"You do read books, don't you?"
The big advantage of the movie version is that it doesn't need the irritating first-person narrative of the novel(s). Cirque Du Freak - The Vampire's Assistant is a competently made, mildly entertaining film clearly aimed at the young male audience who would never dream of going near the Twilight franchise, movies or books. Playing like a bizarre marriage of The Lost Boys, Interview With The Vampire and Goosebumps, with nods to old-school Asian vampire/horror movies, the slightly uneven style and tone of the film is made up for ably by a great cast for a children's production (a restrained John C. Reilly, Salma Hayek, and Willem Dafoe doing an amusing take on Vincent Price) and two (male) teenage leads who play their characters with reasonable control and seriousness. Plenty of plot fills its running time, leading to a well-mounted final smackdown, although it definitely feels like a movie designed to set up a bigger sequel (which early US box-office suggests may not happen). Cirque Du Freak is a perfectly amiable movie that is never earth-shattering but does well within its own limits. However, over seven decades on from Todd Browning's extraordinary and controversial Freaks, what does it say about today that Hollywood is offering a 'freak show' as children's entertainment?
The big advantage of the movie version is that it doesn't need the irritating first-person narrative of the novel(s). Cirque Du Freak - The Vampire's Assistant is a competently made, mildly entertaining film clearly aimed at the young male audience who would never dream of going near the Twilight franchise, movies or books. Playing like a bizarre marriage of The Lost Boys, Interview With The Vampire and Goosebumps, with nods to old-school Asian vampire/horror movies, the slightly uneven style and tone of the film is made up for ably by a great cast for a children's production (a restrained John C. Reilly, Salma Hayek, and Willem Dafoe doing an amusing take on Vincent Price) and two (male) teenage leads who play their characters with reasonable control and seriousness. Plenty of plot fills its running time, leading to a well-mounted final smackdown, although it definitely feels like a movie designed to set up a bigger sequel (which early US box-office suggests may not happen). Cirque Du Freak is a perfectly amiable movie that is never earth-shattering but does well within its own limits. However, over seven decades on from Todd Browning's extraordinary and controversial Freaks, what does it say about today that Hollywood is offering a 'freak show' as children's entertainment?
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