Cirque Du Freak the Vampires Assistant Cover Easy
Good Movie But Unfaithful to the Books!
This is a pretty good movie based of the books by Darren Shan. I have read all 12 books and I was highly anticipating this movie. Even thought I liked this film, I was slightly disappointed that there were so many changes to the film. The producers said that this film was from Books 1-3, but it seemed like only Book 1.
This film is about two friends who are invited to the Cirque Du Freak. After the show, one friend Darren Shan steals a spider. After the spider mortally wounded his friend he asks for an antidote. But the only way to do that would to give up his humanity.
I was surprised to see John C. Reilly as Mr. Crepsley. He doesn't seem to fit that role. He's never that serious. Well, he did an excellent job. Mr. Tiny is one creepy guy. He is someone that no one would want to cross with.
I am surprised to see how many people compare this to Twilight. The only similarities is that both movies/books have vampires. In fact, the Cirque du Freak book series were published before the Twilight series. Anyway, this is a good movie even though it's somewhat different from the books. I rate this film 8/10.
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Well done (coming from a fan of the books!)
Warning: Spoilers
As a big fan of the vampire books by Irish writer Darren Shan I wasn't particularly looking forward to seeing Cirque du Freak: A vampire's assistant. Sometimes you should let a book be a book. And judging by the movie trailers the casting looked all wrong and the main character seemed too boring and too American to my taste. But in the end curiosity won and I went to see it anyway.
The vampire saga of Darren Shan consists of 12 books (four trilogies) and aims at kids aged 11-14. None other than JK Rowling was a big fan of this series so comparisons to Harry Potter were made very soon. What the two series have in common is the scope of the story. The tale of Darren Shan also has a Voldemort and a big (but very misty) showdown (in the last book). Like Harry Potter Darren Shan is drawn into a mysterious but exciting new world. Both teenagers must learn to control their power and learn the ways of being a new sort of being (wizard or vampire). So obviously there is a connection.
The movie is loosely based on the first trilogy, Vampire Blood. Darren Shan is an ordinary 16 year old teenager with a big fascination for spiders. One day he and his best friend Steve go to a real freakshow, where they meet vampire Larten Crepsley. Steve wants to become a vampire because his life stinks anyway. But Crepsley decides to chose Darren as his vampire student. So Darren fakes his death and moves to the camping ground of the Cirque du Freak. He befriends a snake boy, a monkey girl and a woman with a beard and tries to go on with his (vampire) life. But he soon finds out that the vampire world is on the brink of a full scale war between vampires (the kind that only drinks human blood and takes what it needs) and the Vampaneze (vampires who kill the humans they drink from). And somehow both parties think that Darren is destined to play a big part in this war
Watching this movie I tried to forget all the things I knew from the books. And yes, this movie experience turned out to be a very enjoyable one.
Chris Massoglia (The Hole) looked miscast at first as Darren Shan. But as the story progresses you can see why he was chosen. His innocence works very well and you can see him develop into the hero he will one day be. In my imagination Larten Crepsley was more serious than the one given us by actor John C. Reilly (Chicago ). But I did enjoy his version of the experienced vampire mentor in the movie. But to me Josh Hutcherson (Journey to the centre of the earth) was best cast as Steve. Steve hates the world and his character will play a major part in the rest of the story (= other books). There's a lot of evil in Steve, but in this movie it remains at the surface. Sort of. As fans of the books all know, he's capable of doing much more damage.
The pace of the movie is pretty good: there's a lot to be told here. There's a lot of humour in it (the books were pretty serious) and the voice-over by Darren Shan works very well. Especially the first 20 minutes (with the actual freakshow) were well done. Salma Hayek looks stunning with beard and actually gets more screen time than in the books. Too bad her acting isn't always that convincing. Ken Watanabe is a great Mr. Tall, the boss of Cirque du Freak. He gives the movie a great mysterious quality.
