Film.com's FREE movie of the week is "Love the Hard Way." Oscar-winner Adrien Brody and Charlotte Ayanna star in this drama about a thief who falls for a curious, beautiful young woman. As their intimacy grows, a slick cop (Pam Greer) is closing in.
'The Vampire's Assistant' (2009) -
Universal Pictures
16-year-old Darren was like most kids in his suburban neighborhood. He hung out with his best friend Steve, got decent grades and usually stayed out of trouble. But when he and his buddy stumble upon a traveling freak show, things begin to change inside Darren. That’s the exact moment when a vampire named Larten Crepsley turns him into something, well, bloodthirsty. Newly undead, he joins the Cirque Du Freak, a touring sideshow filled with monstrous creatures from a snakeboy and a wolfman to a bearded lady and a gigantic barker. As Darren flexes his newfound powers in this dark world, he becomes a treasured pawn between the vampires and their deadlier counterparts. And while trying to survive, one boy will struggle to keep their brewing war from devouring what’s left of his humanity.
"There's very little lifeblood flowing through this."
Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant suffers from a little issue I like to call the Jumper Syndrome. That's when you get a bunch of people in a room who plan out a franchise, a full three to four films' worth, forgetting to actually make one good movie
PETER TRAVERS -
October 22, 2009
Do we really need another vampire movie? Well, this one is based on a popular tweener series of a dozen books by British writer Darren Shan. Director and co-writer Paul Weitz claims he loves the series, and Weitz’s credits — he and his brother Chris Weitz gave us American Pie and About a Boy — got my attention. (Watch Peter Travers review Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant in his weekly series, "At the Movies With Peter Travers".) But the mess onscreen does no one any favors. The Cirque du