Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant – Review

I must be going soft because lately i’ve found myself enjoying movies and television aimed at young audiences. Maybe it’s because of the slew of luke warm flicks that Hollywood has been forcing down our throats lately, or the fact that I don’t expect to enjoy a film made for a young adult audience. Either way I was pleasantly surprised by Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant.

The flick is centered around Darren (Chris Massoglia) and his best friend Steve (Josh Hutcherson), who live in an ordinary town, hang out with ordinary people, go to an ordinary school, and are forever changed when they attend an out-of-the-ordinary freak show. Darren loves spiders and Steve has always wanted to be a vampire, so when they attend the freak show and are introduced to a real life vampire and his pet spider, their whole world is turned upside down.

I was impressed with the flick’s production design. The Cirque’s living community was particularly awesome. Each character had their own awesome look and personality, although certain ones stood out more than others. Evra the Snake Boy (Patrick Fugit) was my favorite of the freaks, he stole every scene he was in and in my opinion was completely underutilized by the filmmakers. I also really dug the the super sexy bearded lady, Madame Truska (Salma Hayek), but the biggest surprise of the flick was how cool the goofy haired Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly) is. I wouldn’t have pictured Reilly as a vampire, but he plays the part straight and brings a certain charm to the character.

While this flick isn’t for everyone, I would recommend it for young adults or adults that are looking to introduce their children to the world of horror. While Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant is flawed, it was still a killer film.

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