Summary16-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 s...
Summary16-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 s...
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.
Coming from the Manga, and book series, Cirque Du Freak follows protagonist Darren Shan and his friend Steve Leonard going to a circus of "freak shows," as the movie soon explains that they are all monsters. Steve becomes fascinated with one of the actors, Mr. Crepsley who in turn is really a vampire. Steve asks to become a vampire but is turned down because of his blood being rooted by evil. Darren however is infatuated with the spider Mr. Crepsley uses. He takes the spider and runs off. Later Steve is bitten by the same spider, Darren is forced to confront Mr. Crepsley, and in turn for an antidote, he must become a vampire. The following events would spiral Darrens life.
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.
Calls to mind Grandpa taking out his dentures and trying to put on a comedy monster show for little kids at Halloween: When he tries to be scary, he's goofy, but when he tries to be goofy, he's scary.
Like they say, there is corny dialogue. At the same time it has quite of bit of action and it is somewhat funny. The only problem is that there has yet to be a sequel to this that answers the questions we still have.
From watching John C. Reilly over the years, in everything from 'Hoffa' and 'Dolores Claiborne' when he was developing his craft, to 'Step Brothers' and 'Carnage', in which he was one of the leading actors that the film was centered on, I really wanted this film to work for me, though I feel in this recent glut of cinema spawned from Hollywood's post-'Twilight' obsession with vampires, that someone really needs to give this trend a coffin rest, at least for a while so creative fires can have a chance to rekindle--it seems to have been done to death. I'm sure this wasn't what Bram Stoker had in mind with his original 'Dracula'. There's nothing in these recent CGI-bloated messes meaty enough to sink one's teeth into. I'm sure Dr. Alucard himself is cursing the day he was granted immortality, if only to avoid his local multiplex, for this very reason.
Like another recent film I tried to get into, but basically flew off the rails in an enormous video game-like tidal wave of effects I neither wanted nor needed to see ('Your Highness' by David Gordon Green), the filmmakers ill-advisedly thought that the audience had to be captivated by fights and chases galore, but it's like seeing yet another explosion in a Michael Bay movie: Just give me: a) Great presence in an actor, for once, like the Sir Christopher Lees, Sir Peter Cushings, Vincent Prices, Boris Karloffs and Bela Lugosis of yesteryear; b) A story worth telling; and c) A director who knows a thing or two about storytelling--otherwise, I'd rather boycott drinking blood, and simply switch, at least for contemporary film, to a different cup of tea. I'm not surprised whatsoever that this didn't do well at the box office, and that filmmakers decided not to continue with the franchise. Even for vampires, sometimes enough is enough for a lifetime.
Although John C. Reily tries hard, he can't overcome a poorly written script, poor dialogue, stale acting, horrid plot transitions, an overabundance use of special effects, and a scattered plot
If you want to know how to destroy one of the best book sagas, just ask Paul Weitz.
It isn't a bad movie: great acting, good special effects and music... The adaptation is the mistake.
The prove is that if you haven't read the book, you will like the movie; but if you have read them, you will only be able to be disappointed.