Cirque De Freak : The Vampires Assistant

Release date: 23 October 2009

Running time: 109 mins

Director: Paul Weitz

Starring: Josh Hutcherson, John C. Reilly, Chris Massoglia, Salma Hayek

A teenage boy unwittingly breaks a 200-year-old truce between two warring factions of vampires.

Sixteen-year-old Darren (Chris Massoglia) leads a dull suburban life - until the fateful night that he and his best friend Steve (Josh Hutcherson) visit a travelling freak show where Darren falls under the spell of a vampire named Larten Crepsley (John C Reilly). Newly undead, Darren joins the Cirque Du Freak, a touring sideshow filled with monstrous creatures including a snake boy (Patrick Fugit), a wolfman (Tom Woodruff Jr), a bearded lady named Madame Truska (Salma Hayek) and a gigantic ringmaster called Mr Tall (Ken Watanabe). As Darren experiments with his new powers in this dark world, he becomes caught between the vampires who are his friends and their much deadlier counterparts. Now he must struggle to keep their rising hostilities from devouring what's left of his humanity. Ray Stevenson, Willem Dafoe and Jane Krakowski also star in this darkly comic fantasy-adventure.

Screenplay: Brian Helgeland, Paul Weitz

Distributor: Universal

You should see it because: Based on the popular series of books by Darren Shan, it's a fantastically nightmarish comedy.

See it if you liked: Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997), The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008), Twilight (2008)