Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant

An upstanding kid (Chris Massoglia) with good grades goes to a freak
show one night and winds up a half vampire soon thereafter, traveling
around with a 200-year-old bloodsucker (John C. Reilly). His best
friend (Josh Hutcherson) gets mixed up with some nastier types, and a
bunch of nonsense leads to a final vampire confrontation. Reilly is
miscast, but he makes the best of it as a grouchy but somewhat kind
vampire who doesn’t kill for blood. Biggest problem here is that
Massoglia is quite the dullard, and much of the picture rests on his
back. He seriously lacks any kind of charisma, and the movie is a long
slog as a result. It’s hard to follow just what the heck is going
on, and while this is supposed to be the first film in a series, it
tanked on its opening weekend, probably killing chances for future
installments.