111-536: What We Do in the Shadows is a 2014 New Zealand mockumentary horror comedy film written and directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi and the first installment in the What We Do in the Shadows franchise . The film also stars Clement and Waititi, along with Jonathan Brugh , Ben Fransham , Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, Stu Rutherford, and Jackie van Beek . The film's plot concerns several vampires who live together in
222-476: A state of trance ; or it may be no more than the messenger of the human being, a real animal or a familiar spirit , whose intimate connection with its owner is shown by the fact that any injury to it is believed, by a phenomenon known as repercussion, to cause a corresponding injury to the human being. Werewolves were said in European folklore to bear tell-tale physical traits even in their human form. These included
333-513: A "disorder of the brain". Although there were continuing reports of extraordinary wolflike beasts, they were not considered to be werewolves. One such report concerned the Beast of Gévaudan , which terrorized the general area of the former province of Gévaudan , now called Lozère , in south-central France. From 1764 to 1767, it killed upwards of 80 men, women, and children. The part of Europe which showed more vigorous interest in werewolves after 1650
444-415: A common man, Lycaon wants to test if he is really a god. To that end, he kills a Molossian hostage and serve his entrails to Zeus. Disgusted, the god turns Lycaon into a wolf. However, in other accounts of the legend, like that of Apollodorus' Bibliotheca , Zeus blasts him and his sons with thunderbolts as punishment. Pausanias also relates the story of an Arcadian man called Damarchus of Parrhasia, who
555-406: A dark, political action thriller that portrays the reaction of one man to the formation of a totalitarian government and the ensuing guerrilla war , introduced Sam Neill as a leading actor. The imagery of large-scale civil conflict and government repression would be realised only a few years later when the 1981 Springbok Tour caused nationwide protests and clashes with police. Sleeping Dogs
666-622: A deadline before your death? I guarantee it before then. Five years, ten years? It took us seven years to write the [first] film, so you do the math. That was a sad thing to say." In 2005, Waititi and Clement wrote and directed a short film titled What We Do in the Shadows: Interviews with Some Vampires , which was a precursor to the feature-length film. The short stars Jonny Brugh, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer and Stu Rutherford in their roles of Deacon, Nick and Stu respectively. In June 2014, Waititi, in conjunction with Discover New Zealand, produced
777-401: A flagpole, and the vampires and camera crew escape the ball with him, only to encounter a rival pack of werewolves who transform under the full moon. Stu and one of the cameramen are mauled. Believing Stu to be dead, the vampires run away and grieve for him. After an indeterminate amount of time, Nick returns to the flat with Stu, who reveals he has survived the attack and was transformed into
888-591: A flat in Wellington . What We Do in the Shadows premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2014. It was released theatrically on 18 August 2014 by Madman Entertainment and received critical acclaim. The film earned $ 6.9 million on a $ 1.6 million budget. A documentary crew follows four vampire housemates—Viago, Vladislav, Deacon, and Petyr—who share a flat in the Wellington suburb of Te Aro . All of
999-402: A hereditary condition manifesting itself in excessive hair growth. Woodward dismissed the possibility, as the rarity of the disease ruled it out from happening on a large scale, as werewolf cases were in medieval Europe. Woodward suggested rabies as the origin of werewolf beliefs, claiming remarkable similarities between the symptoms of that disease and some of the legends. Woodward focused on
1110-508: A low budget and with sponsorship from public funding sources. Few New Zealand-made films have been specifically commissioned for the international market by international film distributors . Recently, international film companies have become more aware of the skills of New Zealand filmmakers, and have increasingly used the country as a shooting location and also somewhere to finish production of their feature films. Private funding for New Zealand films has often been in short supply, although for
1221-612: A low-budget New Zealand film, as cameramen are now used to large wages. Other filmmakers find that the opposite is true, and argue that the greater number of local professionals may have driven wages down from the relative heights of the 1980s. In early 21st century, the amount of local content has significantly increased, with Whale Rider (2002) becoming the second-highest-grossing North American independent film of 2003 and third-highest worldwide, earning $ 40.1 million. Other notable films include In My Father's Den (2004) and The World's Fastest Indian (2005). Both films did well at
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#17328588882021332-659: A marginal one, accusations of lycanthropy being involved in only a small fraction of witchcraft trials. During the early period, accusations of lycanthropy (transformation into a wolf) were mixed with accusations of wolf-riding or wolf-charming. The case of Peter Stumpp (1589) led to a significant peak in both interest in and persecution of supposed werewolves , primarily in French-speaking and German-speaking Europe. The phenomenon persisted longest in Bavaria and Austria, with persecution of wolf-charmers recorded until well after 1650,
1443-539: A modern vampire movie has any right to be, What We Do in the Shadows is bloody good fun." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Fearnet called the film "a great vampire comedy". Film School Rejects wrote a predominantly positive review, commenting that some of the film's broader moments fell flat but compared it favorably to similar mockumentaries such as Best in Show . The film
1554-780: A number of countries. The Piano and Heavenly Creatures showed an increasing tendency for New Zealand films to be partially or completely funded by overseas production companies, and star non-local actors (for example, Holly Hunter and Harvey Keitel in The Piano , and Kate Winslet in Heavenly Creatures ). This did not stop the migration of New Zealanders to the United States: Tamahori, Melanie Lynskey of Heavenly Creatures and Canadian-born Piano star Anna Paquin are now all primarily based in America. A notable exception to
