Big Flower Fight."

Nadja is a Greek Romani vampire who turned Laszlo and later married him. She is usually the voice of reason in the house and is often at odds with the men she lives with as she struggles with her love of pretending to be human.

In addition to the insane weekly adventures she has with her roommates, Nadja has had an affair with a headless knight named Gregor, owned her own vampire nightclub, led protests, and became an office hotshot and badass. All of this while maintaining a solid friendship with a living baby doll that is inhabited by her pre-vampire human ghost (also voiced by Demetriou).

Demetriou handles all of this with remarkable aplomb. Her nuanced performance is anchored by great comic timing, fantastic facial expressions (no one does takes to the camera funnier than she does), and an accent with vocal choices that are unbelievably funny. This is the work of a gifted comedic talent and an actress of endless skill and charm.

HARVEY GUILLEN as Guillermo da la Cruz

An American actor and writer who has appeared on many TV shows, including "Raising Hope," "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," "Documentary Now!," "iZombie," "Reacher," "RuPaul's Drag Race," and as a recurring character on "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist" in which he also sang and danced.

Guillermo is the human guide and narrator of the show. As Nandor's familiar of over a decade, he is often overworked, stretched to the limit, and frustrated. He has come out as gay, revealed his desire to become a vampire, dealt with his scary family lineage, and had his memory erased (by Nadja) several times. But, on the other hand, Guillermo kicks massive amounts of ass, kills vampires, rescues the main characters, and is absolutely the smartest person on the show.

Guillen is a true natural whose performance gets better and deeper with each successive season. He aptly jumps between farce and satire, pathos and comedy, and adorableness and crassness in the blink of an eye. He is the most complicated of any character on the show. He handles all of the changes (good and bad) with confidence and skill, and he is a terrific team player.

MARK PROKSCH as Colin Robinson

Believe it or not, Proksch started out as a yo-yo-wielding character named K-Strauss who appeared on small-market local TV newscasts and developed a pretty big cult following. He broke into national TV with recurring roles on "The Office," "Breaking Bad," "Better Call Saul," "Comedy Bang Bang," "Portlandia," "Fresh Off the Boat," and "A.P. Bio." He is also a prolific voiceover artist who has worked on "Q-Force," "Drunk History," and "The Simpsons."

Colin Robinson (you must always say both names) is an energy vampire who lives in the basement. He sustains himself by draining humans and fellow vampires of their life force by being incredibly dull or frustrating.

Colin Robinson's storyline gets wonderfully complicated and delightful following his 100th birthday when he dies, and his infant offspring bursts from his chest to be raised by Laszlo and the others. As he grows, he essentially becomes a clone of Colin Robinson and exists in the same manner all over again.

Proksch's weird energy and unique approach to the character are unusual and different from what his co-stars do, which all work perfectly for the character. He often gets his biggest laughs in the background or with subtle gestures and knowing glances. It's a terrific part, and Proksch runs with it in every episode, providing much-needed layers to the text and style.

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS: Special Guests

Over the six seasons, the regular cast has been joined by special guest stars who play terrific recurring or one-off characters.

Those incredibly impressive guest stars include Doug Jones, Beanie Feldstein, Nick Kroll, Vanessa Bayer, Haley Joel Osment, Benedict Wong, Mike O'Brien, Dave Bautista, Paul Reubens, Tilda Swinton, Wesley Snipes, Danny Trejo, Evan Rachel Wood, Greta Lee, Lucy Punch, Aida Turturro, Scott Bakula, Donal Logue, David Cross, Fred Armisen, Sofia Coppola, Jim Jarmusch, Robert Smigel, Hannibal Buress, John Slattery, Patton Oswalt, Steve Coogan, Kevin Pollak, Alexander Skarsgard, and... MARK HAMILL.

WWDITS is one of the funniest shows ever on television. It is also a rare TV project that is better than the original film it is based on and a fantastic example of comedy within the horror genre.

Since its debut in 2019, it has steadily maintained its quality even when it strayed from its strongest elements. When it did occasionally get sidetracked a few times, it quickly recovered and got back on track. The episodes are smartly written, creatively directed, and filled with smashing ideas and concepts that are executed with confidence.

The technical side of the show is also top-notch and very cinematic, with great costumes, production design, art direction, and location work. Thought and care went into creating this show, from its conception to its presentation, and it will be sorely missed.

I can't even begin to count the number of times that WWDITS has made me laugh, smile, or feel good, and I am forever grateful for that.

All six seasons of "What We Do in the Shadows" are available from Hulu, and if you haven't yet watched, you should...immediately.

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Review of "Alien: Romulus"

Taken at the press screening of "Alien: Romulus" right before the film began.

In 1979, "Alien" was unleashed upon the world, and the sci-fi/horror genre immediately had a new classic on its hands.