Okay, then the bad things. Sometimes the acting and action scenes were bad. Some of the effects looked fake. And the fact that it all ended with an ordinary rumble was a disappointment. The ending seemed very rushed. But what really let me down were the mysterious Mr. Tiny and his army of Little People. In the books Mr. Tiny is a cold hearted man who's so scary and powerful that every word he uses can be felt as a dagger in your heart. But in the movie he's just a silly old bald man who talks too much. His army of Little People – Jawa like creatures he raised from the dead – seemed too computer generated and looked like a pitiful low-budget effort to imitate Gollum. Too bad.
But overall I really enjoyed Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant. It's a good introduction to the vampire world of Darren Shan and I sincerely hope that the movie will be so successful that there will be a part 2. Because when Darren, Crepsley and Little Creature Harkat travel to Vampire Mountain , that's when the real fun begins!
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Targeted for teens but still entertaining for adults
Warning: Spoilers
It's very easy these days 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, and the list could go on and on and on. I mean, let's be honest. When you see the trailer for Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and realize that the same guy that kick-started the Harry Potter franchise is directing it, you kind of feel like the studios are really getting desperate to try to launch something new in the genre to continue to milk it. Almost like their trying to get lightning (pun intended) to strike twice or more times in the same place. I'm sure that's what everyone is thinking about this adaptation of Darren Shan's Cirque du Freak series of books.
It probably doesn't help that the movie features vampires that don't have fangs and seem to have an Interview with a Vampire theme of the main bloodsucker not wanting to kill humans and be a good guy. Believe me, I'm getting tired of that just as much as you are. But that's pretty much where the comparisons end here. All the other vampire's 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, but 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, 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.
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 humor, but just not THAT kind of humor.
The film does a really good job of staying dark and not compromising what I feel the director was trying to accomplish with the atmosphere and adaptation by watering it down and making it overly "safe" for tweens and a younger audience. The villains, Mr. Tiny and Murlough, have a lot to do with the dark tone of the film. They are both quite frightening and detestable to look at. There's also some more adult-oriented language that you don't usually get in these types of movies.
Sometimes, it sort of feels like the director and writers had to "paraphrase" or shove in some little parts to fit them in to the film. Sort of like something was going to be important to mention in this one if there ever is a sequel. You could really feel it at the end, as it seemed like they were giving you visual footnotes for something that could be coming in the future.
I found Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant to be a pretty enjoyable film. It had a darkly comic and sarcastic vibe that many of the films based on these types of books seem to miss. I haven't read every book of every film that has been made from a young-adult series, but this movie definitely seemed to be rooted a little bit more in the reality and attitude of teenagers and the way they act and live together. Will this be one of those times where the movie will make enough money for the studio to kick off a new franchise? Who knows. Odds are against it, but you can never stop hoping.
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Not as bad as it could have been
My tween-age daughter has become a fan of all things vampire thanks to the "Twilight" books and films, so she asked me to take her to see this movie, even though it's based on a different series.
Although "Cirque du Freak" shows its "young adult" target audience, it was not as bad as many teen-oriented films I have seen. It had an interesting, if simplistic, storyline, and was effectively filmed. I agree with the comments that especially commend the Freak Show scene as an early high point, but the rest of the story moved along at about the right pace, and I never found myself bored.
I'm told the teen lead was very attractive, but he's not much of an actor. His evil counterpart, played by Josh Hutcherson of "RV," was somewhat better. I'm not a real John Reilly fan, but he did a good job in his leading role. Willem Dafoe was wasted playing, essentially, a vampire version of John Waters. I would hope that Ken Watanabe and Salma Hayek would have a bit more to do in future installments. Ditto Orlando Jones, who hasn't done much since the horrible "Evolution" nearly killed his career. I also hope the character of Mr. Tiny is written better in the future; this guy was a pain to watch, and came off more like a sweaty pedophile than a supernatural referee or whatever the hell he was supposed to be.
