User reviews

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).

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.

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!

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.

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!

"Cirque du Freak" is one of dozens of versions of the vampire tale, and it's not that good. The way it began I thought it would be a comedy, especially with John C. Reilly being in it. It turns out this movie fancied itself as a suspense thriller.

The Cirque du Freak referenced in the title was as the title states: a circus of freaks. They were more than just siamese twins and a bearded lady (though Salma Hayak played the most gorgeous bearded lady you'll ever see), they had a woman who could chew through metal (Kristen Schaal), a man with two stomachs (Frankie Faison), a woman who could regrow her limbs (Jane Krakowski), and a man with no midsection (Orlando Jones). More importantly there was Larsten Crepsley (John C. Reilly), the vampire.

Two best friends who could not have been more dissimilar, Steve (Josh Hutcherson) and Darren (Chris Massoglia), visited the Cirque du Freak. Steve, the angry, destructive, loner, requested to be made into a vampire while Darren didn't. Well, Darren became a vampire and Steve became a vampanese. What I gathered is that a vampanese is just a vampire that kills. The vampanese and vampires are mortal enemies which means that Steve and Darren would also become enemies. It was a setup that was all too obvious. What wasn't obvious was why the two boys were ever friends to begin with? Steve turned on his "best friend" very quickly and with little thought. Steve was inexplicably angry, distrustful, and violent. Maybe he had no concept of what "friend" meant, but we'll never know.

I didn't expect too much from this movie, but I also didn't expect Chris Massoglia to be another Hayden Christensen. His whiny monotone voice and blank unmoving face didn't make for an enjoyable watch. As the star of this movie he single handedly made the movie worse.

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.

The film 'Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant' is directed by Paul Weitz. The film takes place in America, shown through common American features. This film is a vampire teen thriller which was quite exciting and contains lots of action. The acting was good especially from Darren and Mr Crepsley as they show emotion clearly. For me, the best moment has to be when Mr. Crepsley and the Vampanese leader had a fight as it was up in tempo and thrilling. I really enjoyed the film because it was very different from most vampire films. This makes it unique. If I had to change anything, I'd make it more realistic and believable. I would recommend this film if you like cheesy action films.

I threw this on after a bad day not wanting anything too heavy, expecting a typical crappy teen movie, but it was much better than I expected. It was interesting and funny without crossing over into being campy. Josh Hutcherson's role was a bit too stereotypical, but I rather liked John C. Reilly's character. Not a mind-blowing movie, but worth the watch imo.

Good music, characters and creativity. But the story is rushed and acting is painful at parts, which makes the entire movie laughable.

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")

I loved the books so much and was very disappointed that they didn't make it a series to finish out all of the book! I am emotionally invested in these characters and want to see Darren win! The books kept me completely engaged. And yes, books are usually a lot more involved than movies but I really enjoyed the story line being told out loud and that it followed the book as accurately as it did. I enjoyed meeting all of the characters and seeing their many talents. I also loved the the little goblins. It's never too late to complete the series in movie form you guys! I love the comedic relief and timing. It kept the movie from becoming too frightening for my son to watch. He hasn't read the books yet but we both loved the movie.

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.

This movie was surprisingly good, mind you I went it with zero expectations. The premise Is fairly well developed, but the storyline itself leaves a lot to be desired. There's no real conclusion to anything, there's a 'final fight' scene which is well choreographed but doesn't do much to actually end the movie. It seems like they were trying to set up a sequel that never happened. I enjoyed the rest of the movie, it was definitely for kids, but easy to watch.

Especially quite a few one-liners and few very nice spins/ideas help the movie elevate from it's mediocre status. It's not a movie, where you expect acting experts. But everyone on this movie, brings the qualities needed to make this movie entertaining enough for you to watch. Even if that only works the first time around, you can have a good time with it.

Crazy Ideas, good FX, decent acting and a premise that will speak to a younger audience will leave people wanting more after watching this. The mix between comedy and horror is very well done and if it were a little bit more ambitious it might have gotten a higher rating from me! :o)

I am a true fan of the books from writer Darren Shan. I was really worried about this movie. After 7-8 years I finally dared to watch the movie. After watching the movie I'm not sure whether to be happy it isn't as bad as I was afraid of, or to be disappointed that it isn't not quite as the books.

I'm not sure if there is a follow-up for these movie planned. But if I'm going to watch that movie, it's just because I'm curious. Not because it was such a good movie I want to see more of it..

Despite I'm not a real fan of these movie, I think it was quite entertaining to watch it. Mostly because of the nostalgic (from the books) and the humor they've put in the movie.