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

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, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$13,838,130, 20 November 2009

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures,Relativity Media,Donners' Company

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Netflix showing completely edits out the jigsaw puzzle Siamese twins.

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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 looks 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

Larten Crepsley: Wanna become a vampire? It's a lonely life but there's lots of it.

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Connections

Referenced in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Despicable Me/The Kids Are All Right (2010)

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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

Entertaining Movie

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.