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Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
When Darren Shan is taken to a circus that's chock-full of sideshow oddities, he meets a vampire and receives a life-changing bite on the neck.
2009 · Directed by Paul Weitz · 109 min · Adventure · Fantasy · Action · Thriller · Screenplay in the scene database · 11 frames
Tagline
Meet Darren. He's sixteen going on immortal.
Plot
In an unnamed American town, teenagers Darren Shan and Steve Leonard (Darren's more rebellious best friend and classmate) sneak out at night to attend the Cirque du Freak freak show at a local theater. During the performance, Steve recognizes one of the troupe's members, Larten Crepsley, as Ver Hosten, a vampire who is over a hundred years old, prompting him to try to find Crepsley after the show. Meanwhile, Darren, fascinated by Crepsley's spider, Madam Octa, goes backstage and impulsively steals her but is forced to hide when Crepsley returns to his green room. Steve arrives, begging to be made into a vampire, but Crepsley refuses after tasting Steve's blood, which he says "tastes of evil." When Crepsley realizes that Madam Octa was stolen, Darren flees from the theater with Crepsley in pursuit. He escapes when the mysterious Mr. Tiny arrives in his limousine, accompanied by Murlough. The latter is unimpressed with Darren, dismissing him as a "bag of blood," but Tiny promises to stay in touch after dropping Darren off at his home.
The following day, Darren secretly brings Madam Octa to school, where she escapes. A struggle in a crowded hallway follows and Steve tries to kill the spider, but she bites him on the cheek, leaving him to succumb to her deadly venom in the hospital. Darren returns to the theater and begs Crepsley for help. Initially annoyed and contemptuous, Crepsley agrees on the condition that Darren becomes a half-vampire—and Crepsley's personal assistant. Darren agrees, only to flee while Crepsley administers the antidote to Steve. However, after nearly attacking his own sister out of vampiric bloodlust, Darren decides to leave with Crepsley, who uses magic to stage Darren's death of a fall from a roof.
After being buried in a cemetery, Crepsley digs up the grave to free Darren, but Murlough ambushes them. Crepsley fights him off, and the two go to the Cirque du Freak campgrounds, where Darren meets Evra Von, the snake boy, and Rebecca, the monkey girl. Meanwhile, Steve, contemplating suicide after losing his best friend, is stopped by Tiny, who offers him a chance to become a Vampaneze, a race of vampires who—unlike Crepsley and others—murder their victims to feed on their blood. Steve agrees, proceeding to kill high school history teacher Mr. Kersey with Murlough's help. Trying to instigate a confrontation between Steve and Darren, Tiny kidnaps Rebecca and Darren's family, leaving a flyer for the Cirque du Freak at Darren's former home.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: Paul Weitz, Brian Helgeland
- Cinematography: J. Michael Muro
- Edited by: Leslie Jones
- Music: Stephen Trask
- Production design: William Arnold
- Produced by: Lauren Shuler Donner, Paul Weitz, Ewan Leslie, Andrew Miano
Cast
- Chris Massoglia as Darren Shan
- John C. Reilly as Larten Crepsley
- Josh Hutcherson as Steve
- Patrick Fugit as Evra the Snake Boy
- Salma Hayek Pinault as Madame Truska
- Jessica Carlson as Rebecca
- Michael Cerveris as Mr. Tiny
- Ray Stevenson as Murlaugh
- Morgan Saylor as Annie
- Don McManus as Mr. Shan
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: Universal Pictures, Relativity Media, Depth of Field
- Budget: $40,000,000
- Box office: $28,169,671
- Themes: based on novel or book, vampire, spider, wolfman, best friend, antidote, based on young adult novel
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