1665-539: A number of feature films on New Zealand themes. Rewi's Last Stand was probably his best, but little of this 1925 film survives. The film was remade with sound in 1940. Independent filmmaker John O'Shea was active from 1940 to 1970 making New Zealand cinema; his company Pacific Films produced numerous short films as well as the three New Zealand feature films made in that period: Broken Barrier (1952) with Roger Mirams ; Runaway (1964); and Don't Let It Get You (1966). However, most New Zealand-made films of
1776-664: A period in the early 1980s, tax breaks resulted in a short term production boom. Some New Zealand directors and actors have been ignored in large part by their own country, despite success overseas, and often had to work in the US, Australia, and the UK as a result. The first public screening of a motion picture in New Zealand took place on 13 October 1896 at the Opera House in Auckland . The screening—which
1887-513: A police welfare check, but Viago hypnotizes them into not noticing anything out of the ordinary. Once the police leave, Nick is banished from the flat by the remaining vampires, though Stu is permitted to come as he pleases. Several months later, the vampires receive an invitation to the annual Unholy Masquerade , hosted for the local undead population of vampires, zombies , and witches . Vladislav refuses to attend after learning that "the Beast" will be
1998-507: A primarily international cast, Jackson filmed the films in New Zealand, using a largely local production crew, helping create an enormous skill base in the New Zealand film industry. This has led to a number of prominent Hollywood films being made in New Zealand, with major international productions not only filming there but also using the country's various post-production facilities and special effects companies. Among these films are The Last Samurai and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion,
2109-452: A promotional short film titled Vampire's Guide to Vellington , in which he reprises his role as Viago von Blitzenberg. Waititi and Clement revealed plans in September 2016 for Wellington Paranormal , a procedural comedy series based on officers O'Leary and Minogue, minor characters in the film. Series producers granted Waititi and Clement $ 1 million to produce six 30-minute episodes for
2220-484: A tail. After returning to their human forms, werewolves are usually documented as becoming weak, debilitated and undergoing painful nervous depression. One universally reviled trait in medieval Europe was the werewolf's habit of devouring recently buried corpses, a trait that is documented extensively, particularly in the Annales Medico-psychologiques in the 19th century. Various methods for becoming
2331-549: A vampire. Two months later, the vampires accept Nick into their group and bond with his human friend Stu, a computer analyst who introduces them to modern technology. Viago uses the Internet to find Katherine, who is now a 96-year-old widow living in a rest home in Wellington, and also briefly reconnects with his old servant Philip. Despite being able to get his new friends into popular bars and clubs, Nick struggles to adapt to life as
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#17328588882022442-437: A vampire. Nick is also held in contempt by Deacon, who resents Nick's newfound popularity and his careless revealing of his vampirism to strangers he meets. One of these strangers, a vampire hunter , breaks into the flat basement during the day and kills Petyr by exposing him to sunlight. The vampires are furious when they discover Nick has indirectly caused Petyr's death, and Deacon tries to kill Nick before being interrupted by
2553-473: A werewolf. With Stu's urging, the pack visits the vampires along with Stu, and Nick's banishment is rescinded as well. Though momentarily apprehensive, Deacon invites the werewolf pack inside. Viago also reconnects and rekindles his romance with Katherine, whom he turns into a vampire. Scenes during the credits reveal that Vladislav has gotten back together with Pauline, repeating his cycle of self-inflicted torture over his relationship with her; and Jackie's husband
2664-699: A wolf, prowling, he crossed. For him in Polotsk they rang for matins early at St. Sophia the bells; but he heard the ringing in Kiev. The situation as described during the medieval period gives rise to the dual form of werewolf folklore in Early Modern Europe. On one hand the Germanic werewolf, which becomes associated with the witchcraft panic , and on the other hand the Slavic werewolf or vlkolak , which becomes associated with
2775-517: A woman has been reported who during episodes of acute psychosis complained of becoming four different species of animals. The beliefs classed together under lycanthropy are far from uniform, and the term is somewhat capriciously applied. The transformation may be temporary or permanent; the were-animal may be the man himself metamorphosed; may be his double whose activity leaves the real man to all appearance unchanged; may be his soul , which goes forth seeking whomever it may devour, leaving its body in
2886-517: A year a man was chosen by lot from the Anthus' clan. The chosen man was escorted to a marsh in the area, where he hung his clothes into an oak tree, swam across the marsh and transformed into a wolf, joining a pack for nine years. If during these nine years he refrained from tasting human flesh, he returned to the same marsh, swam back, and recovered his previous human form, with nine years added to his appearance. Ovid also relates stories of men who roamed
2997-688: Is McCone (1987). A few references to men changing into wolves are found in Ancient Greek literature and Folklore . Herodotus , in his Histories , wrote that according to what the Scythians and the Greeks settled in Scythia told him, the Neuri , which was a tribe to the north-east of Scythia , were all transformed into wolves once every year for several days and then changed back to their human shape. He added that he
3108-577: Is a widespread concept in European folklore , existing in many variants, which are related by a common development of a Christian interpretation of underlying European folklore developed during the medieval period . From the early modern period, werewolf beliefs spread to the New World with colonialism . Belief in werewolves developed in parallel to the belief in witches , during the Late Middle Ages and
