Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

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Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

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Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's...

John C. Reilly, Salma Hayek, Josh Hutcherson, Chris Massoglia, Patrick Fugit

Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant, based on the popular series of books by Darren Shan, is a fantasy-adventure about a teenager who unknowingly breaks a 200-year-old truce between two warring f...( read more  read more... )actions of vampires. Pulled into a fantastic life of misunderstood sideshow freaks and grotesque creatures of the night, one teen will vanish from the safety of a boring existence and fulfill his destiny in a place drawn from nightmares. 16-year-old Darren (Chris Massoglia) was like most kids in his suburban neighborhood. He hung out with his best friend, got decent grades and usually stayed out of trouble. But when he and his buddy stumble upon a traveling freak show, things begin to change inside Darren. That's the exact moment when a vampire named Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly) turns him into something, well, bloodthirsty. Newly undead, he joins the Cirque Du Freak, a touring sideshow filled with monstrous creatures from a snakeboy and a wolfman to a bearded lady (Salma Hayek) and a gigantic barker (Ken Watanabe). As Darren flexes his newfound powers in this dark world, he becomes a treasured pawn between the vampires and their deadlier counterparts. And while trying to survive, one boy will struggle to keep their brewing war from devouring what's left of his humanity.

Id: 11048475

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Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant Recent Reviews
  • YLOWBSTARDreturns
    November 25, 2009
    YLOWBSTARDreturns
    I know many people will love "The Vampire's Assistant" in a campy, so bad-it's good sort of way, and it may eventually achieve cult status, but it just really didn't work for me AT ALL!
  • AgentLexi2132
    November 20, 2009
    AgentLexi2132
    ''Vampires don't need cellphones.''

    A young boy named Darren Shan meets a mysterious man at a freak show who turns out to be a Vampire. After a series of events Darren must leave his normal life and go on the road with the Cirque Du Freak and become a Vampire.

    John C....( read more) Reilly: Larten Crepsley

    It's very easy in this day and age to dismiss any film based on a successful young adult book series as just a studio's attempt to throw something up against the wall that could effectively begin a franchise and seeing if it sticks. You have every right to be suspicious of that, based upon the number of fantasy books that have tried it and been mostly unsuccessful - The Seeker, The Golden Compass, Narnia, The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Bridge to Terabithia, Eragon(Shudders!), thus the list could go on and on and on.
    One begins to feel as if the studios are really becoming desperate to attempt to launch something new into the genre thus make more profit from it. I'm sure that's what everyone is thinking about this adaptation of Darren Shan's Cirque du Freak books.

    It probably doesn't help that the movie features vampires that don't have fangs and seem to have one side not wanting to kill humans and the others do. Believe me, I'm getting tired of this story-line since Twilight. But that's pretty much where the comparisons end here, all the alternative vampires featured in the film definitely have a lust for human blood and the main bad guy, Murlough, actually files his teeth into fangs. This is also not just a story about fighting vampires; Yes, the main conflict in the film is between two groups of the bloodthirsty undead; factually there are many different types of characters that we run into on our way through the film. You've got Patrick Fugit as a snake-boy, Salma Hayek as a bearded lady with psychic powers (and an amazing rack/body I might add!), Tom Woodruff, Jr. as the Wolfman, Orlando Jones as a guy with his skin missing and his ribs exposed, and an extremely evil fellow that seems to play everyone against each other to get what he wants named Mr. Tiny. He seems to have some kind of bizarre magical powers that weren't completely explained.

    ''College! Job! Family! And one day, if you're really lucky, you'll be standing here yelling at a teenager of your own.''

    Just with the names above, you can see that there was no expense spared in pulling together a pretty impressive ensemble cast. Then add to that Willem Dafoe as a rather eccentric acting vampire and a very unexpected John C. Reilly as the freak show vampire Larten Crepsley. Reilly really delivers in the role, being witty and slightly scary in the as Crepsley. He almost veers completely off his normal path of the idiot friend or relative that he has paved for himself by being in Stepbrothers, Talladega Nights, and Walk Hard. The reason I say almost is he still retains a sense of humour, but in a more traditional manner confined to the storytelling.

