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Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 25 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 31 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Action | Adventure | Comedy | Horror | Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
Paul Weitz
Brian Helgeland
Darren Shan (series of books)
Directed by: Paul Weitz
Release Date:
Theatrical: October 23, 2009
DVD: February 23, 2010
Running Time: 108 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for sequences of intense supernatural violence and action, disturbing images, thematic elements and some language
Starring John C. Reilly, Ken Watanabe, Josh Hutcherson, Chris Massoglia, Ray Stevenson, Patrick Fugit, Orlando Jones, Willem Dafoe, and Salma Hayek
16-year-old Darren was like most kids in his suburban neighborhood. He hung out with his best friend Steve, 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 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 and a gigantic barker. 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. (Universal Pictures)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: About a Boy American Dreamz American Pie Down to Earth In Good Company
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Website
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall
Mixing horror and comedy while minimizing the gore, writer-director Paul Weitz (About a Boy) serves up a witty adventure fantasy with a tasty dollop of schadenfreude.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
It's more fun than a poke in the heart with a sharp stick.
Read Full Review >St. Louis Post-Dispatch Joe Williams
Reilly is very funny as the sarcastic mentor, and director Paul Weitz strikes a loopy tone in the scenes at the freak encampment.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
It's creepy but tinged with sarcasm and infused with silly fun.
Read Full Review >New Orleans Times-Picayune Mike Scott
Trades breathless romance for a fun "Ripley's Believe it or Not"-flavored weirdness.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
While "Twilight" will make more money and get more attention, the darkly comic Cirque du Freak boasts the shaggy charm of the natural underdog.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
Reilly gives it his all, and he’s both very enjoyable and about as scary as a stubbed toe.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
This movie incites curiosity tinged with confusion and irritation. It bristles with interesting ideas — about friendship and freakishness, honesty and anger — and intriguing characters, all of which may blossom in later episodes.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Betsy Sharkey
Cirque is a harmless bit of fluff with a very cool look, but there's just never enough bite.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
Has its moments of fun, many of them having to do with Reilly's deadpan comic style. But the movie lacks the original edge of its better predecessors.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole
More than anything, the film lacks a rapport with its audience.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
The finished film has been tinkered with and tweaked so thoroughly that it borders on the incomprehensible.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
A profoundly unsatisfying experience - and that doesn't consider the derivative nature of the plot and a lackluster performance by the lead actor.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson
Actually, by way of a sequel, the filmmakers could just set Cerveris, Dafoe, and Reilly up for a purr-off. That’d be more fun than most of this film.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell
The film is competent without being spectacular or thrilling.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
Disjointed and disorganized, and it meanders when it needs to gallop.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
Making a vampire movie without any bite is like removing guns from a Western.
Read Full Review >Time Out New York Nick Schager
Vampirism is the new monstrosity du jour, and with Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, tweener boys get their own testosterone-infused variant of Twilight.
Read Full Review >Variety Peter Debruge
The Vampire's Assistant is too busy making impossible claims about just how spectacular its sequels will be to serve up a self-contained story with a satisfying finale.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Aaron Hillis
Directed by Paul Weitz (American Pie), the movie suffers from the same tonal schizophrenia of that other recent goth wannabe, "Jennifer's Body": Is it meant to be scary or funny? Oops, it's neither.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The movie has good special effects and suitably gruesome characters, but it's bloodless.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Jammed with story threads that don’t cohere, Cirque commits the cardinal sin for a vampire movie: It’s bloodless.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Subplots go nowhere, and characters -- many played by well-known actors -- barely get screen time. Willem Dafoe, Salma Hayek, and Jane Krakowski are among those who are there and gone.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub
The movie is occasionally clever, but still inferior to last year's "Twilight" film, mostly because the story is so muddled.
Read Full Review >New York Post Kyle Smith
Calls to mind Grandpa taking out his dentures and trying to put on a comedy monster show for little kids at Halloween: When he tries to be scary, he's goofy, but when he tries to be goofy, he's scary.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.5 (out of 10) based on 31 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
caleb w gave it a10:
For those that say that the sub plots go no place you are wrong they just have not come in to play just yet. there is more to the story then what you see. the movie is not the books but it still uses the same plot. there is more to come...a lot more.
vladimir k gave it a0:
One of the worst movies ever made. Waste of money!
Drew K gave it a10:
Yes i have read the books, and they were amazing. All of them in the series is pure gold and genius. After i read all the books over as many times as i could that year, i heard they were making a film. Now do not get me wrong, i thought the movie looked interesting to see. I wanted to see how the director would film this movie. I saw it and i have to say this: The books were better for obvious reasons. But the movie was not half bad. Sure, it got so much wrong in the movie that it did not even have to be based off the movie, it could have been a movie all in its own it was that off. But it was interesting. John C. Reilly did a marvelous job although i would not have chose him for the role. And of course there was room for a sequel. So i will go see the sequel. Everyone should go see this film, even if you do not like the actors, vampires, or anything along those lines. I am not asking you to love it or even like it, i am just asking for you to give it a try.
Zoe gave it a9:
i thought that the actors suited their characters really well. I love any film to do with vampires so this one got a thumbs up. I've read the first book and i thought that it was brilliant, after reading it and then seeing the film, the book is definately better. But, my advice is see the film!! It's good!
Kenny gave it a2:
I was blown away while watching those who went forth in the movie: John C. Reilly, Ken Watanabe, Salma Hayek, ... but I run into absurd movie, albeit with some entertainment, in a scene. Ridiculous and very freak. Paul Weitz is pointed at the vampire world that is becoming popular because of the garbage that "Twilight", and not only that if it goes beyond that, dares to fool the public with an expired theater tricks. Not worth it.
kg m gave it a1:
Right from the getgo I wondered, did they actually say this was a battle between vampires and vampaneze? The vampaneze? You could call this a brilliant innovation or you could call it: total crap! It’s just plain stupid. Yeah, vampires are all the craze right now but this movie is just a mess. It’s not scary, it’s not creepy, it’s not ‘with it’, it’s not cool, it’s not hip, but it is totally, totally stupid and inept. Additionally, nothing is resolved as this is only part I. what a total freaking ripoff!!
Kelly K gave it a10:
I loved it, it was like Moulin rouge meets twilight! Awesome.