3219-411: Is almost as long as the medium itself. The first public screening of a motion picture took place in 1896. A documentary made in 1900 is the oldest surviving New Zealand film, while the first feature film made in New Zealand premiered in 1914. A small-scale industry developed between the 1920s and the 1960s, but it was not until the 1970s that locally made films began to attract significant audiences. From
3330-472: Is also notable as the first full-length 35mm feature film made entirely by a New Zealand production crew. Before then, films such as 1973's Rangi's Catch had been shot in New Zealand, where they were set, but were produced and directed by foreign crews. 1981 saw the release of the road film Goodbye Pork Pie , which made NZ$ 1.5 million. Director Geoff Murphy was lured away by Hollywood, but he made two other key New Zealand films: Utu (1983), about
3441-486: Is an individual who can shape-shift into a wolf , or especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse or affliction, often a bite or the occasional scratch from another werewolf, with the transformations occurring on the night of a full moon . Early sources for belief in this ability or affliction, called lycanthropy , are Petronius (27–66) and Gervase of Tilbury (1150–1228). The werewolf
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3552-698: Is explored in Sabine Baring-Gould 's work The Book of Werewolves is that werewolf legends may have been used to explain serial killings . Perhaps the most infamous example is the case of Peter Stumpp , executed in 1589, the German farmer, and alleged serial killer and cannibal , also known as the Werewolf of Bedburg. Common Turkic folklore holds a different, reverential light to the werewolf legends in that Turkic Central Asian shamans after performing long and arduous rites would voluntarily be able to transform into
3663-432: Is frustrated that Deacon will not turn her into a vampire as promised. Deacon requests that Jackie bring virgins to the flat so that the vampires can feed on them. She lures a woman who insulted her in primary school and her ex-boyfriend Nick to the flat. Though neither are actually virgins, the woman is killed, and Nick is chased throughout the flat and manages to get outside, only to be caught by Petyr, who turns him into
3774-746: Is in Roxburgh in Central Otago , which opened in the town's Athenæum Hall on 11 December 1897. The editors of the local newspaper, the Mount Benger Mail , wrote in the issue of 10 December: " We would draw the attention of the public to the Salon Cinématographe entertainment in the Athenæum Hall to-morrow evening. This is an opportunity which should not be missed of witnessing life scenes ." Purpose-built cinemas were built from 1910 onwards, with
3885-637: Is inferred from the Middle Low German variant and was most likely borrowed into Old Norman garwa(l)f ~ garo(u)l , with regular Germanic – Romance correspondence w- / g- (cf. William / Guillaume , Wales / Galles , etc.). The Proto-Slavic noun * vьlko-dlakь , meaning "wolf-haired" (cf. * dlaka , "animal hair", "fur"), can be reconstructed from Serbian vukòdlak , Slovenian vołkodlȃk , and Czech vlkodlak , although formal variations in Slavic languages (* vьrdl(j)ak , * vьlkdolk , * vьlklak ) and
3996-414: Is most commonly portrayed as being indistinguishable from ordinary wolves, except for the fact that it has no tail (a trait thought characteristic of witches in animal form), is often larger, and retains human eyes and a voice. According to some Swedish accounts, the werewolf could be distinguished from a regular wolf by the fact that it would run on three legs, stretching the fourth one backwards to look like
4107-478: Is not convinced by the story but the locals swear to its truth. This tale was also mentioned by Pomponius Mela . In the second century BC, the Greek geographer Pausanias related the story of King Lycaon of Arcadia, who was transformed into a wolf because he had sacrificed a child in the altar of Zeus Lycaeus. In the version of the legend told by Ovid in his Metamorphoses , when Zeus visits Lycaon disguised as
4218-430: Is now serving as her familiar. A post-credits scene shows Deacon attempting to hypnotize the audience to forget the events of the film. The film is based on a 2005 short film— What We Do In The Shadows: Interviews With Some Vampires —written and directed by Waititi and Clement, and starring Jonny Brugh, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer and Stu Rutherford in their roles of Deacon, Nick and Stu respectively. The feature film adaptation
4329-664: The Mercury Theatre ). The first filmmaker in New Zealand was Alfred Henry Whitehouse , who made ten films between 1898 and mid-1900. The oldest surviving New Zealand film is Whitehouse's The Departure of the Second Contingent for the Boer War (1900). The first feature film made in New Zealand is arguably Hinemoa . It premiered on 17 August 1914 at the Lyric Theatre, Auckland . New Zealand's oldest surviving cinema
4440-641: The Old Brittonic place-name Viroconium (< * wiroconion , 'place of man-dogs, i.e. werewolves'), the Old Irish noun ferchu ('male dog, fierce dog'), and the medieval personal names Guurci ( Old Welsh ) and Gurki ( Old Breton ). Wolves were metaphorically designated as 'dogs' in Celtic cultures. The modern term lycanthropy comes from Ancient Greek lukanthrōpía (λυκανθρωπία), itself from lukánthrōpos (λυκάνθρωπος), meaning 'wolf-man'. Ancient writers used
4551-670: The Silver Lion Best Short Film at the Venice Film Festival , and Two Cars, One Night ( Taika Waititi ), which was nominated for the Best Short Film Oscar . The early 1990s saw New Zealand film gain international recognition, most obviously with Jane Campion 's The Piano (1993), which won three Academy Awards . Peter Jackson 's Heavenly Creatures (1994) and Lee Tamahori 's Once Were Warriors also received international acclaim and high grosses in
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4662-464: The early modern period . Like the witchcraft trials as a whole, the trial of supposed werewolves emerged in what is now Switzerland , especially the Valais and Vaud , in the early 15th century and spread throughout Europe in the 16th, peaking in the 17th and subsiding by the 18th century. The persecution of werewolves and the associated folklore is an integral part of the " witch-hunt " phenomenon, albeit
