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:

Chris Massoglia, John C. Reilly, Salma Hayek

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, but 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 star attraction is a vampire called Larten Crepsley, who performs with a colorful yet very lethal spider. After the show, Darren tarries to see the spider and overhears Steve unsuccessfully trying to convince Larten to transform him into a vampire. Darren steals Larten's spider, which later bites Steve. In seeking an antidote from Larten, Darren accepts a deal to become his half-vampire assistant.

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Plot Keywords:

vampire versus vampire | based on young adult novel | circus freak | wolfman | freakshow | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The extras in the school scenes were actual students of the school where this was filmed.

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Goofs

At the very beginning, when Steve puts a rose on Darren's coffin, there is no spider bite/bruise on his right cheek. Later, when Steve is shaking Darren in the coffin (obviously before the graveyard), the bruise is there.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Darren Shan: [narrating] You know, sometimes it seems like life is all planned out. There's no choice in the matter. We're all gonna end up in the same place, whether we like it or not. But sometimes things aren't so simple. You can end up hurting the people you love the most; betraying the people you want to come through for.

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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

Chelsea Dagger
Written by Jon Fratelli (as John Lawler)
Performed by The Fratellis
Courtesy of Universal - Island Records Ltd.
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Recommended if you like cheesy action films.

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.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [France]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish French

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 USA:

$6,293,205, 25 October 2009

Gross USA:

$13,869,515

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$39,291,383

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Relativity Media, Donners' Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1