What We Do in the Shadows poster

What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

Film · 1h 26m · Rated R

Comedy, Horror

Vampire housemates navigate modern life's absurdities with darkly comic wit and whimsical, undead charm.

Campy and absurdist, with dry wit. A late-night trip at a measured pace. Emotionally it carries some weight.

Not on a US subscription service as of Oct 27, 2026.

What We Do in the Shadows parents guide

Nothing past what an R promises: a few tense moments and no jump scares.

Scare
Mildly scary
A few tense or eerie moments.
Jump scares
None noted
Gore
Light gore
Some blood or injury, briefly.
Violence
Some violence
Some fighting or peril.
Sex and nudity
Mild
Mild means innuendo, or sex implied off screen, with no nudity.
Language
Moderate
Some strong profanity, a few f-words.

How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.

Three questions

Is What We Do in the Shadows scary?
Only a little. What We Do in the Shadows has a few tense moments, nothing that follows you to bed.
How gory is What We Do in the Shadows?
Light gore and some violence.
What is What We Do in the Shadows rated, and is it OK for kids?
No. It is rated R, with some strong language.

What is What We Do in the Shadows about?

Vampire housemates try to cope with the complexities of modern life and show a newly turned hipster some of the perks of being undead.

Does it have a happy ending? (spoiler-safe)

Yes. It lands on a happy note.

Cast and crew

Directed byTaika Waititi, Jemaine Clement
StarringJemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Jonny Brugh, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, Stu Rutherford, Ben Fransham

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Uses the TMDB API; not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Intensity, content, tone and pace tags are CouchRot's own.