Review: Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

So my wife and I decided to catch a movie the other day and since a) I've seen everything good already, b) all the other movies not included in group a suck ass, and c) The Hays theatre cannot possibly, EVER get great movies. Sure they get good films. Zombieland was good. The Informat was pretty good. But now? Shit! Almost all of it. BTW, if you were wondering, this is my mini rant on our theatre and many others NOT getting Boondock Saints II this week. Assholes.

O.K. got that out of the way. So where were we? Oh ya, Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant. And that will be the last time I use the full title. What, it's just to long. Anyway this movie offers a refreshing look at vampires from the stupid, Twilight, sparkly, teen angst-ridden, vampire filled craze we're in. And if you like modern vampire fantasy, you really need to go watch this.

So what is this film? Well, if you couldn't tell from the title, it's a movie about vampires. And some of the vampires actually sucked blood from PEOPLE and KILLED them. Yes, no more veggie-vamps. (I hate Twilight for this, oh and sparkly vampires, did I mention them) I say some because there are actually 2 factions of vampires in the universe of TVA. Vampires, who put humans in a deep unconsciousness and suck their blood but don't kill them. And Vampineese, who do kill the humans they prey on. These groups live in our world, but in secret. Oh and there's a truce between the 2, cause apparently this difference is enough to make them hate each other. Now that is a cool idea for the setting of a film (and a series of books, which it is based on). The rest of the story goes as such, a good boy and his bad influence of a best friend sneak out one night and go to a freak show. At this freak show they see a vampire who does tricks with a spider. Good boy loves spiders. So he steals this one, which is very venomous. Anyway, spider bites friend and boy goes to vampire for the antidote and in exchange becomes half-vampire so as to be an assistant to the vamp from the show. And he meets the freaks, and there's a fat guy who wants to start a war between the vamp factions. And any more would spoil it for you. But it really is quite good and here's why.

All of the actors, except the main characters, do a really good job. This movie is full of over the top and could have easily slipped into the realm of corny, but it doesn't due to some spot on performances. John C. Reilly as the titular Vampire, Ray Stevenson as the bad vamp. Ken Wantanabe as the Freak Show leader, and Salma Hayek playing the sometimes bearded lady, all seem like they're having a good time falling into these roles. Plus the setting is great, and the story I found very intriguing. This is why I push for people to go see it. This film needs a sequel.

The bad unfortunately come from the main characters, good boy and bad boy. Bad boy was trying way to hard to be the bad attitude trouble maker. And good boy was too whining. Really, I couldn't stand his voice. I mean you get used to it after a while, but it was a serious cause of annoyance. Also there is a little too much focus given to these characters toward the beginning of the film, and you're kind of going, "Where are the vamps." But that's just a nitpick really.

Overall, a very fun, very enjoyable good movie. I know this is getting long winded so I'll wrap it up. If you want a fun fantasy vampire movie that takes a unique approach to the image of vampires, please go see this. You will have a good time, as long as vampires are your thing, of course. And if you don't like it, don't blame me. It's your taste in films that's questionable.




Disagree? Too bad, start your own blog. But in the mean time feel free to comment below.