After the success of mockumentary horror “What We Do in the Shadows”, the New Zealand duo Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi decided to squeeze their product as much as possible. And while the eponymous series about a group of vampires who now live in New York managed to follow the spirit of the film and is a great example of their absurdist humor, the series about disinterested police officers from Wellington didn’t quite work as intended. We met stage O’Leary and her colleague Minogue back in the film when they come not particularly interested in the home of New Zealand vampires upon registration and, clearly, find nothing there that would attract their attention.
And the series “Wellington Paranormal” was filmed in an identical mockumentary absurdist style, so these two police officers are constantly followed by a team of documentarians. However, a couple of policemen who are really stupid like those cops from the jokes, do not deal with classic police work, but their fat and equally stupid Sergeant Maaka, who is also a big fan of conspiracy theories obsessed with paranormal phenomena, hired them to investigate paranormal activities in Wellington apparently not missing. And indeed from the beginning Minogue and O’Leary act as Mulder and Scully with severe mental retardation and “Wellington Paranormal” is an obvious parody of “X Files”.
However, the biggest problem is that the initially cute, even ingenious premise quickly wears out and turns this deadpan comedy series into a serious moron. Already in the first season, the creators shot standard horror themes such as zombies, ghosts, vampires, werewolves, aliens and possession, so in the next three seasons, they either recycle what was previously seen or invent some idiotic stuff. After a good start in which the typical so stupid that it’s occasionally funny humor works to some extent, it all becomes tiresome, repetitive, really stupid and tiring. The fourth season was also the last for this parody, which lost its meaning too quickly, and it wouldn’t be a mistake if it was turned off a little earlier.