Average Rating: 4.9/10
Reviews Counted: 133
Fresh: 50 | Rotten: 83
This overstuffed, scattershot vampire flick suffers from poor characterization and an unwieldy mix of scares and chuckles.
Average Rating: 4/10
Critic Reviews: 28
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 23
This overstuffed, scattershot vampire flick suffers from poor characterization and an unwieldy mix of scares and chuckles.
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Average Rating: 2.7/5
User Ratings: 474,373
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Based on the popular series of books by Darren Shan, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant tells the story of a small-town teen who inadvertently shatters a 200-year-old truce between warring factions of vampires. Sixteen-year-old Darren (Chris Massoglia) is your typical adolescent; he spends most of his time with his best friend, Steve (Josh Hutcherson), earns decent grades, and generally manages to stay out of trouble. But trouble finds Darren when he and Steve make the acquaintance of a
PG-13, 1 hr. 49 min.
Action & Adventure, Horror, Kids & Family, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Oct 23, 2009 Wide
Feb 23, 2010
$13.8M
Universal Pictures
All Critics (134) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (50) | Rotten (84) | DVD (1)
This is one of the worst films of the year.
Unfortunately Weitz can't quite get a handle on what the film should be, despite teaming up with the talented Brian Helgeland on the script.
A vampire movie in sore need of a transfusion.
We never get under the skin of anyone here. Freaks never become characters. They're objects of derision.
Harry Potter needn't call time out on his Quidditch game, and Edward Cullen can stick to his beauty rest.
Mixing horror and comedy while minimizing the gore, writer-director Paul Weitz serves up a witty adventure fantasy with a tasty dollop of schadenfreude.
teenybopper fiction brought to life on the big screen, realized as the first installment in a potential franchise that fails to offer reasons why mainstream audiences will want to follow it any further.
The film was based on a series of twelve books (that) must've screamed "franchise pay cheques!" to actors like Dafoe, Hayek and Reilly, who would usually have known better.
Weitz's screenplay (with Brian Helgeland) contains liberal splashes of humour, but in the end the film lacks an emotional hook, perhaps thanks to the lacklustre performances of the young leads.
Promises more depth and substance than it delivers, leaving all the fireworks of the visuals to drive the film's appeal
This adaptation never quite reaches the sunlight. The difficulty is the credible integration of the normal world with that of the freaks
Serving up a cartoonish vampire du jour, Cirque Du Freak aims for a defanged preteen-friendly middle ground between hip and undead creepy. There are glimpses into vampire culture, like the art of flitting, which seems to be akin to let's boogie, man.
What in the heck is going on here? Not scary, not funny. The story gets lost in the woods. Paul Chambers, CNN.
Reilly's Crepsley makes both the afterlife and any sequels to come equally appealing prospects.
Plenty of good elements here, but a lack of cohesion and a lackluster performance by the lead actor make the film at best a decent rental.
Not a thing in this movie is subtle, from its cheesy special effects to its by-the-numbers storyline to its cardboard cutout characters.
The funny bits are amusing, the action entertaining, the themes simple, the promise of future tales tantalizing, and the overall feel of the movie is more charming than epic or scary.
...a watchable (yet undeniably forgettable) endeavor.
...not the pandering exploitation film you might expect. It's not all pentup sexuality, ripened teen flesh and brooding ashen untouchable boys.
A colossal bore of a teen fantasy movie ... crammed with trite, prepackaged lessons.
Cirque spins its wheels in first installment.
Older moviegoers who can recall the spate of like-minded horror flicks from the 1980s will find much to appreciate.
Playing out much like a young adult fiction book (which it's based off of) it's very clear that the slight disjointed feeling of the plot is the entire studio's fault more than the script's. They are trying to make the next children's franchise with the adaptation of the book of the same name by Darren Shan. The story
August 3, 2010Super Reviewer
Bad acting in this unfaithful unfantastic adaption to a fantastic book. John C Reilly gives a good performance but even he cant save the film from its unconsistent pacing.
November 14, 2011
Super Reviewer
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