Parents: nothing to worry about here. I'm not even sure how it came in at PG-13, unless there was some mild profanity sprinkled in that I don't remember. This might be a little complicated for little ones, but ages 8 and over shouldn't be scared by anything they see here. Best of all, it's not too painful for adults to watch if you must. Then again, I'm a veteran of the Pokemon movies; I've been to movie hell, so I can sit through anything now.
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Brought a Surprising Smile to My Face
This movie was actually very entertaining. I didn't expect much going in but I actually liked the story. While I thought it was going to be a Twilight ripoff, I think it actually made in fun of Twilight a little bit--which made for great fun. The acting was better than expected. I was especially surprised by John C. Reilly. I absolutely loved his character! I agree with others when I say that it's actually refreshing to see him in a more serious role. The movie was interesting, unique, caring, and humorous. I definitely recommend seeing the movie. I think it's going to be a great series. I look forward to seeing the next movie.
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Give it a Chance! Actually rather good!
Appreciating a wider variety of movies than most people, I rated this movie highly, and do certainly recommend it. The special effects were done very well, and yet were not overly used, as so many movies are these days. Character development was done well also, VERY nice to see in a time when more movie time and money is spent on "fluff" with no substance. The storyline developed rather smoothly and flowed well. Even people I know who normally have difficulty following a storyline, were able to keep track of things. (Again, the storyline in many movies are either confusing by being poorly edited/put together, or on the opposite end.... boringly simple.) I actually liked this movie a lot, as it made me interested in the books/stories, and want to see other "chapters", to see how the story proceeds and concludes. I do hope they follow with the sequel(s).
I do recommend this movie for adults & adolescents. (Probably a bit much for kids real young.)
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Vampires and freaks for a teenage audience...
Although I worked in a bookstore a while back, I never actually did read a single of the Darren Shan books, although just familiar with them from the genre and the covers. So I wasn't even aware that this movie was based on those, until I watched the DVD extras after having seen the movie.
I found this movie in a secondhand store, and thought to myself 'a vampire movie with John C. Reilly, well that ought to be unusual', and so I picked it up and decided to give it a go.
I will say that, much like "Twilight", this vampire movie is a vampire movie for a teenage audience. However, unlike "Twilight", this movie is not about love, sparkly vampires (though the big hair is here!) or werewolves (again, there is one of those as well). "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" is a bit more gloomy and dark compared to the lovefest known as "Twilight". However, that being said, it is not really enough to make it overly suitable for an audience out of their teenage years. I was waiting and hoping for a bit more than the movie did deliver.
The story is about a young boy named Darren (played by Chris Massoglia) and his friend Steve (played by Josh Hutcherson) who come across a traveling freak show that is in town for one night only. They go there and enter a world of bizarre oddities and a brooding war between vampires.
"Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" does have some rather impressive names to the cast list. Despite my first initial puzzlement about John C. Reilly being in a vampire movie, then he actually did a good job, and comes to show his diversity of being an actor outside the comedy genre. But the movie also has Salma Hayek, Willem Dafoe, Frankie Faison, Ken Watanabe and Ray Stevenson to the cast list. And much has probably be said about this already, but seeing Salma Hayek with a beard was just fun - and most impressively was that she carried it so well.
One of the better things in the movie, was the costume design and the set designs. There were so many nice details to the clothing, and especially to the fream show camp. Keep your eyes open here, because there is a lot of really nice treats to behold. And if you get the DVD with the extras on it, I suggest you take the tour of the camp, because it is really worth it.
"Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" is a teenage movie and a movie for fans of the Darren Shan books, I am sure. I found it to be entertaining enough for a single watching, but I doubt I will ever make a second watching out of it. It was just a bit too much out of my interest. As much as I have strained to point out the target audience age of this movie, then "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" was still more enjoyable than "Twilight" (of which, I mistakenly saw the first movie, and stayed well clear of all that came afterwards).
