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John C. Reilly, Josh Hutcherson, Chris Massoglia, Jessica Carlson (II), Michael Cerveris ... see more see more... , Ray Stevenson , Patrick Fugit , Morgan Saylor , Don McManus , Colleen Camp , Ken Watanabe , Salma Hayek , Orlando Jones , Frankie Faison , Willem Dafoe , Kristen Schaal , Patrick Breen , Tom Woodruff Jr. , Jane Krakowski , Drew Varick , John Crawford , Ritchie Montgomery , Ted Manson , Ann McKenzie , Monica Monica , Adella Gautier , Beau Holden , Patrick Fulton , Tyler Chetta , Shaun Grant , Trey Burvant , Beth Burvant , Evelyn Burvant , Anna Dawson , Jonathan Nosan , Madeline Gaudet , Erika Jensen , Armal J. Perkins , Brandon Molale , Chris J. Kelly , Chris Kelly , Chris Hanley , Daniel Newman

Based on the popular series of books by Darren Shan, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant tells the story of a small-town teen who inadvertently shatters a 200-year-old truce between warring facti... read more read more...ons of vampires. Sixteen-year-old Darren (Chris Massoglia) is your typical adolescent; he spends most of his time with his best friend, Steve (Josh Hutcherson), earns decent grades, and generally manages to stay out of trouble. But trouble finds Darren when he and Steve make the acquaintance of a vampire named Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly) while attending a traveling freak show at a local theater. Transformed into a bloodsucker by Crepsley, Darren joins the Cirque Du Freak and quickly ingratiates himself with the unusual cast of characters who populate it, including Madame Truska the Bearded Lady (Salma Hayek) and the traveling sideshow's towering barker (Ken Watanabe). As Darren works to master his newfound powers as a budding member of the supernatural underworld, he becomes a valued pawn between the vampires and their deadlier rivals, the Vampaneze. With tensions between the two sects intensifying, Darren must figure out a means of keeping the coming war from destroying his last vestige of humanity. Patrick Fugit, Orlando Jones, Willem Dafoe, and Jane Krakowski co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Flixster Users

50% liked it

474,373 ratings

Critics

38% liked it

133 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 49 min.

Directed by: Paul Weitz

Release Date: October 23, 2009

Keywords: kids, funny, fantasy, teen, vampire

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DVD Release Date: February 23, 2010

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Stats: 11,342 reviews

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"The Vampires Assistant. Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant Cirque du Freak: The Vampire?s Assitant The Vampire?s Assistant Josh Hutcherson, Willem Dafoe and John C.Reilly Josh Hutcherson, Chris Massoglia John C. Reilly, Chris Massoglia pictures of the actors from cirque du freak Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant Chris Massoglia Cirque Du Freak The Bearded Lady Cirque du freak Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
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Flixster Reviews (11,342)

  • FrizzDrop
    November 22, 2011
    FrizzDrop
    Playing out much like a young adult fiction book (which it's based off of) it's very clear that the slight disjointed feeling of the plot is the entire studio's fault more than the script's. They are trying to make the next children's franchise with the adaptation of the book of ... read morethe same name by Darren Shan. The story suffers from the fact that they won't tell us anything concrete or lasting. The characters shown aren't all too developed, mostly because of the bias against using characters that were freaks. They slap on some moral message about equality, friendship, and the choices we make versus who we are, and they believe they can simply define someone as a freak and don't need personalities, relationships, and the intricacies of someone we all want to watch. Yeah, some lackluster effects are good and all, but I would rather hear what Jane Krakowski has to say then see her arm grow back (which was surely the most illogical part of the film.) Using her as an example, I didn't get to know that character one iota. Besides the likable main characters and crass word choice none of this ran as a film with a true plot, but an extenuation of a series of films. It wasn't even a true kids movie, since there is unneeded swearing and some strange choices in violence, the definition of what adolescents say in private, and the romantic angle between Darren (Massoglia) and some nothing girl who is, you guessed it, also a freak. The effects were, for the most part, very low grade, and the mythology between vampires and the "Vampenese" first of all just sounds like veiled racism, and second made either no sense, or left me incredulous. The powers of the vampires have been improved or made new amongst the other hollow vampire related faire as of late, but it wasn't enough to keep it from being camp. Reilly is for sure the best aspect of this film, though he shouldn't fit along with the rest of the cast. Yes, his accent is hard to place or awkward throughout, but his crude weirdness works well with the personality of the character. Most of the stars are for the fact I somewhat enjoyed myself even with all these flaws because it was never meant to be perfection, but some strange sub strait. I just wonder if it will indeed lead to a series of films.
  • aquateen2
    November 14, 2011
    aquateen2
    Bad acting in this unfaithful unfantastic adaption to a fantastic book. John C Reilly gives a good performance but even he cant save the film from its unconsistent pacing.
  • riverdale237
    July 6, 2011
    riverdale237
    Once there was a book series called "Cirque Du Freak"...And it ROCKED! The characters were interesting, the plot had plenty of twists, and the story was pretty creati9ve. So when I heard there was a movie based of Cirque Du Freak, I had to see it. I loved the book series, I'd lov... read moree the movie...It blew.

