Cirque du Freak: Vampires Assistant - B+
I instantly was interested in this movie after seeing the previews. I knew nothing of a book series attached to this story, just that John C. Reilly playing a vampire would be awesome. I was right. While this is not "riveting" in any way, I really liked this film.
Here we have 2 high school boys who visit the Cirque Du Freak show while it was touring their town. After a mishap, one boy (Massoglia) has to become the head vampires assistant in order to save the life of his friend. From there, the young boy must become a half-vampire & carry out the wishes of his new master (Reilly).
It is very interesting and original in the idea that we get a detailed look at the inner workings of a true side show attraction. We see monkey girls, bearded ladies, giant dancing spiders, giant brained men & even a lady who can regenerate body parts. The mood is very dark yet the plot opens up just enough to entertain your senses. At times I was gripping my chair, at other times I was lost in the concept and characters & other times I would lend out a laugh. While the tone is a bit dark, this movie is great for vampire movie fans roughly aged 14-26. The younger crowd might not be interested in the cast while older vamp fans might call this movie campy. To me, it falls right in the middle of each realm.
The book series is readily available online and I plan on reading each of the 12 in the series. While this movie is critically panned & the box office intake has not been wonderful, I hope to see this franchise continue to watch where it goes from here.
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