4773-441: The meeting of both eyebrows at the bridge of the nose, curved fingernails, low-set ears and a swinging stride. One method of identifying a werewolf in its human form was to cut the flesh of the accused, under the pretense that fur would be seen within the wound. A Russian superstition recalls a werewolf can be recognized by bristles under the tongue. The appearance of a werewolf in its animal form varies from culture to culture. It
4884-411: The occupation of land there , and Patu! (1983), a film about the controversial and violent anti- apartheid protests during the 1981 Springboks rugby tour from South Africa. The late 1980s saw the reinvention of the New Zealand short film, beginning with Alison Maclean 's Kitchen Sink . Instead of trying to be short features focused on dialogue and character, the new shorts tried instead to "push
4995-538: The "wolf-men" of Germanic paganism had carried, the associated beliefs and practices had been successfully repressed after Christianization, or if they persisted, they did so outside of the sphere of literacy available to us. We have sources other than those mentioned above. Such examples of werewolves in Ireland and the British Isles can be found in the work of the 9th century Welsh monk Nennius . Female werewolves appear in
5106-448: The "young rebel" of the group who was turned into a vampire by Petyr—a reclusive, ancient vampire who behaves like a feral animal and resembles Count Orlok . Each night, Viago, Vladislav, and Deacon take the bus into town and prowl the streets of Wellington to feed. Deacon's human familiar , Jackie, runs errands for the vampires and cleans up the gore left behind by their feeding. A married mother, Jackie hopes to attain immortality, but
5217-530: The 1990s onward, New Zealand-made films have increasingly achieved international success, including both those with local funding and themes, and those with additional foreign cooperation, such as Avatar and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. For a list of the 328 feature films and 117 documentaries made in New Zealand, see List of New Zealand Films . In October 1978, the New Zealand Film Commission
5328-630: The 20th century became part of the horror and fantasy genre of modern popular culture . The Modern English werewolf descends from the Old English wer(e)wulf , which is a cognate of Middle Dutch weerwolf , Middle Low German warwulf , werwulf , Middle High German werwolf , and West Frisian waer-ûl(e) . These terms are generally derived from a Proto-Germanic form reconstructed as *wira-wulfaz ('man-wolf'), itself from an earlier Pre-Germanic form * wiro-wulpos . An alternative reconstruction, * wazi-wulfaz ('wolf-clothed'), would bring
5439-751: The 20th century, wolf attacks on humans were an occasional, but still widespread, feature of life in Europe. Some scholars have suggested that it was inevitable that wolves, being the most feared predators in Europe, were projected into the folklore of evil shapeshifters. This is said to be corroborated by the fact that areas devoid of wolves typically use different kinds of predator to fill the niche; werehyenas in Africa, weretigers in India, as well as werepumas (" runa uturuncu ") and werejaguars (" yaguaraté-abá " or " tigre-capiango ") in southern South America. An idea
5550-832: The Elder. Augustine explains that "It is very generally believed that by certain witches spells men may be turned into wolves..." Physical metamorphosis was also mentioned in the Capitulatum Episcopi , attributed to the Council of Ancyra in the 4th century, which became the Church's doctrinal text in relation to magic, witches, and transformations such as those of werewolves. The Capitulatum Episcopi states that "Whoever believes that anything can be...transformed into another species or likeness, except by God Himself...is beyond doubt an infidel.' In these works of Roman writers, werewolves often receive
5661-671: The French use the term " gerulfi" to describe what the English call "werewolves". Melion and Biclarel are two anonymous lais that share the theme of a werewolf knight being betrayed by his wife. The German word werwolf was recorded by Burchard von Worms in the 11th century and Bertold of Regensburg in the 13th century, but is not recorded in all of medieval German poetry or fiction. While Baring-Gould argues that references to werewolves were rare in England, presumably because whatever significance
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#17328588882025772-548: The Germanic compound closer to the Slavic meaning, with other semantic parallels in Old Norse úlfheðnar ('wolf-skinned') and úlfheðinn ('wolf-coat'), Old Irish luchthonn ('wolf-skin'), and Sanskrit Vṛkājina ('Wolf-skin'). The Norse branch underwent taboo modifications , with Old Norse vargúlfr (only attested as a translation of Old French garwaf ~ garwal(f) from Marie's lay of Bisclavret ) replacing * wiraz ('man') with vargr ('wolf, outlaw'), perhaps under
5883-742: The Irish work Tales of the Elders , from the 12th century, and Welsh werewolves in the 12th to 13th century work, Mabinogion . Germanic pagan traditions associated with wolf-men persisted longest in the Scandinavian Viking Age . Harald I of Norway is known to have had a body of Úlfhednar (wolf-coated [men]), which are mentioned in the Vatnsdœla, Haraldskvæði, and the Völsunga saga , and resemble some werewolf legends. The Úlfhednar were fighters similar to
5994-422: The New Zealand box office, with the latter beating Once Were Warriors to become the highest-grossing New Zealand film at the domestic box office, earning over NZ$ 6.5 million; a record beaten by Boy in 2010 . Sam Neill and Judy Rymer's documentary Cinema of Unease was made in 1995. The latter part of the first decade of the new century saw the expansion of Peter Jackson 's filmmaking empire, with
6105-420: The New Zealand market. In 2023 the New Zealand's screen producers' guild, SPADA pointed out international streamers currently 'pay no tax in New Zealand, face no regulation, and use broadband infrastructure partially funded by our Government while at the same time impact local broadcasting viewership and advertising revenue'. Regulating this would be in-line with many other countries. The New Zealand Film Archive
