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.