watch Cirque du Freak online
It’s a difficult tightrope to walk doing a film adaptation of a book, especially if the book is well loved. On one hand, if you change the book’s content too much, you run the risk of angering the fans who will turn on you for all the differences between the story in their heads and the one you’ve committed to film. On the other hand, if you don’t alter the story enough so that a few hundred pages worth of information gets crammed properly into 90 minutes worth of movie, those who have not read the books will not understand what is going on or why things are happening and thus will not be able to follow the story thoroughly. I am sorry to say that “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant”, does not walk that tightrope very well and, by the third act, tumbles clumsily into the safety net below.

After the opening credits, which reminded me of a cross between the credits for Spiderman and the credits for Lemony Snicket, we are thrust into the world of Darren Shan (Chris Massoglia), a boy of utter perfection – all “A”s in school, never gets into trouble, respectful and honest, etc. His parents, however, still take the time to impress upon him that conformity is the key to happiness and to never ever be different. I suppose this belief is meant to come as an affront when he later becomes one of the “freaks” but he doesn’t really react to his parent’s words so we don’t know if he cares all that much one way or the other. The only bad influence upon Darren is his best friend, Steve (John Hutcherson). We know Steve is Darren’s best friend because Darren tells us so. If it weren’t for that, I would never have believed it. Their relationship on screen was lacking in any chemistry – Steve is too aggressive and Darren far too passive – to come off as anything but a plot contrivance. What it feels like the screenwriters were doing, instead of building real characters, was setting up the final act. In fact, there were many places in the beginning of the film that they used short hand, sloppy methods to set us up for the big finale. The screenwriting is really about as lazy as the method they use to show that Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly), a vampire, can move extremely fast. First, they show us Mr. Crepsley and Darren both on screen at the same time. Then they cut to another angle and, oh my gosh, Mr. Crepsley isn’t there!! Really? Yeah. It’s a cut. It’s not very hard to make people disappear when you cut the film. They used this trick in Bewitched. That’s how dated it is. At least there they had Elizabeth Montgomery stand still while the Dick York moved off screen. It’s cheap filmmaking and it lowers the production value of the movie.

Of course the powers-that-be are bringing this film out now in the summer of the age of the vampire. Anything that sucks blood and sleeps in a coffin gets a film nowadays. However, these vampires have their own set of rules (don’t they all?). In this world, there are regular vampires – those who do not kill the humans they feast off of – and the vampaneze – those who do. These bloodsuckers have very sharp fingernails, can exhale a gas that puts people to sleep and have spit that will heal their wounds. On top of that they can run very fast, or what they call flitting. They hold their breath while they flit, or they should, although exactly why they must do so is not really explained.

There are two areas that I thought the film excelled in. The makeup department did an amazing job. The Wolfman, in particular, was brilliantly done and deserving of a much more frightening film. Also the sound department delivered on great sound. To make the audience cringe when a character gets hit or falls or runs into something, requires awesome sound design. They made me feel the connections when blows were dealt out. Oh, I’d also like to add that Wilem Dafoe does an excellent Vincent Price impersonation. Plus, in this film someone actually says that he wants to “rule the world”; a phrase I have not heard uttered since I last saw Pinky and the Brain. Sadly, these are the only bright spots in the film. The CGI – and there is lots of it – is very obvious and, in terms of quality, par for the course. The action scenes hide the lack of action hero quality in their stars by keeping the cameras very close to the actors and cutting quickly so you don’t really know what’s going on. When that doesn’t work, they speed up the film as if something which is boring and awkward at normal speed will suddenly be amazing to watch when it’s twice as fast.

