Metascore

Mixed or average reviews - based on 25 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 64 Ratings

  • Starring: Chris Massoglia, John C. Reilly, Salma Hayek
  • Summary: 16-year-old Darren was like most kids in his suburban neighborhood. He hung out with his best friend Steve, got decent grades and usually stayed out of trouble. But when he and his buddy stumble upon a traveling freak show, things begin to change inside Darren. That's the exact moment when a vampire named Larten Crepsley turns him into something, well, bloodthirsty. Newly undead, he joins the Cirque Du Freak, a touring sideshow filled with monstrous creatures from a snakeboy and a wolfman to a bearded lady and a gigantic barker. As Darren flexes his newfound powers in this dark world, he becomes a treasured pawn between the vampires and their deadlier counterparts. And while trying to survive, one boy will struggle to keep their brewing war from devouring what's left of his humanity. (Universal Pictures) Expand
  • Director: Paul Weitz
  • Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Thriller, Fantasy, Horror, Comedy
  • Rating: PG-13
  • Runtime: 109 min
  • More Details and Credits »
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 25
  2. Negative: 5 out of 25
  1. Mixing horror and comedy while minimizing the gore, writer-director Paul Weitz (About a Boy) serves up a witty adventure fantasy with a tasty dollop of schadenfreude.
  2. While "Twilight" will make more money and get more attention, the darkly comic Cirque du Freak boasts the shaggy charm of the natural underdog.
  3. 50
    The finished film has been tinkered with and tweaked so thoroughly that it borders on the incomprehensible.
  4. 38
    Jammed with story threads that don’t cohere, Cirque commits the cardinal sin for a vampire movie: It’s bloodless.

See all 25 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 32
  2. Negative: 8 out of 32
  1. This film was amazing, as a book fan i thought the book to film adaptation was actually quite a good, I admit it was lacking quite a lot information, but due to this being a film for children certain things should have been left out, and the fact that its based on the first trilogy of the saga yet was still good, the annoying part however was how out of sequence it was, but overall I love this film and wish there was a second one. Expand
  2. ElizabethN
    8
    Overall very enjoyable movie. The pacing was a LITTLE too fast, and some of the dialogue was just corny, but I liked it more than I thought I would.
  3. SandyS
    5
    Movie was too mixed up... Didn't go along with the books.. Where in the world did Monkey girl come in? Very disappointing.. Love the books! Movie, not so much! Expand
  4. Uh....the point of the movie?

See all 32 User Reviews