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Excellent vampire comedy for adults and kids
I have seen Twilight New Moon (hasnt everyone!?) and also the Korean bloody vampire movie Thirst but I guess the closest this comes is the older Interview with a Vampire, story is a long way off.
Basically this is a comedy movie for kids up to 16 or so and if you are an adult like me and still enjoyed it, good for you! Pleasant story line, I am not familiar with the books but my 11 year old ought to be better hooked on these books than the Twilight ones which have been hyped up too much. give credit here where credit is due, a good original story with lots of fun moments and if they did take out from the original trailer, it is all the more better for the film.
Good vampire movie overall, nothing horrific, nothing cheesy like Twilight movie, nothing too nasty, just a nice film to watch for all the family. Go spoil yourself and have a scream or two, it wont hurt!
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Watch it! You will not regret it.
Let me start by saying I've read every Cirque du Freak book as well as every Demonata book (also by author Darren Shan) and have enjoyed them both thoroughly. I've been a lifelong fan of this genre and used to read the scariest books I could find as a kid.
Now, this movie was well-produced, had a good but not great cast, and the plot stayed relatively accurate to the book, which was honestly refreshing. If you've read the books, you'll notice how Madam Octa got a lot of screen-time! I loved the character development because it is so necessary in this series. The ultimate progression of Darren and Steve's fate draws a lot from their innate personalities. There's a little Darren and a little Steve in all of us. The entertainment aspects of the movie have been optimized for young adults and overall the movie leaves plenty of room for a sequel. If you cannot wait for one, I highly recommend reading the books. You will love them. That is a fact, and it will not matter what background you have with reading or writing.
YOU NEED TO WATCH IT BEFORE LISTENING TO ANY NEGATIVE NANCYs.
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Entertaining Movie
I watched a screening of this movie and loved it. I wasn't sure whether to expect a children's movie or adult movie, and it came out to be more like the latter. I grew up reading & watching "Goosebumps", and this movie made me feel like I was watching a "Goosebumps" film tailored for adults.
John C. Reilly does a really great job acting; it's nice to see him do something more challenging again. If you are turned off by his work in movies like Walk Hard, Talladega Nights, etc., give him a chance in this movie. He really impressed me. Patrick Fugit was my favorite actor in the film; his character was visually an eyesore but also in some odd way incredibly adorable. And Chris Massoglia, of course, was a great lead actor.
I would watch this film again when it officially comes out in theaters.
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Unfortunate
Good music, characters and creativity. But the story is rushed and acting is painful at parts, which makes the entire movie laughable.
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See this one BEFORE it comes out on DVD!
Unable to understand the low ratings that critics are giving this film. From the dazzling and witty opening credits through the delightful cast and story line, this film delivers great visuals, charm and one of John C. Reilly's best performances to date! A little disappointed that we didn't see enough of Willem Dafoe, But Salma Hayek was charming! Young adults will enjoy the freak show characters and vampire storyline; older viewers will get a kick out of the humor and identifying actors from other films. I haven't read the books, but I sure would love to see what happens on the next day as the film comes to a close. FOLLOW YOUR HEART, FORGET THE NAY-SAYERS AND SEE THIS FILM WHILE YOU CAN!
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Funny and Dark
dhmtn 26 September 2009
I just saw this movie at Fantastic Fest in Austin. I really loved it. Unlike the Potter movies, it succeeds in being dark without taking itself too seriously. The characters were rich, the acting superb, and the pace was neither frantic nor plodding, but just right. John C. Reilly was excellent -- he had a very powerful presence that I'd not really noticed before.
I haven't read the books, but the actors said the books' author also loved the movie. I realize movies rarely live up to readers' ideals, but this movie really stood on its own merits. There was a lot of dark/sarcastic humor (one-liners, mostly) in the movie that I understand wasn't in the books -- and it really worked. Unlike the Harry Potter books, I'm anxious to read these due to my appreciation of the movie.
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I guess there's one movie for the family to see for Halloween.
