Hey Derek, Wanna Become a Vampire?
You know a trend is getting too big when it starts producing two-bit tag-alongs like Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant. Check out the trailer embedded below and you’ll know what I’m talking about.
From Paul Weitz, the director of American Pie, Chris Rock’s Down to Earth and that Hugh Grant “romcom” About a Boy, Cirque du Freak meets its vampire quota through a story of a bored kid looking for a little adventure, a way out of his bored little life in his bored little town, and how he turns himself into a vampire to do it. That’s its story. But we all know better. The story isn’t what’s important here-what is, is that there are vampires, having them onscreen and not missing an opportunity to cash in on a craze. Que Mugatu from Zoolander leaning over and whispering, “Vampires, they’re so hot right now.”
To be completely honest, I don’t think the movie looks as terrible as I’m making it out. But what I’m surprised about is John C. Reilly’s involvement. I mean, this is a guy who’s repeatedly worked with Martin Scorsese and PT Anderson. This is a guy who across the board is critically lauded. I know he enjoys making comedies–and he’s great at it–and it should be fun to watch him in a trench coat and ‘fro, flying around and debunking the lore–but really, what is he doing here?
The Vampire’s Assistant is based off of the first novel in the British “Vampire Blood” trilogy, which comprises the first 3 of 12 books in the The Saga of Darren Shaw series. So definitely expect more of these to come because this is trying to be a franchise. I just wonder if they’ve waited too long, whether people will still care come movie 3, or even 2.
Dust off those Bill Compton fangs (Dracula was so 20th century) and catch Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant just in time for Halloween on October 23rd.
This entry was posted on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 3:59 pm and is filed under film, trailers/news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
