Psycho's Movie Reviews #111: Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009)

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant is a 2009 American fantasy film loosely based on the Vampire Blood trilogy of the book series The Saga of Darren Shan by author Darren Shan, particularly Cirque du Freak and The Vampire’s Assistant. The film received mixed reviews and was a commercial failure.

Plot

In an unnamed American town, teenagers Darren Shan and Steve Leonard, Darren's more rebellious best friend and classmate, sneak out at night to attend the Cirque du Freak freak show at a local theatre. During the performance, Steve recognizes one of the troupe's members, Larten Crepsley, as a vampire who is over a hundred years old, prompting him to try to find Crepsley after the show. Meanwhile, Darren is fascinated by Crepsley's spider, Madam Octa. He goes backstage and impulsively steals her, but is forced to hide as Crepsley returns to his green room. Steve arrives, begging to be made into a vampire, but Crepsley refuses after tasting Steve's blood, which he says "tastes of evil." When Crepsley realizes that Madam Octa has been stolen, Darren flees from the theatre with Crepsley hot on his trail. He escapes when the mysterious Mr. Tiny arrives in his limousine, accompanied by Murlough. The latter is unimpressed with Darren, dismissing him as a "bag of blood," but Tiny promises to stay in touch after dropping Darren off at his home.

The following day, Darren secretly brings Madam Octa to school, where she escapes. After a struggle in a crowded hallway, Madam Octa bites Steve on the cheek, leaving him to succumb to her deadly venom in the hospital. Darren returns to the theatre and begs Crepsley for help. Initially annoyed and contemptuous, Crepsley agrees on the condition that Darren becomes a half-vampire and Crepsley's personal assistant. Darren agrees, only to flee while Crepsley administers an antidote to Steve. However, after nearly attacking his own sister out of vampiric bloodlust, Darren decides to leave with Crepsley, who uses magic to stage Darren's death in a fall from a roof.

After being buried in a cemetery, Darren is dug up by Crepsley, but Murlough ambushes them. Crepsley fights him off and the two go to the Cirque du Freak campgrounds, where Darren meets Evra Von, the snake boy, and Rebecca, the monkey girl. Meanwhile, Steve, contemplating suicide after losing his best friend, is stopped by Tiny, who offers him a chance to become a Vampaneze, a race of vampires who (unlike Crepsley and others) murder their victims to feed on their blood. Steve agrees, proceeding to kill high school history teacher Mr. Kersey with assistance from Murlough. Trying to instigate a confrontation between Steve and Darren, Tiny kidnaps Rebecca and Darren's family, leaving a flyer for the Cirque du Freak at Darren's former home.

At the theatre, Crepsley fights with Murlough while Darren fights with Steve; however, Darren's refusal to feed weakens him. Rebecca frees herself using her monkey tail and offers Darren a taste of her blood. After some hesitation, he accepts. Crepsley stabs Murlough, and with his dying words Murlough declares that the truce between the two vampire clans has been broken. Tiny (who had been watching from the balcony via opera glasses) eventually separates Steve and Darren. Darren asks Steve to stay with him, but Steve refuses, saying, "I have my destiny and you have yours." Steve then leaves with Tiny, who plans to groom him as a Vampaneze leader.

Crepsley returns Darren's family to their home, hypnotizing them to make them forget what they've been through. Rebecca and Darren share a heartfelt kiss before returning to the campgrounds, where Crepsley gives Darren a coffin to sleep in, and Darren accepts his new life as a member of the Cirque du Freak.

Production

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant was shot between February 19-June 1, 2008 in New Orleans, Folsom, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Some of the characters required a great deal of prosthetics and makeup led by Steve Koch, Brian Sipe, and Mark Garbarino. Prosthetics did not quite add the height needed on certain shots for the character of Mr. Tall, played by Academy Award-nominated Ken Watanabe. Although Watanabe is six feet tall, a body double was cast for certain shots. Trevon Flores, a local basketball player who stands 6'10" tall and weighs 210 pounds, was used for certain shots to show the abnormal height of Mr. Tall. Additionally, Watanabe utilized dialogue coaches Kathleen S. Dunn and Francie Brown in pre-production and production to further enhance his performance as the circus barker. The filmmakers took advantage of computer-generated imagery to portray other fantasy elements.

John Marshall High School in Los Angeles was used to film some parts of the movie. Sophie B. Wright Charter School in New Orleans was also used to shoot scenes from the film.

The film began principal photography on February 8, 2008 in New Orleans and ended on June 3, 2008. The film was distributed by Universal Studios. A portion of The Vampire's Assistant was filmed on a set constructed within New Orleans City Park, approximately 1,000 feet off of the side of the road, along Harrison Avenue. In one of the manga additions of the saga, the director says that the character of Gavner Purl was a hint of the sequel he wanted to make.

Music

The score to The Vampire's Assistant was composed by Stephen Trask, marking his third feature film with director Paul Weitz. He recorded his score with an 86-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Newman Scoring Stage at 20th Century Fox. The movie also features the songs "Something Is Not Right with Me" by Cold War Kids, "Chelsea Dagger" by The Fratellis, and "Red Right Hand" by Nick Cave. The trailer features the songs Asleep From Day by The Chemical Brothers, Bliss by Syntax, and Superhero by Immediate Music.

Release/Reception/Box Office

The film was originally set for release on January 15, 2010, but was moved ahead to October 23, 2009.