Warning: Spoilers
Starting out in the movie, Steve (Josh Hutcherson) and Darren Shan (Chris Massoglia) have always been best friends. After skipping class and getting in trouble at school Darren is forced by his parents Don McManus and Colleen Camp, Mr. and Mrs. Shan to not be friends anymore. When getting an invite to a Cirque du Freak show they will never forget, Darren steals Crepsley's spider and Steve try's to convince Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly) a two hundred year old Vampire to make him a vampire. Massoglia has some real potential i think when he made this movie and I'm sure will grow to be a great actor in the film industry. Reilly is funny yet serious in his role in the movie which makes it fun to watch. I caught him being interviewed on Conan the week before his movie came out talking about his childhood and when his mother brought him and his brother to see Halloween. They were both only twelve and ten at the time. Wanting to leave the movie all throughout, when getting back home Reilly's brother plays a prank on him when he is told to shut off all the lights in the basement. After getting to the last one above the stars his brother turns it off on him and he is scared whit-less and runs up the stairs terrified. Even just telling his story about his childhood makes me laugh. After giving some insight on his childhood it helps you understand what life was like for him before he became a star. I like hearing about the down to earth things with stars, it makes them seem normal in a sense that they are just like regular people. There was not to many special effects, but the small ones of the vampires running and the spider and the Cirque Characters was pretty good. Makeup was really well done and the costumes were as well. Looking forward to see what else Massoglia has next on his agenda with movies, hopefully see him sometime within the next year. This movie will leave you satisfied at the end because there is a great performance from Massoglia and Reilly. See my Reviews on getthenew.com, thanks ahb.
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"Try not to do something stupid, like kill your family!"
Warning: Spoilers
This film is one in a long line of made for teens vampire flicks which includes such fare as "Monster Squad" and "My Babysitter's a Vampire". In a bit of an anomaly, the two principal characters are portrayed by relative unknowns (at least to this viewer), while the supporting cast boasts a formidable cast of talented actors. Some, like Salma Hayek and Willem Dafoe have only brief screen appearances, while John C. Reilly as ringmaster Crepsley plays a significant role in the conflict that develops between childhood buddies Darren Shan (Chris Massoglia) and Steve (Josh Hutcherson). When Steve recognizes Crepsley from the pages of a vampire magazine, he offers himself up to be a vampire in training, but is thwarted when bitten by a lethally poisonous spider. In order to save his friend's life, Darren offers himself as Crepsley's assistant, but with no taste for blood, he's only committed to being a half vampire.
Since I follow vampire films as best I can, I'm always intrigued by any new information that comes my way via new vampire lore. This story introduces a class of vampires called the 'vampaneze', those that have no problem killing their victims after drinking their blood. Contrast that with your run of the mill, everyday vampire that only wants to suck your blood and turn you into a vampire themselves. Much more humane. There's also this tidbit of information in the story - vampires exhale a gas that has the ability to knock out humans. How did no one think of this before?
Before all the business started with Darren and Steve figuratively going for each other's throat, I was most intrigued by the opening of the picture with the introduction of all those circus freaks. Alexander Ribs and Rhamus Twobellies were actually kind of gross, but they did remind me of the actual physical oddities that appeared in the Tod Browning classic from 1932 titled "Freaks". In that one you had the real deal, with characters like the Siamese Twins, a bird woman, a bearded lady, a pin-head and the amazing caterpillar boy. With those kind of attractions, you didn't need a vampire!
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From a fan of the books...
Warning: Spoilers
CDF is arguably my favorite book series of all time, so I really tried to go into this with an open mind. Judging on it's own merits, I would rate the movie a 4 or 5: barely worth watching until the end, but not quite bad enough to bring back to Blockbuster before it's over. Judging it as an interpretation of the books, it doesn't even deserve a 1. Rule #1: if you're making a movie out of a series of popular books, you need to keep more than the characters names. And that is about all they left the same. Mannerisms, appearances, plot, everything was changed. Even the tagline for the movie is wrong, because the vampires in this series aren't immortal.