    I found Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant to be a pretty enjoyable, and entertaining film. It had a darkly comic, richly sarcastic vibe that many of the films based on these types of books seem to miss out upon. I haven't read the books of this series, but this film definitely seemed to incite me to do so.
    Will this be one of those times where the film will make enough money for the studio to kick off a new franchise? Who knows.

    Darren Shan: So do I turn into a bat
    Larten Crepsley: NO! NO! That is Bullshit.
  • sykora259517
    November 18, 2009
    sykora259517
    I fell asleep to it I think 3 times! In the same night! Lol Salma Hayek w/ a beard! I think 3 books were combined into this.
    (like the Lemony Snicket series, & have we seen another?)
    There's not really much by way of excitement unless you want to count the 'graveyard' (I tink...( read more) that's what I saw. fall asleep once may jsut be tired fall asleep twice, the movie is really not nice fall asleep thrice...forewarning advice


    WAIT FOR CABLE
  • rezpatriot
    November 18, 2009
    rezpatriot
    Cirque du Freak is an average movie. The best part are the special effects and unfortunately this is not enough at the end to pull this movie out from the circus tent and compete with some of the blockbusters and standard of acting today. I think its an original idea but using to...( read more)o many "film techniques" seen before. Nothing original in the director.
  • flickfever
    November 6, 2009
    flickfever
    In yet another adaptation from book to film come Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant. If you haven't noticed that we're living in a current vampire craze, you must be living under a rock--or perhaps in a coffin of your own. Although, The Vampire's Assistant is, thankfully, a...( read more) movie about blood-suckers geared toward the thumb-sucker crowd.

    As two best friends are forced to be "secret" best friends due to ridiculous societal pressure, the ties that bond are strained between the two young boys. Steve is, decidedly, a "bad boy" who comes from a broken home and revels in acting irresponsibly. Ultimately, though, he has a heart of gold and should be deemed to be harmless and misunderstood. On the other hand, you have Darren; a straight-laced boy who comes from a well-to-do family and well-bred background with nothing really going for him except for what his parents expect of him--which is a lot.

    When they fatefully come across a flying invitation to a freak show circus; the two boys are enthralled to break the rules and attend the midnight event. So they do. And what they find is a truly freakish collection of exhibits that includes a real-life lizard boy (Patrick Fugit); a rib-less man (Orlando Jones) and a beautiful bearded lady (Salma Hayek) among others.

    But the real star of the show is John C. Reilly, who proves again just what a versatile actor he really is. He inhabits the role of Larten Crepsley, the #1 vampire of the cirque du freak. His abilities as vampire supreme are unmatched except by those evil vampires he is against. The clan that feeds off of people for the pleasure of it instead of for sustenance. Darren is forced to become a "half-vampire" in order to protect his friend Steve--who has gone to the dark side.

    Although the vampire elements are decidedly dialed-down for this teen-geared movie; the thrills are still in full force. The story is full of quirky gags and whimsical little pockets of delightful humor, camp, art direction and dialogue. And, even though this film is Twilight-for-the-guys; it's really a lot better than Twilight by dint of this movie's self-awareness and intentional camp. Twilight actually thinks it's a great vampire film. The Vampire's Assistant doesn't care if it or not.
  • ashervh
    December 19, 2009
    ashervh
    looks like bullshit.
  • watahch
    December 17, 2009
    watahch
    the vampire's assistant
  • eryri
    December 16, 2009
    eryri
    Cirque Du Freak wasn't too bad though I expected it to be a little bit better. It's instantly forgettable. The cast is OK and Salma Hayek is hotter than ever.....then again she always hot! The storyline is disjointed. I suppose those that have read the novels will love this movie...( read more). Average at best for me.
  • threefolddado
    December 14, 2009
    threefolddado
    I had my doubts going into what looked like another teen vampire film, but I was pleasantly surprised. This turns out to be a dark fantasy, weaving an elaborate fantasy world within its story telling. A great cast adds to the fun. A good time. Hope the series continues.
  • Dancinggaviota
    December 13, 2009
    Dancinggaviota
    Me gustan los vampiros
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