John C. Reilly is a great actor, one of the best at work today. He is not, however, known for playing guys who are commanding or forceful or threatening, all of which are asked of him here. Instead, he looks and feels out of place and ends up chewing some major scenery. Many well known faces parade through this film; Salma Hayek, Orlando Jones, Patrick Fugit, Ken Watanabe, Kristen Schaal, Jane Krakowski and on and on; most are given just barely enough to do to justify signing on for this film. Perhaps there will be more for them in the sequels. That being said, the person I feel worse for is Chris Massoglia. The screenwriters didn’t even give him a chance. His Darren Shan is such a passive hero that things happen to him or around him and he just kinda mopes about it. When he’s not moping, he’s whining and when he’s not whining, he’s complaining. Half way through the film I didn’t understand why Mr. Crepsley was even bothering with Darren at all. It wasn’t until the very end that Darren started to show the slightest of backbones. Again, if the movie gods give this film a good opening weekend and if the thirst for vampires and their ilk does not dissipate, let’s hope there’s more of that backbone for him in the sequel.

Watch Cirque Du Freak Online

Watch Cirque du Freak online and you’ll see the story of two best friends who, through a series of plot twists, end up representing warring vampire factions. The movie is adapted from the first three books of The Saga of Darren Shan series, written by Darren Shan. It is a fantasy adventure movie about a boy who unwittingly breaks a fragile truce between two types of vampires.

Through a rather twisty series of events involving watching a freak show (the Cirque du Freak of the title) and the theft of a spider, the main character Darren must become half-vampire in order to save his friend Steve’s life. But Steve isn’t exactly grateful, because he wanted to be a vampire and was rejected. Larten Crepsley is the polite vampire who takes on Darren as his apprentice.

Steve, furious because he feels like Darren has taken his one chance of being a vampire, threatens to kill Darren. Larten Crepsley helps Darren fake his own death and escape to live with the freak show freaks from Cirque du Freak. Darren makes friends with a snake boy and gets snoggy with a monkey girl.

Watch Cirque du Freak online and you’ll learn the finer points of what it means to be one of the “good” vampires. For example, they don’t kill their prey, and they don’t suck blood through their fangs. They have magic spit that lets them heal the bite holes in their prey’s jugular vein. The other vampires, called the Vampanese are the “bad” vampires who kill their prey can’t handle any sunlight, and generally give vampires a bad name. Steve ends up being recruited by these vampires. Can you see where this is headed?

If you watch Cirque du Freak online, you’ll see a very impressive cast. While Steve and Darren are relative unknowns, there is some serious star power in the lineup of creatures from the freak show.

John C. Reilly stars as Larten Crepsley, while Chris Massoglia is Darren Shan and Josh Hutcherson is Steve. Willem Dafoe has a cameo as Gavner Purl (one of the nice vampires), in a scene he totally owns. Two of the Vampaneze are Ray Stevenson as Murlough and Brandon Molale as Vampaneze. There are a few humans in the story besides Darren and Steve: Morgan Saylor as Annie Shan, Stephen McManus as Dermot Shan, and Christy Hutcherson as Mrs. Leonard.

The Cirque du Freak members include Salma Hayek as Madame Truska, Orlando Jones as Alexander Ribs, Ken Watanabe as Hibernius Tall, and Jane Krakowski as Corma Limbs. Watch Cirque du Freak online and you’ll enjoy a delightfully wicked tale.

Watch Cirque du Freak Online Free

If you want to see two best friends end up representing opposite sides in a vampire war, watch Cirque du Freak online. The screenplay was adapted from the first three Saga of Darren Shan books, written by Darren Shan. It’s an adventure fantasy movie about a boy who becomes half vampire and accidentally breaks a truce between one warring vampire faction and another.

A grotesque freak show, a pet spider that is stolen, and a twisting series of events results in Darren, the main character, having to become half vampire to save his best friend Steve’s life. But Steve is ungrateful, because he wanted to be a vampire and could not. Darren becomes the apprentice of a vampire named Larten Crepsley.

Steve, furious, threatens to kill Darren for “taking his place” as a vampire. Darren, with help from Crepsley, fakes his own death and runs away with the freaks in the freak show. After befriending a snake boy, he becomes interested in a monkey girl.