The plot is about what you'd get if you threw the first 3 books of the series into a blender, dumped that into a tank of starved, ravenous sharks, then let all of histories greatest sushi chefs ginsu it until nothing recognizable remained. One thing that keeps popping up: YES this is a vampire movie, but NO, Twilight fans, this series was around for about a decade before the solar-powered disco balls ruined vampire fiction for us all.
John C. Reilly gives probably the best performance in the film. While a good bit different than described in the books, his portrayal of Mr. Crepsley was at least entertaining to watch. William Dafoe appears for all of about 5 minutes as the supposed-to-be battle hardened veteran vampire Gavner Purl, except Dafoe looks and vaguely acts like John Waters. Ken Watanabe is merely decent as the circus owner, Mr. Tall. Michael Cerveris' character, Desmond Tiny, is supposed to be the embodiment of cold, bone chilling evil, but comes across as the flamboyant uncle you try to avoid at family reunions. I have nothing to say about Salma Hayek, who is there for eye candy first, and plot significance second. Finally, Ray Stevenson almost comes off as menacing as the villain Murlough, even though the character is supposed to have dark purple skin and glowing red eyes, hair, lips and nails, but following the source material is for squares Daddy-O!
But Chris Massoglia, playing the lead role, literally could not have been worse. I've used this analogy before, but I have seen corpses show more emotion than this kid. In a scene when he has to fake his own death(undoubtedly causing his family and loved ones incredible pain and suffering, mind you) he acts as if he could be going to a pizza parlor for dinner. In the books, Darren is an impulsive hothead. In the film, Massoglia could have been replaced with a Bozo the Clown blow up doll and you would have seen more emotion (at least the doll would smile). Yeah, yeah, one could argue that he's young and inexperienced, but I don't buy that. I've known first time actors, many of whom were much younger than Massoglia, do much better jobs than he did. Hell, Anna Paquin won an Oscar when she was 12! If there is any justice in the world, Chris Massoglia will never work again and Edward Norton will finally win an Oscar.
I did get one brief laugh towards the end though, when Reilly was fighting Ray Stevenson's character, and that was only because in the books Darren remarks on how short their fight was (supposed to be) because "they weren't trying to please action-hungry audiences", when the fight scene was nothing but spectacle filled, drawn out filth attempting to do just that.
If you would like an emotionally driven, decently written vampire saga, read the Cirque du Freak books. If you'd like to see a book-film adaptation so bad that some electricity might actually refuse to power it, watch this movie.
2/10, and that's me being generous.
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Boring, Annoying and Silly
The teenager Darren Shan (Chris Massoglia) is an excellent student that is obsessed by spiders and pride and joy of his perfect middle-class family; his best friend is the reckless Steve (Josh Hutcherson) that dreams on becoming a vampire. When they receive a flyer with the advertisement of a freak show, they sneak to the theater to see the attractions. The ringmaster is the vampire Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly) that has a lethal spider. After the show, Darren goes to Crepsley dress-room and overhears Steve unsuccessfully trying to convince Larten to transform him in a vampire. Darren steals Larten's spider that bites Steve in school later; he seeks out Larten asking for an antidote for his friend. Larten proposes a deal to Darren: he should become his assistant and he would give the dose to Steve. When jealous Steve recovers, he believes his friend has betrayed him; but he is transformed in a vampaneze, an evil breed in truce with the vampires, by the mean Murlaugh (Ray Stevenson).
The disappointing "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" is a boring and annoying film. It is supposed to be funny but it is silly indeed. I really did not like this flick. The wooden and expressionless Chris Massoglia is too weak for the lead role. My vote is five.
Title (Brazil): "Circo dos Horrores: O Aprendiz de Vampiro" ("Circus of Horrors: The Apprentice of Vampire")
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An excellent adaption of the book series
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 factions 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 Steve (Josh Hutcherson), 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. Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant 10/10
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Why. Just why.