6216-491: The Shadows , directed by Waititi and Clement, was released to substantial critical acclaim. Two years later, Waititi released Hunt for the Wilderpeople , starring Sam Neill and Julian Dennison , a film that became the new highest-grossing opening weekend box office New Zealand film on home soil, beating the record set by Boy six years prior. New Zealand is grappling with the effect of international streaming platforms in
6327-468: The Slavic "werewolf" tales. The 11th-century Belarusian Prince Vseslav of Polotsk was considered to have been a werewolf, capable of moving at superhuman speeds, as recounted in The Tale of Igor's Campaign : Vseslav the prince judged men; as prince, he ruled towns; but at night he prowled in the guise of a wolf. From Kiev, prowling, he reached, before the cocks crew, Tmutorokan . The path of Great Sun, as
6438-844: The Swiss Vaud region, werewolves were convicted in 1602 and in 1624. A treatise by a Vaud pastor in 1653, however, argued that lycanthropy was purely an illusion. After this, the only further record from the Vaud dates to 1670. A boy claimed he and his mother could change themselves into wolves, which was not taken seriously. At the beginning of the 17th century witchcraft was prosecuted by James I of England , who regarded "warwoolfes" as victims of delusion induced by "a natural superabundance of melancholic". After 1650, belief in lycanthropy had mostly disappeared from French-speaking Europe, as evidenced in Diderot's Encyclopedia , which attributed reports of lycanthropy to
6549-450: The Vampire . All of those movies are heavily quoted or referenced in the film, along with many other genre films such as Blade , Twilight and Buffy The Vampire Slayer . What We Do in the Shadows raised $ 447,000 towards the film from over 7,000 supporters via the crowdfunding website Kickstarter . The score for the film was composed by Plan 9. The film's opening credits feature
6660-846: The Waititi-directed pilot, with an order of ten 30-minute episodes which premiered on 27 March 2019. In May 2019, FX renewed the series for a 10-episode second season that debuted in 2020. In May 2020, FX announced that they have renewed the series for a third season. The show's audience grew by 25 percent from season 1 to season 2, with average viewing at about 3.2 million. Cinema of New Zealand New Zealand cinema can refer to films made by New Zealand–based production companies in New Zealand . However, it may also refer to films made about New Zealand by filmmakers from other countries. New Zealand produces many films that are co-financed by overseas companies. The history of cinema in New Zealand
6771-589: The Witch and the Wardrobe . While the funding for these movies has come largely from the United States, the trend has helped New Zealand film studios and filmmakers develop skills and improve facilities. However, some industry figures claim that having large international productions employ New Zealand crews has its downside. One New Zealand filmmaker recently complained that it has become difficult to employ cameramen on
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#17328588882026882-483: The berserkers, though they dressed in wolf hides rather than those of bears and were reputed to channel the spirits of these animals to enhance effectiveness in battle. These warriors were resistant to pain and killed viciously in battle, much like wild animals. Úlfhednar and berserkers are closely associated with the Norse god Odin . The Scandinavian traditions of this period may have spread to Kievan Rus' , giving rise to
6993-749: The codes aim to ensure that "...the madly audacious werewolf do not too widely devastate, nor bite too many of the spiritual flock." Liutprand of Cremona reports a rumor that Bajan, son of Simeon I of Bulgaria , could use magic to turn himself into a wolf. The works of Augustine of Hippo had a large influence on the development of Western Christianity, and were widely read by churchmen of the medieval period. These churchmen occasionally discussed werewolves in their works. Famous examples include Gerald of Wales 's Werewolves of Ossory , found in his Topographica Hibernica , and in Gervase of Tilbury's Otia Imperiala , both written for royal audiences. Gervase reveals to
7104-554: The concept of the revenant or vampire. The eastern werewolf-vampire is found in the folklore of Central and Eastern Europe, including Hungary, Romania and the Balkans, while the western werewolf-sorcerer is found in France, German-speaking Europe and in the Baltic. Being a werewolf was a common accusation in witch trials. It featured in the Valais witch trials , one of the earliest such trials, in
7215-511: The context of Christianity, although stories of humans turning into wolves take their roots in earlier pre-Christian beliefs. Their underlying common origin can be traced back to Proto-Indo-European mythology , where lycanthropy is reconstructed as an aspect of the initiation of the kóryos warrior class, which may have included a cult focused on dogs and wolves identified with an age grade of young, unmarried warriors. The standard comparative overview of this aspect of Indo-European mythology
7326-430: The current craze. Variety was more critical, writing that "Some genre fans who prefer the silly to the satiric may bite, but the anemic pic isn't remotely weird or witty enough for cult immortality." The film grossed $ 5.9 million globally, of which $ 3.2 million was in the United States of America. What We Do in the Shadows was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 26 November 2014 by Weltkino Filmverleih. A sequel to
7437-707: The early cinema film made in New Zealand has been lost, as it was printed on nitrate , which is unstable. In 1992, when film enthusiasts and the New Zealand Film Archive realised how much of New Zealand's film heritage was being lost, they mounted the Last Film Search and found 7,000 significant films, both in New Zealand and around the world. Werewolves In folklore , a werewolf (from Old English werwulf 'man-wolf'), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek λυκάνθρωπος , lykánthrōpos , 'wolf-human'),
7548-542: The envelope" in terms of visual design and cinematic grammar. An explosion of visually rich and compelling works emerged that seemed to have more in common with European art-house cinema than Hollywood. Key examples of these are: The Lounge Bar ( The Front Lawn ), Kitchen Sink ( Alison Maclean ), A Little Death (Simon Perkins; Paul Swadel ), Stroke ( Christine Jeffs ), La Vie en Rose (Anna Reeves), A Game With No Rules (Scott Reynolds), Eau de la vie (Simon Baré), O Tamaiti (The Children) ( Sima Urale ) which won
