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Amazon.co.uk Review
Adapted from Darren O'Shaughnessy's book series the Saga of Darren Shan, Cirque du Freak: A Vampire's Assistant is an endearingly goofy teen-vampire tale reminiscent of The Goonies or Lost Boys. Like those kids' horror classics, Cirque du Freak is a coming-of-age tale in which maturity is hastened by horrific discoveries of alternate realms. Best friends Darren Shan (Chris Massoglia) and Steve (Josh Hutcherson) embark on a life-changing career path as monster prodigies after attending a taboo freak show starring various mutants and Madame Octa, a fluffy, neon orange, Muppetlike spider that Darren is irrevocably compelled to kidnap. Darren's petty theft results in the boys' introductions into the dualistic realm of good vampires, including the paternal Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly), and less-generous bloodsuckers such as Murlaugh (Ray Stevenson) and his Vampaneze family. Part of the fun is in learning how vampires are defined in this world; for example, they can't turn into bats but they have magic spit. The film's additional appeal is in its clever teen-vampire cultural nods, such as when Darren plays his Gameboy inside his coffin. The actual circus, too, offers a wide array of fun, spooky characters, such as ringleader Mr. Tall (Ken Watanabe) and Darren's scaly buddy Snakeboy (Patrick Fugit). Cirque du Freak: A Vampire's Assistant has tough moments, too, once the boys realize they can't look back. These moments transform Cirque du Freak: A Vampire's Assistant into a film parents may even be charmed by. --Trinie Dalton
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Growing up, i absolutely adored Darren Shan's vampire saga. One of the best pieces of modern children's literature out there, they are a classic example of teen fiction done well. They blended the real with the fantastical perfectly, Darren's character evolving through the progressively darker and more mysterious books. They were perfection.
So when i heard there was a film of the books being released, i was overjoyed. But upon watching it, i was left disappointed. Now, The Vampire's Assistant is by no means a bad film, in fact it's a pretty good one - hence the 3 stars. But it strips away everything that's amazing about the books and leaves it by the wayside. The plot is only vaguely based on the books, rather than being a direct translation, it instead draws elements from the first three novels and stitches them together into a new story - the result being something rather rushed and unfulfilling.
The characters are not how i imagined either, gone are the dark overtones and rich sense of persona - replaced by cheesy caricatures. It's not all bad though, John C. Reilly is magnificent as Larten Crepsley - he's probably the best thing in the film, full stop, in fact. The rivalry between Darren and Steve is done nicely too. Ray Stevenson also puts in a good part as Murlough.
The film as a whole is decent enough. It's shot well and the lighting and sets all look good. Watch it without any prior knowledge of the books and it's a great teen action film - but unfortunately, for those that have read Darren Shan's epic vampire saga, like so many Hollywood adaptations of books, this falls way short of the mark.
Still worth a watch though!
So when i heard there was a film of the books being released, i was overjoyed. But upon watching it, i was left disappointed. Now, The Vampire's Assistant is by no means a bad film, in fact it's a pretty good one - hence the 3 stars. But it strips away everything that's amazing about the books and leaves it by the wayside. The plot is only vaguely based on the books, rather than being a direct translation, it instead draws elements from the first three novels and stitches them together into a new story - the result being something rather rushed and unfulfilling.
The characters are not how i imagined either, gone are the dark overtones and rich sense of persona - replaced by cheesy caricatures. It's not all bad though, John C. Reilly is magnificent as Larten Crepsley - he's probably the best thing in the film, full stop, in fact. The rivalry between Darren and Steve is done nicely too. Ray Stevenson also puts in a good part as Murlough.
The film as a whole is decent enough. It's shot well and the lighting and sets all look good. Watch it without any prior knowledge of the books and it's a great teen action film - but unfortunately, for those that have read Darren Shan's epic vampire saga, like so many Hollywood adaptations of books, this falls way short of the mark.
Still worth a watch though!
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Been a fan of the books of the darren shan vampire saga, i thought it would be brilliant if a film were to be made based on the books. How wrong I was.
This film is weak, the storyling is only vaguely related to the books, like the war between the vampires and the vampaneze, its good to have that still in there, but seriously, they have made a hash of everything else. It is nowhere near as dark as it should be, two of the characters are missing (if you have read the books you will notice which two) and it just didn't flow like it should have done. It was like someone had taken parts of the three books, cut them out, stuck them together, and shoved it on a film reel.
The only good things about this film was the brilliant acting by John C. Reilly as Larten Crepsley, he captured the character excellently, making him the sarcastic, quick tempered father figure we all loved in the book. The other good thing about this film was the end credits, showing that the film had come to an end, the fight between Darren and Steve at the end was not even worth the money I paid to see it in the cinema, and the storyline was just so sucky, a vampire wouldn't give it a second bite.