Let me make this clear: I loved these books. They are the best vampire series I have ever read, and when I heard that they were becoming a movie, I was ecstatic. I thought that maybe, FINALLY, people could see what really good vampires could be like. But I suppose after Eragon and Alex Rider, I should have known better than to give Hollywood that much credit. With the exception of Josh Hutchenson, no one was playing their character justly (or correctly!) and the way the movie arranged the story didn't even make sense. Not only do I want a retraction, I want a movie annulment- that way it never happened in the first place and someone can start all over and do it right.
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Great fun, a good book adaptation
The movie is quite entertaining, I think several scenes in the movie are much more successfully handled as in book itself. (I am only familiar with book one, yet.) So, I liked the way as scriptwriters anticipate some future elements of the story: for example by the sudden visions of Madame Truska or by bringing forth the character of Gavner -played by the always excellent Williem Dafoe- into this "prelude" movie. I have also very like that smiling facial expression performed by John C. Reilly by the end of the move (for this small gesture prefigured that affectionate relationship and love that Larten will feel toward his assistant, Darren. I liked the scenes with the Snake Boy, Evra, who is much for significant character in the movie than in Book 1 (particularly in the pompous Circus-scene of the movie). I big fight between Larten and Murlaugh in the cemetery was just great The flaws are (I mention here only a few): Darren's relationship with his parents is depicted in a very stereotypical way in the picture (I know, the parents here are just background-figures, but still) I have also missed the scenes with the tarantella, Madame Octa. The scene: stealing of Octa by Darren is extremely weak, and not excited at all. The special telepathic relationship between the spider and its trainer in not explained or discussed in the movie at all, and the filmmakers omitted some of the most interesting "kunst" Octa capable of (like the wet spinned on Lartens mouth, etc.) Octa was not controlled by the voice of the flute, that was just a secondary thing!! But she was controlled by human thoughts in the book!! Performances: Male actors steal the show. I especially like the performance by Michael Cerveris as Mr. Tiny. The acting of John C. Reilly (as Larten Crepsley) was a very-very pleasant surprise for me. I can congratulate from the casting-director and for the producers of their choice. Jessica Carlson (in the role of the monkey-girl, Rebecca) was charming and natural- including her tail The CGI: unfortunately nothing special, or "revolutunary new", just the usual good-level work. The Cinematography/Lightning: excellent choice for the the basic mood/atmosphere of the movie. The colors and tones are quite vivid, not so digitally soft and pale like in the trend today in fantasy movies (like in the last HP for example). This braver, more intense coloring was good for Cirque du Freak. I must praise the work of Tom Woodruff Jr. and his faithful partner: the "monster-costumes", and make up-effects were absolutely perfect!
In my opinion: It was a good start. I think that this movie desires the love of younger audiences, and also hope the studio-moguls will give a chance for the makers for continue this franchise after this start.
My rating: 7.5 (out of 10).
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Good Adaption, very entertaining.
Warning: Spoilers
Naturally being a Darren Shan book fan, i re-read the boos before seeing the film on its opening date, being very excited for months and researching how much it would be based on books etc. I came out happy. Darren Shan the author of the books stated he was there during filming and it was loosely based on the books, but he still loved it and cant wait for the sequel. Being aware of them trying to promote this as a movie alone i went prepared.
This film was about a 16 year old (12 years old in the books) Darren Shan, who finds himself wound up in the fast moving world of vampires, and there evil blood-brothers the Vampaneze (throughout the book series he will face the consequence's of being a vampire, learn his strength and the sickening truth of where his life is leading.)
The story may have felt rushed at places but thats OK, it explained all it needed to explain and if we complain about this film, we would have to complain about EVERY film wouldn't we? Overall i really enjoyed the small dark humour it contained, the trailers made it look like it wouldn't deliver a scary atmosphere but it most certainly did.