7659-477: The film, focused on the werewolves depicted in What We Do in the Shadows , was in development, but stopped due to some unresolved production issues. Originally rumored to be titled What We Do in the Moonlight , the working title was later announced as We're Wolves . In May 2019, Waititi said "' We're Wolves ' is the film that Jemaine and I keep pretending that we're making. Every couple of years we say, we're making this new film called ' We're Wolves ' which follows
7770-475: The final cases taking place in the early 18th century in Carinthia and Styria . After the end of the witch trials, the werewolf became of interest in folklore studies and in the emerging Gothic horror genre. Werewolf fiction as a genre has premodern precedents in medieval romances (e.g., Bisclavret and Guillaume de Palerme ) and developed in the 18th century out of the "semi-fictional" chapbook tradition. The trappings of horror literature in
7881-408: The first being Wellington's The Kings, built in 1910. Another example is the Mayfair Theatre in Dunedin, built in 1913. The oildest surviving purpose-built cinema in New Zealand — and in the Southern Hemisphere — is the Victoria Theatre in Devonport , Auckland, built in 1912. New Zealand's was a small-scale film industry between the 1920s and 1960s. In the 1920s and 1930s, Rudall Hayward made
7992-517: The first half of the 15th century. In 1539, Martin Luther used the form beerwolf to describe a hypothetical ruler worse than a tyrant who must be resisted. In ' Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus ' (1555), Olaus Magnus describes (Book 18, Chapter 45) an annual assembly of werewolves near the Lithuania-Courland border. The participants, including Lithuanian nobility and werewolves from
8103-446: The following: These defining aspects have in recent years caused debate on whether films like The Frighteners and The Lord of the Rings qualify as New Zealand films. The impact of the New Zealand Film Commission upon the industry was significant in getting films made, coming to a definition of NZ Film, and helping establish a screen industry in New Zealand. Most New Zealand films are made by independent filmmakers , often on
8214-440: The guest of honor. When Viago and Deacon arrive at the ball, they find in attendance Nick, Stu and Jackie, the latter of whom has been turned into a vampire by Nick. "The Beast" is revealed to be Vladislav's ex-girlfriend Pauline, and when Stu and the camera crew are discovered to be living humans, the party guests threaten to kill and feed on them. Vladislav arrives and fights with Pauline's new boyfriend Julian. Stu impales Julian on
8325-712: The humanoid "Kurtadam" (literally meaning "Wolfman"). Since the wolf was the totemic ancestor animal of the Turkic peoples, they would be respectful of any shaman who was in such a form. Some modern researchers have tried to explain the reports of werewolf behaviour with recognised medical conditions. In 1963, Dr Lee Illis of Guy's Hospital in London wrote a paper entitled On Porphyria and the Aetiology of Werewolves , in which he argues that historical accounts on werewolves could have been referring to victims of congenital porphyria , stating how
8436-406: The idea that being bitten by a werewolf could result in the victim turning into one, which suggested the idea of a transmittable disease like rabies. However, the idea that lycanthropy could be transmitted in this way is not part of the original myths and legends, and only appears in relatively recent beliefs. Lycanthropy can also be met with as the main content of a delusion, for example, the case of
8547-471: The incident as follows, "When I look for my buddy I see he'd stripped and piled his clothes by the roadside... He pees in a circle round his clothes and then, just like that, turns into a wolf!... after he turned into a wolf he started howling and then ran off into the woods." Early Christian authors also mentioned werewolves. In The City of God , Augustine of Hippo gives an account similar to that found in Pliny
8658-464: The influence of the Old French expression leus warous ~ lous garous (modern loup-garou ), which literally means 'wolf-werewolf'. The modern Norse form varulv (Danish, Norwegian and Swedish) was either borrowed from Middle Low German werwulf , or else derived from an unattested Old Norse *varulfr , posited as the regular descendant of Proto-Germanic * wira-wulfaz . An Old Frankish form *werwolf
8769-400: The land wars of the 1860s, and a nuclear-apocalypse science-fiction story, The Quiet Earth (1985). Bruno Lawrence , who appeared in both films, became a star. Melanie Read was the first woman to write and direct a New Zealand feature film with the 1984 thriller Trial Run . In 1987 Barry Barclay 's film Ngati , screenplay by Tama Poata and starring veteran actor Wi Kuki Kaa ,
8880-888: The late attestation of some forms pose difficulties in tracing the origin of the term. The Greek Vrykolakas and Romanian Vîrcolac , designating vampire-like creatures in Balkan folklores, were borrowed from Slavic languages. The same form is found in other non-Slavic languages of the region, such as Albanian vurvolak and Turkish vurkolak. Bulgarian vьrkolak and Church Slavonic vurkolak may be interpreted as back-borrowings from Greek. The name vurdalak (вурдалак; 'ghoul, revenant') first appeared in Russian poet Alexander Pushkin 's work Pesni , published in 1835. The source of Pushkin's distinctive form remains debated in scholarship. A Proto-Celtic noun * wiro-kū , meaning 'man-dog', has been reconstructed from Celtiberian uiroku ,
8991-422: The material limbs of any animal.' Marie de France 's poem Bisclavret (c. 1200) is another example, in which the eponymous nobleman Bisclavret, for reasons not described, had to transform into a wolf every week. When his treacherous wife stole his clothing needed to restore his human form, he escaped the king's wolf hunt by imploring the king for mercy, and accompanied the king thereafter. His behavior at court
9102-458: The migration tendency is Peter Jackson , who continued to make films in New Zealand. Jackson's career began with low-budget comedies such as Bad Taste (1987) and Meet the Feebles (1989). He was eventually noticed by Hollywood, and in the 2000s directed The Lord of the Rings series. Although made with mainly foreign funding (helped by a tax break from the New Zealand government) and featuring