If you watch Cirque du Freak online you’ll learn the art of being a “good” versus a “bad” vampire. They do not kill their prey, and they do not suck blood with their fangs. Sure, they drink from their prey’s jugular vein, but they also use magic spit to heal the resulting bite wound.

The Vampanese, on the other hand, kill their prey, hate sunlight, and give all vampires a bad reputation. Steve becomes one of the vampanese.

What will happen next? Watch Cirque du Freak online to see a very impressive cast.

Steve and Darren aren’t played by household names, but there is some real star power in the Freak Show line-up. Chris Massoglia plays Darren, while John C. Reilly plays Crepsley and Josh Hutcherson plays Steve.

The vampire Gavner Purl is played by Willem Dafoe in a cool little cameo role. Ray Stevenson plays Murlough, and Brandon Molale plays Vampanese.

Darren and Steve aren’t the only humans in the story, however, as there is also Stephen McManus as Dermot Shan, Morgan Saylor as Annie Shan, and Christy Hutcherson as Mrs. Leonard. Cirque do Freak members include Madame Truska played by Salma Hayak, Alexander Ribs, played by Orlando Jones, Hibernius Tall, played by Ken Watanabe, and Corma Limbs played by Jane Krakowski.

If you watch Cirque du Freak online, you’re sure to enjoy this delightfully wicked tale.

Cirque Du Freak Movie Review

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant is the new movie directed by Paul Weitz, who also directed About a Boy. This is a reason enough to watch Cirque du Freak online, judging by the caliber of the creators of this movie. Cirque du Freak is also about a boy, but this boy becomes half-vampire and shacks up with a bunch of sideshow freaks. It is unfortunate that this movie is arriving as vampire-mania is at its peak with the Twilight movie franchise. People will probably accuse it of riding on the vampire-manial coat tails.

In fact, the movie doesn’t even pretend to compete with movies like Twilight. It is far more fantasy oriented in the manner of the Harry Potter movies and Something Wicked This Way Comes. It’s rated PG-13, so you don’t get the intense scenes you’d expect in an R rated movie. The violence is non-graphic, but some of the freak show creatures may be a little too grotesque for young or easily frightened children.

The tween crowd will probably like it if they give it a chance. It’s imaginative and very entertaining. While it takes a more convoluted path to its moral lesson than “family” films do, that’s part of what gives this movie its kick. And John C. Reily as a (relatively) polite vampire who takes on Darren as his assistant does a great job in this starring role.

In fact, all the adult roles are quite meaty, if brief. Ken Watanabe’s ringleader role, and Willem Dafoe in a Vincent Price-esque cameo is delightful, too.

One of the more disappointing things about Cirque du Freak, which still should not stop you to watch Cirque du Freak is that Darren is not given much to do, other than become a vampire’s apprentice. He has some superpowers, which is cool, but his role in the clash between the nice and not-so-nice vampires isn’t much of anything at all. But it’s still a film worth seeing. Parents will probably like it in a nostalgic way, thinking of times when they were adolescents and dreamed about running off with a circus act.

Cirque du Freak is suitable for kids 10 and up, and perhaps some younger ones who aren’t squeamish at grotesque characters or non-graphic violence on the level of, say, Beetlejuice.

If you watch Cirque du Freak online, you’ll probably be mystified as to what the movie is about if you aren’t familiar with the series of books by Darren Shan, The Darren Shan Saga and the Demonata, among others. The movie is based on The Darren Shan Saga trilogy of books, the first three books of 12.

The trailer shows a series of clips that look as if they were made during the silent movie era, even though the movie setting is modern. Cirque du Freak centers around a troupe of traveling sideshow freaks, which gives parts of the movie an old-fashioned, dark charm. The movie involves two friends, Steve and Darren, and how they unwittingly destroy a truce between two warring factions of vampires.

Two factions of vampires, you say? Yup. The Vampaneze are the bad vampires, and the others are more polite, don’t kill their prey, and don’t have to avoid sunlight altogether. Sort of Vampire Lite. Though you won’t get much in the way of storytelling in the trailer, it’s really short, and entertainingly different.