Im going to have to nit-pick at a few things from the books i didn't like here. The fact Steve was a vampaneze straight away which will change later story lines, but I'm sure the movie will work around these and make it work (As i said, these are the films not books) The little people didn't scare me, since seeing the last book cover (With a picture of a little person on it) i was giddy from seeing them but the smile fell when i did see them, other than that not to many complaints.
The main lead who portrayed Darren, certainly looked like Darren may have, but his acting was weak, hopefully he will improve, we cant blame him for this, most child actors lack brilliant skills. Josh Hutcherson who played Steve really made me love his character, he was one of the few people perfect for Steve, having a moody laid back attitude all the time yet a secretly dark side was good for him.
Overall, don't listen to the critics! They cant always be trusted, many people love films they bash, just because they have the official critic name, doesn't mean they are always right...
Nat.
P.S to people talking about VAMPIRE films coming out now, This was actually filmed in 2007 before twilight and all the other crap, its just late for release.
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awesome movie, but i can see why book fans are unhappy.
Warning: Spoilers
Frankly, I loved this movie! It was fun, odd, and rather amusing. The transformation of Darren was awesome I thought. Preppy little school boy to awesome half vampire. It rocked.
OK, now on to better formed expressions of the film.
I have always been afraid to pick up a vampire book for two reasons: the old fashion boring stuff and the over-dramatic romance. I always fine it rather disgusting. So here I was on a Tuesday afternoon with nothing to do when my mom said, "hey we've seen every single movie out right now except that vampire thing... do you wanna see it?" With a yawn i said sure why not... and off we went...
I couldn't stop laughing through the entire thing, the bearded woman and monkey girl seemed out of place, but it made the movie work... and Steve was really odd to me, but you know what he's just as odd in the first book too.
I came out of this movie dying for more... the following Thursday i bought the first book and read it in 8hours(didn't eat, sleep, or talked to anyone)LOL... on Friday i bought book 2 and 3 and in the end read 3 books in three days, while i worked as well... not an easy feat, i got into a fight with my BF over it, LOL... I'm buying the rest in a few days time...
I have to say though, i was really disappointed when i was told the movie was a compromise of the first three books, but it wasn't... Steve was only in the first book which they followed nearly to a T, but after that it strays off... at most this movie was a compromise of the first and a few of the later books when Steve comes back... book 2 and 3 are rarely apart of the film...
the movie was wonderful and recommend to anyone and everyone, unless you get mad if they don't follow the books to a T... i understand why book fans are upset, but they needed to make the film into a round circle, which the books don't...
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Surprisingly Pretty Good
Warning: Spoilers
If someone had told me that John C. Reilly was going to be playing the role of a vampire, I would have thought that he would be really miscast but he was actually perfect as Larten Crepsley the vampire in Cirque Du Freak. I read the book a couple of years ago but I never read the rest of the series. I do know the movie covers the first three books, the Vampire Blood trilogy. I have to be honest, the lead role of DarrenShan, Chris Massoglia was pretty forgettable, although Josh Hutcherson as Steve "Leopard" Leonard was really good, it was John C Reilly that really carried the film. The rest of the cast were very good, Patrick Fugit as Evra Von was likable as well as Jessica Carlson as Rebecca (Monkey Girl) The movie was pretty faithful to the book although there were some changes such as, the spider, Madame Octa bit Steve in Darren's bedroom after his little sister burst into the room. Also they made Madam Octa kind of sweeter in the film, in the book she was dangerous and definitely not cute. It's not a perfect film but I am giving it a ten simply for John C Reilly's awesome performance as the vampire. He managed to bring real humour and personality to the role while still having a sense of menace as well. It's a good movie for older kids and teens, younger kids might find some of the more intense scenes scary though. All up, I would recommend this movie.
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I'm so glad I watched this!
This was such a wonderful dark fantasy film, I absolutely loved it so much. Fantastic acting, characters, costumes, musical score, animation. John Reilly's performance was delightful.
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Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450405/reviews
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