9213-666: The movie, where its called Lal Mori Pat. What We Do in the Shadows was released in a limited release on 13 February 2015 in New York City and Los Angeles , followed by a screening in San Francisco, Irvine, Philadelphia, Boston, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. The film received a regional release in the U.S. in March 2015, by Unison Films, The Orchard , and Paramount Pictures in association with Funny or Die and Paladin Pictures. The film
9324-619: The name versipellis ("turnskin"). Augustine instead uses the phrase "in lupum fuisse mutatum" (changed into the form of a wolf) to describe the physical metamorphosis of werewolves, which is similar to phrases used in the medieval period. There is evidence of widespread belief in werewolves in medieval Europe. This evidence spans much of the Continent, as well as the British Isles. Werewolves were mentioned in Medieval law codes, such as that of King Cnut , whose Ecclesiastical Ordinances inform us that
9435-454: The period were documentaries . The National Film Unit was a government-funded producer of short films, documentaries, and publicity material. This is New Zealand , a short film made for the World Expo in 1970 , was extremely popular there and subsequently screened in New Zealand cinemas, garnering considerable acclaim. It used three separate projectors to create a wide-screen image. The film
9546-433: The producer-director optioning the rights to The Lovely Bones , Halo , The Dam Busters and the fantasy series Temeraire . Major productions such as Avatar and the 2007 blockbuster The Water Horse used Jackson's Wellington studios and the services of the special-effects company Weta Digital . US-based video game company Unity Software bought Weta Digital for $ 1.63bn in 2021. Eagle vs Shark (2007)
9657-644: The reader that belief in such transformations (he also mentions women turning into cats and into snakes) was widespread across Europe; he uses the phrase "que ita dinoscuntur" when discussing these metamorphoses, which translates to "it is known". Gervase, who was writing in Germany, also tells the reader that the transformation of men into wolves cannot be easily dismissed, for "...in England we have often seen men change into wolves" ("Vidimus enim frequenter in Anglia per lunationes homines in lupos mutari..."). Further evidence of
9768-508: The second of Gervase of Tilbury's werewolf stories, about a werewolf by the name of Chaucevaire. Marie also reveals to us the existence of werewolf belief in Breton and Norman France, by telling us the Franco-Norman word for werewolf: garwulf, which, she explains, are common in that part of France, where "...many men turned into werewolves". Gervase supports this terminology when he tells us that
9879-518: The series, which first aired on TVNZ 2 on 11 July 2018. The character Nick from the film also appeared in the episode "A Normal Night". A fourth and final series aired in 2022. An American television series was developed from the film. A pilot was ordered by FX , which featured Kayvan Novak , Matt Berry , Natasia Demetriou , Harvey Guillén and Mark Proksch . Executive producers of the show include Clement, Waititi, Scott Rudin , Paul Simms , Garrett Basch , and Eli Bush. On 3 May 2018, FX picked up
9990-508: The song "You're Dead" by Norma Tanega , after Clement and Waititi were introduced to the song by film editor Tom Eagles . The film's trailer and ending feature the song "Lastochka" by the Russian rock band Leningrad . The scene where Deacon dances, as Viago and Vlad watch, features a musical piece titled Momil Rano by Iqbal Jogi and Group from the Thar Desert on Indo-Pakistan border. However this musical piece has been credited incorrectly in
10101-596: The surrounding areas, gather to test their strength by attempting to jump over a castle wall's ruins. Those who succeed are regarded as strong, while weaker participants are punished with whippings. There were numerous reports of werewolf attacks – and consequent court trials – in 16th-century France. In some of the cases there was clear evidence against the accused of murder and cannibalism , but no association with wolves. In other cases people have been terrified by such creatures, such as that of Gilles Garnier in Dole in 1573, who
10212-468: The symptoms of photosensitivity , reddish teeth, and psychosis could have been grounds for accusing a person of being a werewolf. This is argued against by Woodward, who points out how mythological werewolves were almost invariably portrayed as resembling true wolves, and that their human forms were rarely physically conspicuous as porphyria victims. Others have pointed out the possibility of historical werewolves having been people with hypertrichosis ,
10323-470: The term solely in the context of clinical lycanthropy , a condition in which the patient imagined himself to be a wolf. Modern writers later used lycanthrope as a synonym of werewolf , referring to a person who, according to medieval superstition, could assume the form of wolves. The European motif of the devilish werewolf devouring human flesh harks back to a common development during the Middle Ages in
10434-498: The time of Lycaon. If they abstain from tasting human flesh while being wolves, they would be restored to human form nine years later, but if they do not abstain, they would remain wolves forever. Lykos (Λύκος) of Athens was a wolf-shaped herο, whose shrine stood by the jurycourt, and the first jurors were named after him. Pliny the Elder likewise recounts another tale of lycanthropy. Quoting Euanthes, he mentions that in Arcadia , once
10545-470: The vampires possess supernatural powers, including levitation and the ability to transform into animals . Viago is a 17th century dandy who originally traveled to New Zealand in the 1940s in search of Katherine, the love of his life; Vladislav is a 12th century former tyrant known as " Vladislav the Poker ", who is haunted by memories of his nemesis "the Beast"; and Deacon is a 19th century former peddler and
10656-451: The werewolves from the film. I feel bad to even mention it now because we keep saying it, [but] it's like a dad saying, 'Yeah, I'll be home for Christmas.' I suppose we're just two dads out on the road enjoying our lives and going, 'We're not coming home for Christmas. We'll send a postcard. It's not like we don't want to come home for Christmas. We would like nothing more but we have a lot of shit going on. When are you going to die? Do you have
