Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009)

Teenager, Darren Shan, meets a mysterious man at a freak show who turns out to be a Vampire. After a series of events Darren must leave his normal life and go on the road with the Cirque Du Freak and become a Vampire.

Director:

Paul Weitz

Writers:

Paul Weitz (screenplay), Brian Helgeland (screenplay),

Stars:

John C. Reilly, Josh Hutcherson, Chris Massoglia

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John C. Reilly	...	Crepsley
Josh Hutcherson	...	Steve
Chris Massoglia	...	Darren
Jessica Carlson	...	Rebecca
Michael Cerveris	...	Mr. Tiny
Ray Stevenson	...	Murlaugh
Patrick Fugit	...	Evra the Snake Boy
Morgan Saylor	...	Annie
Don McManus	...	Mr. Shan
Colleen Camp	...	Mrs. Shan
Ken Watanabe	...	Mr. Tall
Salma Hayek	...	Madame Truska
Orlando Jones	...	Alexander Ribs
Frankie Faison	...	Rhamus Twobellies
Willem Dafoe	...	Gavner Purl

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

vampire | spider | antidote | flyer | yellow rose | 

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Taglines:

Meet Darren. He's sixteen going on immortal.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense supernatural violence and action, disturbing images, thematic elements and some language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [fr]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 October 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cirque du Freak

Filming Locations:

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£798,641 (UK) (23 October 2009)

Gross:

$13,838,130 (USA) (20 November 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Relativity Media, Donners' Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A portion of the film was shot in Studio 28 at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. It is the oldest sound stage still in use at the studio.

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Goofs

When Mr. Tiny tosses the Cirque du Freak flyer out of his car window, the date on it when Darren picks it up says April 13th. Yet when he is looking at it in class right after, the date is September 13th. When the flyer shows up at Darren's house with Mr. Tiny's message in red ink, the date is back to April 13th.

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Quotes

Madame Truska: You don't love me anymore... Its my beard.

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Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Saw VI/Cirque du Freak/The Vampire's Assistant/Amelia (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Red Right Hand"
Written by Mick Harvey, Nick Cave, Thomas Wydler
Performed by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Courtesy of Mute Records Ltd.
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music

User Reviews

Cirque du Freak

• F

Don't even bother seeing this film as it is a waste of film, acting, and precious time. It has some people that are nice to see in the movie, but so many things go wrong. The story is very bland and boring with nothing to grab your attention other then maybe a few odd moments and/or stunts. The special effects are some of the worst ever, if you told me it was made in the 80's, I would have replied alright. I guess the only reason to see this movie is that it is based off a book and if you liked the book, why not, but that's your life wasted. A scare to the eyes and mind.