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Darren (Chris Massoglia), left, takes on his pal Steve (Josh Hutcherson) as puppet master Mr. Tiny (Michael Cerveris) watches in “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant.” |
When you come out of Paul Weitz’s comic horror film “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant,” you don’t feel like you’ve watched a real movie.
It’s more like the pilot episode of a new teen-centric TV show where the main characters get introduced and all the ground work gets laid for the plots of future episodes.
Actually, I really liked the first half of “Vampire’s Assistant,” back when it was called Ray Bradbury’s “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” about two best pals – complete opposites – who sneak off to see a mysterious traveling circus and wind up in the clutches of evil.
The opposite best pals in “Vampire’s Assistant” are high school students Darren (a blandly benign Chris Massoglia), a goodie-two-shoes kid who earns top grades, and Steve (an edgy Josh Hutcherson), a disgruntled, troublemaking rebel from a broken home.
Steve, who’s such a fervid vampire fan that he wants to become one, goes nuts when he sees a flier promoting a freak show in town. He drags Darren to it, and in the middle of the program – a special-effects enhanced parade of shocking physical deformities – swears that the flame-haired emcee is a vampire from one of his books.
Indeed he is. (Read more…)