10767-560: The widespread belief in werewolves and other human-animal transformations can be seen in theological attacks made against such beliefs. Conrad of Hirsau , writing in the 11th century, forbids the reading of stories in which a person's reason is obscured following such a transformation. Conrad specifically refers to the tales of Ovid in his tract. Pseudo-Augustine, writing in the 12th century, follows Augustine of Hippo's argument that no physical transformation can be made by any but God, stating that "...the body corporeally [cannot], be changed into
10878-467: The woods of Arcadia in the form of wolves. Virgil , in his poetic work Eclogues , wrote about a man called Moeris, who used herbs and poisons picked in his native Pontus to turn himself into a wolf. In prose , the Satyricon , written circa AD 60 by Gaius Petronius Arbiter , one of the characters, Niceros, tells a story at a banquet about a friend who turned into a wolf (chs. 61–62). He describes
10989-529: Was convicted of being a werewolf. A peak of attention to lycanthropy came in the late 16th to early 17th century, as part of the European witch-hunts . A number of treatises on werewolves were written in France during 1595 and 1615. In 1598, werewolves were sighted in Anjou . In 1602, Henry Boguet wrote a lengthy chapter about werewolves. In 1603, a teenage werewolf was sentenced to life imprisonment in Bordeaux . In
11100-421: Was director Taika Waititi 's first feature film, starring Jemaine Clement and Loren Horsley . The film earned over US$ 1 million at the box office. Waititi's film Boy , released in 2010, topped the box office receipts for the opening week, earning more on its opening day than any previous locally made film, becoming the highest-grossing New Zealand film of all time. In 2014 the mockumentary What We Do in
11211-617: Was formalised by Parliament under the Third National Government . Under Section 17 of the New Zealand Film Commission Act 1978, the functions of the commission are to: With this Act, the New Zealand film industry became more stabilised. Section 18 of the Act, entitled "Content of Films", defines what makes "a New Zealand film". To qualify, a film must have "significant New Zealand content", judged by taking into account
11322-408: Was founded and incorporated on 9 March 1981. Film enthusiast, critic and historian Jonathan Dennis (1953–2002) was a driving force behind the archive, and became its first director. The archive was set up to preserve and restore significant New Zealand film and television images. It now holds a collection of much of early New Zealand cinema film and holds public screenings of its collection. Much of
11433-405: Was gentle, until his wife and her new husband appeared at court, so much so that his hateful attack on the couple was deemed justly motivated, and the truth was revealed. This lai (a type of Breton sung-poem) follows many themes found within other werewolf tales – the removal of clothing and attempting to refrain from the consumption of human flesh can be found in Pliny the Elder, as well as in
11544-475: Was heavily pirated. After the shutting down of a piracy website based in Mount Wellington , Auckland, the website revealed that, at 277,000 downloads, What We Do in the Shadows was one of its most heavily pirated films. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 96% based on 192 reviews, with an average rating of 7.80/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Smarter, fresher, and funnier than
11655-633: Was in fact a demonstration of Thomas Edison 's kinetograph —was part of a show presented by Charles Godfrey's Vaudeville Company. The first screening of a colour film—one using a colour process, not just a colourised black-and-white film—was on 24 December 1911 in Auckland. The film was shown simultaneously at the Globe Picture Theatre in Queen Street and the Kings Theatre on Upper Pitt Street (now
11766-416: Was released to critical acclaim and some box-office success. Ngati is recognised as the first feature film to be written and directed by a person of Māori descent. Merata Mita was the first Māori woman to write and direct a dramatic feature film, when she directed Mauri in 1988. An accomplished documentary film-maker, Mita made landmark documentaries including Bastion Point: Day 507 (1980), about
11877-432: Was restored in 2006 and shown at the 2007 New Zealand International Film Festivals . In 1978, the New Zealand Film Commission was established. Its aim was to encourage and promote the national film industry, and a number of film projects have been funded by the commission. One of the first New Zealand films to attract large-scale audiences at home was Sleeping Dogs , directed by Roger Donaldson in 1977. The film,
11988-487: Was shot in Wellington in September 2012, and was Waititi's first feature since Boy . Stu Rutherford, an IT technician and high school friend of Waititi's in real life, was initially told he would only have a bit part in the film so he would act more natural when filming. He did not realise his role was so important until the film's premiere. According to Waititi and Clement, their favourite vampire films are The Lost Boys , Bram Stoker's Dracula and Interview with
12099-598: Was the Holy Roman Empire . At least nine works on lycanthropy were printed in Germany between 1649 and 1679. In the Austrian and Bavarian Alps, belief in werewolves persisted well into the 18th century. As late as in 1853, in Galicia , northwestern Spain, Manuel Blanco Romasanta was judged and condemned as the author of a number of murders, but he claimed to be not guilty because of his condition of lobishome , werewolf. Until
12210-430: Was turned into a wolf after tasting the entrails of a human child sacrificed to Zeus Lycaeus. He was restored to human form 10 years later and went on to become an Olympic champion. This tale is also recounted by Pliny the Elder , who calls the man Demaenetus quoting Agriopas . According to Pausanias, this was not a one-off event, but that men have been transformed into wolves during the sacrifices to Zeus Lycaeus since
12321-411: Was warmly received by UK newspapers, with The Guardian ' s film critic Peter Bradshaw describing it as "the best comedy of the year", while The Telegraph ' s Tim Robey found it "desperately funny". Film International , in a positive review, commended the film for noting, with a double of Count Orlok locked in the vampires' basement, that the true vampire film tradition is repressed by
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