Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's AssistantMovie Reviews

Poster art for "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant."

Gifts + Promos

Give the gift of movies with Fandango Bucks Gift Certificates! Design your own gift card, or choose from our collection.

Superhero fans! Don’t miss out on these Limited Edition Avengers gift cards!

Need Help?

So-so

Avg. Critic Score: 43 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore^® based on all critic reviews

Information for Parents:

Iffy for 12+

Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

63

USA Today | Claudia Puig
It's creepy but tinged with sarcasm and infused with silly fun. Read full review
50

Washington Post | Desson Thomson
Has its moments of fun, many of them having to do with Reilly's deadpan comic style. But the movie lacks the original edge of its better predecessors. Read full review
50

Los Angeles Times | Betsy Sharkey
Cirque is a harmless bit of fluff with a very cool look, but there's just never enough bite. Read full review
50

The New York Times | A.O. Scott
This movie incites curiosity tinged with confusion and irritation. It bristles with interesting ideas - about friendship and freakishness, honesty and anger - and intriguing characters, all of which may blossom in later episodes. Read full review
40

The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt
Making a vampire movie without any bite is like removing guns from a Western. Read full review
40

Variety |
The Vampire's Assistant is too busy making impossible claims about just how spectacular its sequels will be to serve up a self-contained story with a satisfying finale. Read full review
38

Rolling Stone | Peter Travers
Jammed with story threads that don't cohere, Cirque commits the cardinal sin for a vampire movie: It's bloodless. Read full review
38

Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert
The movie has good special effects and suitably gruesome characters, but it's bloodless. Read full review
33

Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum
Subplots go nowhere, and characters -- many played by well-known actors -- barely get screen time. Willem Dafoe, Salma Hayek, and Jane Krakowski are among those who are there and gone. Read full review
25

San Francisco Chronicle | Peter Hartlaub
The movie is occasionally clever, but still inferior to last year's "Twilight" film, mostly because the story is so muddled. Read full review

Metacritic link View more reviews for Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant on Metacritic

Information for Parents

Common Sense Media says Iffy for 12+ Teen vampire flick is scarier, edgier than the book series.

What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that amped-up violence and language make The Vampire's Assistant movie too mature for younger tween fans of the Cirque du Freak books it's based on. There are several disturbing scenes of vampires stabbing, punching, kicking, and otherwise wiping the floor with each other (although none of it gets particularly gory), along with potentially disturbing images of circus "freaks" and fairly regular use of words like "s--t," "a--hole," and the like. Although the sexuality is on the mild side (especially for a vampire tale), there are a few kisses and a brief glimpse of the protagonist about to suck blood from a willing love interest.

Families can talk about how this vampire thriller differs from other vampire-themed movies and shows. How are the vampires depicted? Why are vampires so popular?
Why do you think the movie amped up the level of language and violence compared to the books? Can you think of other movies that are "heavier" than the books they're based on?
How are Darren and Steve examples of "foils"? What kind of person do they each represent? Kids: Name other famous literary foils (here's one to start you off: Twilight's Edward and Jacob).

The good stuff

Positive messages: Kids can learn about self-awareness, sacrifice, and courage through Darren transformation's from regular teenager to half vampire. Crepsley, despite being centuries-old and curmudgeonly, demonstrates the importance of not being completely self absorbed. Together, and with the help of the circus folk, they triumph over a looming threat.
Positive role models: Darren is willing to sacrifice his life in order to save his best friend's, and he refuses to drink blood from anyone, even people who've been sedated, until Rebecca freely offers him some of hers. He's sweet, open-minded, and brave, and he doesn't fight unless it's for self-defense. On the other hand, his foil/best friend is the exact opposite -- Steve is selfish, sullen, and volatile, not to mention violent.

What to watch for

Violence: Although many of the fight scenes are slightly comic, there's plenty of violence, including stabbings with knives and swords, fistfights, kicking/stomping, slashings with vampire nails, and the protagonist having his neck broken for the sake of faking his death. Most of it isn't gory or bloody (surprising for a vampire movie!), but it's still fairly dark. There are also possibly disturbing scenes of the titular "freaks" (a girl with a monkey tail, a boy who's green/scaly like a snake, a man with two bellies, a woman who can rip off her limbs and regenerate them, a man with no skin covering his lower abdomen/ribs, a Bearded Lady, and more.). And those who are afraid of spiders will have several "look away" moments.
Sex: A couple of embraces and kisses between Crepsley and Madame Truska (as well as a joke about her beard growing out as a sign of arousal) and Alexander and Jane. Chaste flirting between Darren and Rebecca and a lips-only kiss (which does make her monkey tail stand on end...).
Language: Several uses of the word "s--t" and its cousins "bulls--t" and "holy s--t/crap," as well as a few utterances of "a--hole," "ass," "hell," "dick," "oh my God," and milder insults like "jerk," "wimp," "stupid," and "idiot."
Consumerism: Not an issue
Drinking, drugs and smoking: Adults and vampires drink socially on a couple of occasions.

Common Sense Media An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.