    Not everything was horrible. The acting was actually really good, particularly the child actors. New comer Chris Massoglia was actually a nice surprise. He played Darren Shan really well. John C. Reily was amazing too, even if this isn't really his kind of movie. The biggest surprise was Steve Hutcherson, who was actually kind of menacing at some times. In fact, the only actor who did a bad job was Ray Stevenson.

    Now I can go on to what I didn;t like. First of all, for other fans of the book series, this is absolutely NOTHING like the book. I think what most annoyed me was Darren's love interest, Rebecca the Monkey Girl. That's right, not Debbie, the Monkey Girl. Who is this Monkey Girl? She was NEVER mentioned in the book. Also, Evra's orgins are completely different too. In the movie, he was found in the dumpster. In the book, he was raised by a sadistic sideshow owner who beat him, but was rescued by the Cirque du Freak.

    Another bad thing about the movie was Ray Stevenson's portrayel as Murlough. In the book, Murlough was crazy, sadistic, evil, clever and menacing. I've seen teddy bears more menacing than Ray Stevenson's Murlough, and he's the farthest thing from clever that you can get.

    While "Cirque Du Freak" may not be superbad, it is very, very, VERY far from being great and is still pretty bad.
  • Tomassgringo
    November 29, 2010
    Tomassgringo
    Cute, but being older than the target demographic, I think somethings were lost for me.
  • bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb1
    November 27, 2010
    bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb1
    This wasn't a great movie but I had fun. B
  • romy861
    November 13, 2010
    romy861
    Did not hold my attention. No real shock there - me and my great love of kids movies. In all fairness, has a decent cast, and I did at least get more than halfway through it before becoming brain numbingly bored. I suppose it is okay for a kid's movie, and if you like them, ... read moreyou may even enjoy this. But personally, didn't do a lot for me. Anything with a stupid CG spider running around is not exactly thrilling viewing. As for those claiming it is better than Twilight... as if.
  • xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    November 11, 2010
    xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    It was a dark movie but It felt like that they wanted to make it a comedy too and failed truly. I was bored at certain times at the movie because it lacked a good story line but basically this movie is just a popcorn movie to rent if there's nothing else good on the tv thus whoev... read moreer saw this on the cinema wasted his money truly.