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes assigns the film a rating of 38% based on 139 critics with an average rating of 4.87/10. The site's critical consensus reads "This overstuffed, scattershot vampire flick suffers from poor characterization and an unwieldy mix of scares and chuckles." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 43 out of 100, based on 25 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

The film opened in 2,754 theatres in the United States and made over $14 million, reaching #7 in the charts. In other countries, it made more than $25 million, giving it a worldwide box office total of more than $39 million. On DVD, sales in the United States made more than $5.5 million. Worldwide its chart placings included getting to #1 in Ukraine, #2 in Hungary, #2 in Russia, #2 in the United Arab Emirates, #3 in Mexico, #3 in Portugal, #4 in Egypt, #4 in Venezuela, #5 in Belgium, #5 in Peru, #5 in Singapore, #5 in the United Kingdom, #6 in Lebanon, #6 in the Philippines, #7 in Bulgaria, #7 in Japan, #8 in Chile, #8 in Colombia, #8 in the Netherlands, #9 in Austria, #9 in Romania, #11 in Germany, #11 in Malaysia, #11 in New Zealand.

Budget $40 million

Box office $39.2 million

My Review

...It exists...

I guess I'm lucky that I've never read the books, because I had nothing to base my opinion of this movie on. I really didn't have any expectations of this movie, at first. During the first few minutes I wasn't too impressed, but I'm so glad I gave it a chance with an open mind and very little preconceived notions. I genuinely enjoyed the movie. The awkwardness was wonderful; the slight clunking of the plot was almost disengaging, but the strong acting pulled each scene up by the bootstraps. I found the dialogue refreshingly unique, the characters unpredictable, yet familiar. The film was reminiscent of a pie containing the hand of Tim Burton, which is of course a good thing. Perhaps the movie was expected to live beyond it's means, but I found it well within it's limitations. John C Reilly deserved this opportunity to display his capability to perform in non-comedic realms. He fulfilled his role outstandingly! The lead actor, while obviously inexperienced, assisted in carrying the movie satisfactorily. His inexperience merely lended to his character's slightly timid personality. The supporting roles, though some were filled by big names: I guess I'm lucky that I've never read the books, because I had nothing to base my opinion of this movie on. I really didn't have any expectations of this movie, at first. During the first few minutes I wasn't too impressed, but I'm so glad I gave it a chance with an open mind and very little preconceived notions. I genuinely enjoyed the movie. The awkwardness was wonderful; the slight clunking of the plot was almost disengaging, but the strong acting pulled each scene up by the bootstraps. I found the dialogue refreshingly unique, the characters unpredictable, yet familiar. The film was reminiscent of a pie containing the hand of Tim Burton, which is of course a good thing. Perhaps the movie was expected to live beyond it's means, but I found it well within it's limitations. John C Reilly deserved this opportunity to display his capability to perform in non-comedic realms. He fulfilled his role outstandingly! The lead actor, while obviously inexperienced, assisted in carrying the movie satisfactorily. His inexperience merely lended to his character's slightly timid personality. The supporting roles served the function they were meant to, though some were filled by big names: Josh Hutcherson, Salma Hayek, Willem Dafoe, Kristen Schaal, Patrick Breen (Netflix's A Series Of Unfortunate Events, that's where you know him from), etc. All of the small characters contributed exactly what they needed to, enough to make the movie much more interesting! However, in my opinion, William Dafoe should have had a larger slice of the pie.

Overall, I adore this movie for what it is: a loose adaptation of a series of books, all crammed into a single movie. It has a little bit of everything (romance, action, comedy, thrill, and fantasy). I feel they did an amazing job. The only downfall is the ending, and that's because they set up for sequels, but weren't able to follow through. I hope someday, someone will decide to create the sequel, and bring new life to the Vampire's Assistant. After reading more of these reviews I had to add a little side note. I don't understand why it matters that much if the movie isn't exactly like the books. I don't even see the need for the movie to be much like the book at all. Sure, the directors/producers/writers may have shot themselves in the foot by not allowing room for the sequels. They may have tried to fit way too much content into one film, since there are quite a few of these books. But why does it matter if a certain instance from the book occurred in a different way, or in a different room than the movie? This movie is only BASED upon the books, not copied and pasted. Book to movie adaptations are very tricky, and some things may need to be tweaked in order for a film to be made. I've never read the books, and I probably won't. I have, however, read books and then watched the movies based on them plenty of times. I don't needlessly compare the book and the movie because they're two totally different mediums. My one criticism about this movie is it shouldn't have been a movie at all. It should have been a series, with seasons and episodes. They could have done a lot more and their budget could have been streamlined. But that's not what happened, so I'll just appreciate it for what it is. If you're considering watching this movie, then give it a chance. Don't allow reviews to set your expectations. Better yet, watch it with an open mind and completely void of any expectation. Even if you've read the books, try to see the movie for what it is: a film that is LOOSELY based on a book series. After reading more of these reviews I had to add a little side note. I don't understand why it matters that much if the movie isn't exactly like the books. I don't even see the need for the movie to be much like the book at all. Sure, the directors/producers/writers may have shot themselves in the foot by not allowing room for the sequels. They may have tried to fit way too much content into one film, since there are quite a few of these books. But why does it matter if a certain instance from the book occurred in a different way, or in a different room than the movie? This movie is only BASED upon the books, not copied and pasted. Book to movie adaptations are very tricky, and some things may need to be tweaked in order for a film to be made. I've never read the books, and I probably won't. I have, however, read books and then watched the movies based on them plenty of times. I don't needlessly compare the book and the movie because they're two totally different mediums.

Overall, I like this movie for what it is: a loose adaptation of a series of books, all crammed into a single movie. It has a little bit of everything (romance, action, comedy, thrill, and fantasy). I feel they did an amazing job. The only downfall is the ending, and that's because they set up for sequels, but weren't able to follow through. I hope someday, someone will decide to create the sequel, and bring new life to the Vampire's Assistant. 4/10