Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

Mixing horror and comedy while minimizing the gore, writer-director Paul Weitz (About a Boy) serves up a witty adventure fantasy with a tasty dollop of schadenfreude.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

It's more fun than a poke in the heart with a sharp stick.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Joe Williams

Reilly is very funny as the sarcastic mentor, and director Paul Weitz strikes a loopy tone in the scenes at the freak encampment.

USA Today Claudia Puig

It's creepy but tinged with sarcasm and infused with silly fun.

New Orleans Times-Picayune Mike Scott

Trades breathless romance for a fun "Ripley's Believe it or Not"-flavored weirdness.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

While "Twilight" will make more money and get more attention, the darkly comic Cirque du Freak boasts the shaggy charm of the natural underdog.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Reilly gives it his all, and he’s both very enjoyable and about as scary as a stubbed toe.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

This movie incites curiosity tinged with confusion and irritation. It bristles with interesting ideas — about friendship and freakishness, honesty and anger — and intriguing characters, all of which may blossom in later episodes.

Los Angeles Times Betsy Sharkey

Cirque is a harmless bit of fluff with a very cool look, but there's just never enough bite.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Has its moments of fun, many of them having to do with Reilly's deadpan comic style. But the movie lacks the original edge of its better predecessors.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole

More than anything, the film lacks a rapport with its audience.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

The finished film has been tinkered with and tweaked so thoroughly that it borders on the incomprehensible.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

A profoundly unsatisfying experience - and that doesn't consider the derivative nature of the plot and a lackluster performance by the lead actor.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson

Actually, by way of a sequel, the filmmakers could just set Cerveris, Dafoe, and Reilly up for a purr-off. That’d be more fun than most of this film.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

The film is competent without being spectacular or thrilling.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Disjointed and disorganized, and it meanders when it needs to gallop.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Making a vampire movie without any bite is like removing guns from a Western.

Time Out New York Nick Schager

Vampirism is the new monstrosity du jour, and with Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, tweener boys get their own testosterone-infused variant of Twilight.

Variety Peter Debruge

The Vampire's Assistant is too busy making impossible claims about just how spectacular its sequels will be to serve up a self-contained story with a satisfying finale.

Village Voice Aaron Hillis

Directed by Paul Weitz (American Pie), the movie suffers from the same tonal schizophrenia of that other recent goth wannabe, "Jennifer's Body": Is it meant to be scary or funny? Oops, it's neither.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The movie has good special effects and suitably gruesome characters, but it's bloodless.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Jammed with story threads that don’t cohere, Cirque commits the cardinal sin for a vampire movie: It’s bloodless.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Subplots go nowhere, and characters -- many played by well-known actors -- barely get screen time. Willem Dafoe, Salma Hayek, and Jane Krakowski are among those who are there and gone.

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

The movie is occasionally clever, but still inferior to last year's "Twilight" film, mostly because the story is so muddled.

New York Post Kyle Smith

Calls to mind Grandpa taking out his dentures and trying to put on a comedy monster show for little kids at Halloween: When he tries to be scary, he's goofy, but when he tries to be goofy, he's scary.