    Teenager Darren Shan is an excellent student and the pride and joy of his perfect middle-class family; his best friend is the reckless Steve. When they receive a flyer with an advertisement for a freak show, they sneak to the theater to see the attractions. The ringmaster is a vampire called Larten Crepsley, that has a lethal spider. After the show, Steve tells Darren to go home. However he returns and overhears Steve unsuccessfully trying to convince Larten to transform him into a vampire. Darren steals Larten's spider which bites Steve later and he seeks out Larten asking for an antidote for his friend. Larten proposes a deal to Darren.
  • fb733768972
    November 6, 2010
    fb733768972
    The first and probably only addition to the Cirque Du Freak's already dead franchise. It failed in the box office which means that the sequel will probably never come. Although the story and plot are very average, I am actually anxious to see the unfinished ending continue. This ... read morefilm waited too long to be good which was a let down, because now I want much more. Sadly, I don't think it's coming. The film is not all that great, but even so, I give it credit for taking on a dark tone as a children's book adaptation. John C. Reilly finally isn't his old stupid self and Josh Hutcherson actually brings a serious role (his first in a while) to the table. Darren Shan was an interesting character for the story, but the movie was all over the place. It is pretty sloppy, but at the same time it was pretty fun to watch. Still, I can't say that I liked it, because it is not a good movie. However, I wish they could find a way to make the sequel, because if you watch this movie you know there is somewhere interesting they can bring the story.
  • deano
    August 8, 2010
    deano
    This adventure (not a horror) film is well done based on the novel. And some entertaining story of the freaks in the show that surprised me. John C. Reilly does a really great job acting so is Salma Hayek looks stunning.
    Sometimes the acting and action scenes were bad. Some of th... read moree effects looked fake. And the fact that it all ended with an ordinary rumble was a disappointment. The ending seemed very rushed.
  • MidnightMadwoman
    July 14, 2010
    MidnightMadwoman
    It's hard to know what to make of this movie. The story moves forward, sure, but it seems to spend too much time showing you things that aren't important. Yup, here are all the freaks, each unique and laid out end-to-end. Why aren't we seeing what the main character's friend is d... read moreoing all this time, if he's such a vital character to the grand scheme of things in the supernatural world? It sure as hell would have made the end make more sense.I get the feeling that everything would come together when you watch this and its inevitable sequals all together, but until those movies come out, this saga is going to feel incomplete.

    Granted, all the characters in the circus are cool looking and fairly engaging (I especially liked the snake boy, who's really laid back and takes to calamity rather casually), but I get the feeling that this film focus entirely on the wrong ones. Not enough time is devoted to the villains and thier motivations, and it really didn't matter to me who won in the end. But an aside: guys, do you really expect me to believe that in a fight between Dewey Cox and The Punisher, that The Punisher would lose? Cam-aaaaahn! Another thing that struck me was how dark this is for a children's film. It's full of swearing and flippant violence, and the two main characters' families get thrown away just a little too easily. I look forward to seeing this story get fleshed out and completed, but I resent being made to wait for that to happen. You're supposed to get it all done in a single film.

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Critic Reviews

Michael Phillips
October 26, 2009
Michael Phillips, At the Movies

This is one of the worst films of the year. Full Review

Betsy Sharkey
October 23, 2009
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times

Unfortunately Weitz can't quite get a handle on what the film should be, despite teaming up with the talented Brian Helgeland on the script. Full Review

Kirk Honeycutt
October 23, 2009
Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter

A vampire movie in sore need of a transfusion.

Stephen Cole
October 23, 2009
Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail

We never get under the skin of anyone here. Freaks never become characters. They're objects of derision. Full Review

Adam Graham
October 23, 2009
Adam Graham, Detroit News

Harry Potter needn't call time out on his Quidditch game, and Edward Cullen can stick to his beauty rest. Full Review

Andrea Gronvall
October 23, 2009
Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader

Mixing horror and comedy while minimizing the gore, writer-director Paul Weitz serves up a witty adventure fantasy with a tasty dollop of schadenfreude. Full Review

A.O. Scott
October 23, 2009
A.O. Scott, New York Times

Tests its viewers' patience even as it strives to build their loyalty. Full Review

Kathleen Murphy
October 23, 2009
Kathleen Murphy, MSN Movies

Unreeling like a feature-length trailer, 'Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant' suffers from premature sequelitis. Full Review

Desson Thomson
October 23, 2009
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

While it celebrates the creative and the imagined and introduces us to colorful characters, it's bland and dull. Full Review

Kyle Smith
October 23, 2009
Kyle Smith, New York Post

An inept fantasy that wants to be a sort of hip Goth legend... Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Facts

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    • Larten Crepsley: I will not make you a vampire.You must forget about it.Go home and get on with your life.
    • Steve: No! I won't forget! I'll get you for this, I don't care how long it takes. One day, Vur Horston, I'll track you down and kill you for rejecting me!
    • Larten Crepsley: Don't use your fist. You have something better. Use your fingernails. Like this. (Slashes the tree).
    • Darren Shan: (Darren tries) Aw. I think I broke a nail.
    • Larten Crepsley: Looks like you're in some deep shit, my larcenous friend.
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