Spiders, vampires and circus freaks make a heady cocktail in director Paul Weitz’s (About a Boy) teen adventure. No doubt hoping to follow in the lucrative franchise footsteps of Harry Potter, Weitz and screenwriter Brian Helgeland (L.A Confidential) have adapted the first two books of novelist Darren Shan’s 12 part series The Saga of Darren Shan; creating a weird and wonderful world of magic, mystery and a dormant feud between the relatively civilised vampires and their bloodthirsty rivals, the Vampaneze.
The eponymous hero, played by Chris Massoglia, is your run-of-the-mill high school student with good grades and overbearing parents. Bored by his pastel shirts and chinos existence, Darren and his troublemaking best friend (back when best friend status was paramount) Steve (Joel Hutcherson) become captivated by a mysteriously delivered flyer advertising Cirque du Freak, and decide to sneak out to see the show.
It is upon entering the vaudeville that you realise all the adult actors have signed on hoping for their piece of the 12-part pie. John C. Reilly leads the charge as the gentlemanly vampire Larten Crepsley, with Willem Dafoe, Ken Watanabe, Jane Krakowski and Salma Hayek fighting for screen time in their variously freakish forms. Vamping up for the baddies is Ray Stevenson as the dastardly Murlaugh and Michael Cerveris as the rather large Mr. Tiny.
The politics surrounding why the vampires no longer kill their prey (choosing to stun and sip instead), and why this draws the ire of the Vampaneze are only barely sketched out, sapping the storyline of much needed tension. Similarly undercooked is Massoglia’s performance; he may have the requisite Zac Ephron look, but he really lacks the charm. His stilted, slightly adenoidal performance doesn’t bode well for the saga, though perhaps it’s worth sparing a thought for Daniel Radcliffe’s comparatively timid beginnings in wizardry.
Hutcherson fares better as the slighted Steve. It’s his dream to become a vampire, so when Crepsley ‘bloods’ Darren (in a surprisingly sanitised ritual) instead of him, Steve takes his bloodlust to Mr. Tiny. Naturally the erstwhile best buds are pitted against each other, with Mr. Tiny orchestrating the showdown in the hopes of trouncing a 200 year-old truce between the two factions.
With its paints-by-numbers storyline and lazy dialogue, this film will mostly likely hold little delight for adults. But for those able to get in touch with their inner 12-year old boy, this colourful, spooky, effects-driven world is a fun enough place to while away an hour or two.
Published in Street Press AustraliaAustralian release date: 11 March 2010
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