Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
Studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
US DVD Release Date: February 23, 2010
Theatrical Release Year: 2009
Rated: PG-13 (Sequences of intense supernatural violence and action, disturbing images, thematic elements, and some language)
Running Time: 109 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 (English, Spanish, French), Dolby Digital 2.0 (English Descriptive Video Service)
Subtitles: English (SDH), Spanish, French
Movie: 2.5 out of 5
Vampires seem to be all the rage these days, thanks to the success of the Twilight novels and movies. Everywhere you look, there is a new television series (The Vampire Diaries, True Blood), book (Vampire Academy, Vampire Maker), or movie (Let The Right One In, Blood: The Last Vampire). So it is with understandable reason that Universal would want to try to launch the internationally popular Cirque Du Freak books as a movie franchise with Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant.
On the surface, the film has all the right ingredients to be successful. John C. Reilly (Walk Tall) has the right presence to portray vampire Larten Crepsley. Selma Hayek (Desperado, Frida) has the exotic beauty to pull off the bearded lady Madame Truska. Ken Watanabe (Letters from Iwo Jima, Last Samurai) is perfect as Mr. Tall, the ringleader of the traveling show. Patrick Fugit (Almost Famous) is sympathetic as Evra the Snake Boy. Josh Hutcherson (Bridge To Tarabithia, Journey To The Center Of The Earth) is cast against type as Steve, the troubled best friend to Darren.
However, newcomer Chris Massoglia mumbles his way as Darren, a straight-A student who pledges his life to Crepsley to save Steve's life, destined to be The Vampire's Assistant for eternity. Massoglia has little to no screen presence, and his performance would be an embarrassment to any casting director for suggesting him in the first place. Paul Weitz (of American Pie and About A Boy fame, and brother of Twilight: New Moon director Chris) directs from a screenplay credited to himself and Brian Helgeland (Payback, Man On Fire, A Knight's Tale), but never manages to make the story engaging. Reilly's performance held my interest, but the film seems more interested in setting up a franchise than delivering a satisfying ending, leaving the audience unfulfilled. The real highlight of the film, though, was the opening title sequence, something you don't see much of these days.
Video: 3 out of 5
Universal is presenting Cirque Du Freak on DVD in the film's original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 with anamorphiic enhancement for 16:9 displays. This is an acceptable transfer, but nothing special. Flesh tones and colors are consistent, but some edge enhancement is noticeable. There is also an overall softness to the image, resulting in a loss of detail, especially in long shots and many of the dark sequences in the film.
Audio: 3 out of 5
The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, encoded at 448 kbps, has good fidelity with intelligible dialogue and decent LFE response. However, it is a rather uninspired mix, surprisingly front-heavy for a genre film. Surrounds are used sparingly for music and ambiance, with very few discrete sound effects, even during the film's climactic battle.
Special Features: 3 out of 5
The special features on this disc are average, what one would expect on a DVD for a studio picture.
Deleted Scenes (10:33): A collection of 20 scenes are provided, presented in non-anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen. None of the scenes add or detract from the finished film, with the possible exception of the original version of the opening scene, which is frame for frame identical to what was used, except for the narration here by Mr. Tiny as opposed to the narration by Darren in the finished film.
Guide To Becoming A Vampire (20:00): A three-part documentary on the making of the film. What is interesting is how the producers and director Weitz compare the potential franchise to Harry Potter.
Tour Du Freak (18:05): Narrated in the tradition of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion, this documentary looks at the large interior soundstage which housed the Cirque Du Freak campsite.
Overall: 3 out of 5
I felt the movie tried too hard to launch a potential franchise, leaving too many loose ends and ultimately becomes a movie that sets up future films in the series. Grossing less that $20 million at the domestic box office, it is unlikely there will be more Cirque Du Freak movies. The presentation and special features are average, making this DVD for fans only.
