Darren is a natural teenager like all teenagers who lives a simple life next to his friends and family but will pass through strange circumstances during an early age of his life. After a while, Darren encounters a young man named Cirque Du Freak and a dangerous blood sucker named Larten Crespley and may change his life forever. Darren decided to leave his normal life and change into a killer vampire next to the vampire named Larten Crespley and his other friend.
Weitz's screenplay (with Brian Helgeland) contains liberal splashes of humour, but in the end the film lacks an emotional hook, perhaps thanks to the lacklustre performances of the young leads.
Chicago Reader
October 23, 2009
Mixing horror and comedy while minimizing the gore, writer-director Paul Weitz serves up a witty adventure fantasy with a tasty dollop of schadenfreude.
The film was based on a series of twelve books (that) must've screamed "franchise pay cheques!" to actors like Dafoe, Hayek and Reilly, who would usually have known better.
teenybopper fiction brought to life on the big screen, realized as the first installment in a potential franchise that fails to offer reasons why mainstream audiences will want to follow it any further.
