Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
2009 Directed by Paul Weitz
Synopsis
Darren Shan is a regular teenage kid. He and his friend Steve find out about a Freak Show coming to town and work hard at trying to find tickets. They do, and together they go to "Cirque du Freak" where they see many strange acts including a wolf-man and a bearded lady
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Popular reviews
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Wait...what?
This is actually entertaining?
What a surprise! I carefully avoided this film when it came out because of the negative reviews. Today it popped up on TV and with nothing better to do I decided to watch it. And that's the type of film it is, an inbetweener. If you're looking for an entertaining diversion, this fits the bill perfectly.
Based on Darren Shan's book series (of which I've only read the first one), this film clearly betrays its youth literature roots. It is aimed at teenagers, has larger than life characters and wraps it in a 'horror light' aesthetic. It is perhaps a bit darker than similar films and that is what surprised me somewhat. The characters are…
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Vampires Assistant is about teen Chris Massoglia (The Hole) when bitten by vampire John C. Reilly , he joins the Cirque du Freak with its sideshow of freaks (including Salma Hayek's bearded lady), then war breaks with their evil rivals.
A entertaining movie with some pretty fab make-up for the many different freaks, just dont expect anything groundbreaking. -
Well this was a pleasant surprise. From the muted reviews and disappointing box office I was expecting yet another poor fantasy film aimed at children. What I got was a film more in keeping with the child fantasy fare of the '80s (think: Something Wicked This Way Comes and Monster Squad). It was darker than most modern films with well judged humour and hints to a far greater story (something that will probably now never be realised on screen due to its weak financial performance). I have never read the books, and fans of the novel may well hate the films, but for those wanting to experience a modern take on the films we grew up with then this is…
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It seems lately we cannot escape vampires. They are quickly turning into an over-used fad much like the Disaster or Spoof films have in their own regard. "Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" is based off a series of books penned by Darren Shan titled The Saga of Darren Shan. The film is comprised of the first 3 books within The Vampire Blood Trilogy, leaving us to speculate that there is a potential for more films in the series of 12 books.
While "Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" isn't great, it is a light-hearted and enjoyable take on the vampire genre that spins a unique perspective on vampires. The story does move rather quickly for being derived from 3…
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Why did I just watch this? I was hoping for an easy/entertaining watch. What I got was a lost movie that couldn't figure out the right amount of funny to combine with fantasy scary... in the end it's neither, the acting is very weak, the good actors in the film ham it to the extreme and the ending makes it plain and clear that all the movie creators want is a paycheck...
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Why did I just watch this? I was hoping for an easy/entertaining watch. What I got was a lost movie that couldn't figure out the right amount of funny to combine with fantasy scary... in the end it's neither, the acting is very weak, the good actors in the film ham it to the extreme and the ending makes it plain and clear that all the movie creators want is a paycheck...
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I had no intention of watching Cirque du Freak as I've had more than enough of vampires. Especially teenage vampires. Fucking Twilight. But my train buddy lent me this as part of our ongoing DVD exchange program (he's currently borrowing Hard Boiled). Much to my surprise it tickled my fancy. Mainly through some inspired casting. John C. Reilly is a wonderful vampire. One of my favourite onscreen vamps. Also nice to see Willem Defoe returning to the world of onscreen vampirism. One he was born for. What really made me enjoy Cirque du Freak was the casting of characters from my favourite TV shows. Frankie Faison from the Wire. Jane Krakowski from 30 Rock. Kristen Schaal from Flight of the…
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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Wait...what?
This is actually entertaining?
What a surprise! I carefully avoided this film when it came out because of the negative reviews. Today it popped up on TV and with nothing better to do I decided to watch it. And that's the type of film it is, an inbetweener. If you're looking for an entertaining diversion, this fits the bill perfectly.
Based on Darren Shan's book series (of which I've only read the first one), this film clearly betrays its youth literature roots. It is aimed at teenagers, has larger than life characters and wraps it in a 'horror light' aesthetic. It is perhaps a bit darker than similar films and that is what surprised me somewhat. The characters are…
-
Vampires Assistant is about teen Chris Massoglia (The Hole) when bitten by vampire John C. Reilly , he joins the Cirque du Freak with its sideshow of freaks (including Salma Hayek's bearded lady), then war breaks with their evil rivals.
A entertaining movie with some pretty fab make-up for the many different freaks, just dont expect anything groundbreaking. -
Read the book years ago, don't remember a whole lot about it but I do love what they did in the movie. I would never have thought to put John C Reilly in the vampire role but he does it wonderfully. The only thing a little off for me was the language. Granted it's PG-13 but for something aimed at younger teens, they could do without the swears. Not that I'm against swearing, it just doesn't feel right here.
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oh what a shame
i dont know what happened for sure, but seems a really bad cast put this film along side the likes of catwoman etc. ... but really, the books are awesome -
This was a decent movie. For the most part I enjoyed it, especially all the imaginative characters and John C. Reilly's performance. I liked the actor they got to play Steve but Darren's character probably could have been played better by someone else. I also felt the script could have been written a little better so the story flowed better but it was ok. All in all it was a fun movie to watch with a decent story, good acting, fight scenes and special effects. I will definitely see the sequel.