If you haven't read the books and have no idea whats going on, then it is a good film to watch, but for us seasoned readers and fans of Mr Shan, I think i speak for us all when I say that this film could have been miles better, and kept to the books just that little bit more.
This film is weak, the storyling is only vaguely related to the books, like the war between the vampires and the vampaneze, its good to have that still in there, but seriously, they have made a hash of everything else. It is nowhere near as dark as it should be, two of the characters are missing (if you have read the books you will notice which two) and it just didn't flow like it should have done. It was like someone had taken parts of the three books, cut them out, stuck them together, and shoved it on a film reel.
The only good things about this film was the brilliant acting by John C. Reilly as Larten Crepsley, he captured the character excellently, making him the sarcastic, quick tempered father figure we all loved in the book. The other good thing about this film was the end credits, showing that the film had come to an end, the fight between Darren and Steve at the end was not even worth the money I paid to see it in the cinema, and the storyline was just so sucky, a vampire wouldn't give it a second bite.
If you haven't read the books and have no idea whats going on, then it is a good film to watch, but for us seasoned readers and fans of Mr Shan, I think i speak for us all when I say that this film could have been miles better, and kept to the books just that little bit more.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Worst... Casting... Ever...
The script is pretty flaky, seemingly only loosely based on a synopsis of the original books, however this is vastly overshadowed by the diabolical casting and hairdressing! Darren Shan is played by an odd looking kid with some weird 1970's haircut, Crepsley is portrayed as a baggy faced, Ronald McDonald-haired nerd with a strangely high-pitched voice, and apparently they couldn't find a fat actor to play the tubby bad dude so put some 'ham' into a fat-suit?
This is a difficult review to write, the temptation to simply say "don't bother, it's rubbish" is too strong, a film this bad doesn't really warrant the effort to review :/
If you've never read the books, please please please don't judge them based on this awful film! The vampire series by Darren Shan has been treated pretty badly, only the first three being released as audio books, and then this joke of a film. I just hope that the same crew aren't allowed to massacre any other books, especially not the Demonata series...
The script is pretty flaky, seemingly only loosely based on a synopsis of the original books, however this is vastly overshadowed by the diabolical casting and hairdressing! Darren Shan is played by an odd looking kid with some weird 1970's haircut, Crepsley is portrayed as a baggy faced, Ronald McDonald-haired nerd with a strangely high-pitched voice, and apparently they couldn't find a fat actor to play the tubby bad dude so put some 'ham' into a fat-suit?
This is a difficult review to write, the temptation to simply say "don't bother, it's rubbish" is too strong, a film this bad doesn't really warrant the effort to review :/
If you've never read the books, please please please don't judge them based on this awful film! The vampire series by Darren Shan has been treated pretty badly, only the first three being released as audio books, and then this joke of a film. I just hope that the same crew aren't allowed to massacre any other books, especially not the Demonata series...
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
review
Ok , so it's not alot like the books . The manga's were quite a bit more like the original story . But , hey , loads of you'r favourite characters die in the books . Read more
Published 11 days ago by Mr .X
AN ABSOLUTE MUST SEE!!!
I bought this for my 13 year old daughter. Within 2 days, she had watched it 10 times and absolutely loved it. Read more
Published 19 days ago by Mr Neil R Houghton
Good
Its good but cut most of it off from the book but its still good i think if your into vampire films you should buy it
Published 23 days ago by Azhar
Cirque Du Freak; The Vampires assistant
If you like anything with vampires, this is well worth a watch for the price. I tend to fall asleep if a film is boring or uninteresting but not with this, story was good and there... Read more
Published 1 month ago by blackwatch
fun
Cirque Du Freak is well enjoyable, great effects and good story makes a lovely Saturday night in with the kids
Published 1 month ago by Ive
Never Again!
I watched this with my younger brother who found it equally disappointing. It was boring and we kept waiting for the storyline to pick up, only it never happened. Read more
Published 2 months ago by RavenJ
putting the vamp back into vampire
I can't help but notice that most of the negative reviews of this movie are squealing 'WAAA it's not like the books!' and not even mentioning why that's supposed to be a bad thing. Read more
Published 6 months ago by S. Samraoui
nothing to do with the books!
Having read the saga of Darren Shan I was excited and looking forward to seeing this film in cinemas. Read more
Published 8 months ago by D.lynch
Vampires Assistant
Great family movie, perfect for rainy afternoons. Great price. Prompt delivery as always. Get you're popcorn in and sit back and enjoy a few hours of fun with or without the... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Dawnie
!!!Fantastic Film!!!
What a brilliant film!!!
I loved everything about the film and I was completley 'Sucked' in you might say. Read more
I loved everything about the film and I was completley 'Sucked' in you might say. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Zuggz
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