‘Vampires don’t do dishes’: Old myths, the modern world, horror and the mundane in What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

Q2 Arts and Humanities Journal of New Zealand and Pacific Studies Pub Date : 2018-10-01 DOI:10.1386/NZPS.6.2.137_1
A. Wright
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引用次数: 1

Abstract

The New Zealand horror-comedy What We Do in the Shadows (2014) emerged at a time when contemporary cinema had been showing a renewed and sustained interest in vampire fiction. Whilst it was not the first to offer a humorous reworking of vampire mythology, this parody comes from a strong tradition in New Zealand cinema of disrupting genres, an approach which can be observed, for instance, in Peter Jackson’s early work. What We Do in the Shadows is notable as it creatively utilises generic tropes and intertextual references whilst relocating supernatural creatures of the old world into a contemporary Wellington. As this article argues, the comic potential is opened up in the film by a particular convergence of the spectacular and the mundane. In this environment, blood-drinking and the practicing of the dark arts, sits alongside everyday domestic tasks and cleaning rotas in a household of vampires. The film, it will be established, not only challenges and disrupts established horror genre conventions and expectations by repositioning them in a sitcom format, it also playfully engages with representations of masculinity and the homosocial in a house share environment. Additionally, by positioning the narrative in a New Zealand context, the film is able to localize the myths and stories of the old world and thus further destabilize recognized generic traditions.
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《我们在阴影中做的事》(2014):“吸血鬼不洗碗”:古老的神话、现代世界、恐怖和平凡
新西兰恐怖喜剧《我们在阴影中做什么》(2014)问世时,当代电影正对吸血鬼小说表现出新的、持续的兴趣。虽然这不是第一部对吸血鬼神话进行幽默改编的电影,但这部戏仿之作来自新西兰电影中颠覆类型的强大传统,这种方法可以在彼得·杰克逊的早期作品中观察到。我们在阴影中做的事情是值得注意的,因为它创造性地利用了通用的比喻和互文参考,同时将旧世界的超自然生物重新安置到当代惠灵顿。正如这篇文章所说,喜剧的潜力在电影中通过壮观和平凡的特殊融合而被打开。在这种环境下,吸血和练习黑魔法,与吸血鬼家庭的日常家务和清洁工作并列。可以肯定的是,这部电影不仅挑战和颠覆了既定的恐怖类型传统和期望,将它们重新定位为情景喜剧的形式,而且还开玩笑地表现了合租环境中的男子气概和同性恋社会。此外,通过将叙事定位在新西兰的背景下,这部电影能够将旧世界的神话和故事本地化,从而进一步破坏公认的一般传统。
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来源期刊
Journal of New Zealand and Pacific Studies
Journal of New Zealand and Pacific Studies Arts and Humanities-Literature and Literary Theory
CiteScore
0.30
自引率
0.00%
发文量
20
期刊介绍: The Journal of New Zealand & Pacific Studies covers disciplines including the humanities and social sciences, and subjects such as cultural studies, history, literature, film, anthropology, politics and sociology. Each issue of this publication aims to establish a balance between papers on New Zealand and papers on the South Pacific, with a reports and book reviews section included. The journal is sponsored by the New Zealand Studies Association and hosted by the University of Vienna. It has replaced the key publication NZSA Bulletin of New Zealand Studies.
期刊最新文献
In conversation with Stallone Vaiaoga-Ioasa Mothers’ Darlings of The South Pacific: The Children of Indigenous Women and U.S. Servicemen, World War II, Judith A. Bennett and Angela Wanhalla (eds) (2016) Beyond Hawaii: Native Labor in the Pacific World, Gregory Rosenthal (2018) The New Zealand Wars: Ngā Pakanga o Aotearoa, Vincent O’Malley (2019) Special Issue: New Scholarship in New Zealand and Pacific Studies Part 2
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