Directed by relative newcomer (at that time) Ridley Scott, "Alien" took the world by storm and was the first of several sequels and prequels that would be released pretty regularly throughout the years.

Excluding the films with "Predator" in the titles (the less said about those movies, the better), these entries essentially covered the same mythology, worlds, and characters that began with the original film, hatched from the minds of screenwriters Ronald Shusett, Walter Hill, and the late, great Dan O'Bannon.

After the original "Alien" came James Cameron's "Aliens" (which I find extraordinarily overrated), David Fincher's "Alien3" (which I find extraordinarily underrated), and Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "Alien: Resurrection" (which is rated just about right).

All of these movies featured Sigourney Weaver's character, Ellen Ripley, at the center of the action and plots, and, for the most part, they are all worth seeing for varied reasons.

Then, the minimally talented Ridley Scott reared his ugly head again and returned to the series to provide two of the worst sci-fi films ever made: "Prometheus" (which is truly unwatchable) and "Alien: Covenant" (which is slightly better but still barely watchable).

Scott's pathetic attempts to expand the "Alien" universe and provide more context, backstory, philosophy, and grand ideas failed on every level. The result is two of the most distracting, messy, and unbelievably pretentious slogs I've ever sat through.

Just a hint of the terror to come in the brilliant "Alien: Romulus."

Well, it's been seven years since the disaster that was "Alien: Covenant," and even though no one asked for it, we now have a new film in the series, "Alien: Romulus," and, thankfully, Ridley Scott did not direct it.

Instead, the man at the helm is the enormously talented, brilliant craftsman Fede Alvarez, who also co-wrote the script.

Alvarez's very impressive credits include the outstanding "Evil Dead" reboot from 2013, the brilliant thriller "Don't Breathe," and the terrific chapter in the Lisbeth Salander series, "The Girl in the Spider's Web." Very simply...this guy is the goods.

The story here occurs 20 years after the original film (and before all the other movies). It strips away all the complicated nonsense that kept getting added to the sequels to make them seem more "important."

It's essential to remember that despite the setting, the vast visuals, and the political ideas, the first film is basically a scary monster-loose-in-the-house variant, nothing more.

Alvarez smartly brings the franchise back to the basics: a few characters (who we identify with and like) are stuck in a scary place trying to survive being attacked by horrifying creatures...that's it.

The plot here involves a group of renegade space colonizers who work for the oppressive "company" as they raid a derelict spacecraft (the Nostromo from the original) for equipment that will trigger their freedom from their sad, dark world.

Of course, they find the remains of the ship AND some horrifying alien creatures still on board (along with one of the most memorable characters from the first movie), and the terrifying action begins.

This ragtag group must survive the intense attacks from these menacing, shape-shifting monsters, while dealing with personality conflicts (and, of course, the complications of an AI robot in their midst) while figuring out how to get home safely.

It's simple. It's brilliant. And it's the best "Alien" movie in the franchise since the original from 1979....easily.

The facehuggers attack in one of the MANY scary and suspenseful sequences in this great sci-fi horror film.

This film is incredibly tense, exceedingly clever, and scary as hell. The effects (the majority of which are practical and NOT CGI) are outstanding, and the construction and execution of the action set-pieces are a wonder to behold.

We are in the hands of a master filmmaker here, and Alvarez's obvious love and respect for the original movie is evident in every single frame.

This is clearly a filmmaker who loves this world and the story and is having a field day scaring the shit out of the audience while providing refreshing twists, jaw-dropping surprises, and some of the most intense suspense you will see in any movie this year.

The terrific David Jonsson as the android character in the latest "Alien" movie.

The terrific cast, led by the extraordinary Cailee Spaeny (who was incredible in Sofia Coppola's "Priscilla") and the gifted David Jonsson (as the android character) do a magnificent job guiding the audience through the haunted house.

This is the truly gifted Cailee Spaeny who gives an outstanding performance in "Alien: Romulus"

The terrifying sequences of horror and suspense jump off the screen, especially during the absolutely batshit crazy, mind-blowing final 20 minutes, which feature a sequence of such original strangeness and creepy execution that it absolutely compares to the groundbreaking "chest-burster" scene from the first film. It is a jaw-dropping moment of sheer fright that can't be forgotten.

The only flaw I found in the film was a bit too much fan service and a couple of annoying callbacks to the other sequels, but that's to be expected, especially with this series.

Other than that, this is an outstanding sci-fi/horror movie that provides thrills, exciting action, suspense-filled situations, and terrifying moments that I couldn't stop thinking about afterward.

"Alien: Romulus" is not only a worthy chapter in this storied franchise, but it is one of the year's best films and an extraordinarily effective piece of genre filmmaking by a gifted man who, with this movie, has cemented his reputation as one of the best directors working today.

All hail Fede. All hail "Alien: Romulus."

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