Set Visit: 'The Vampire's Assistant'

We visit the set of John C. Reilly's New Supernatural Comedy that Brings Bloodsucking Back for Boys

By Gregory Ellwood
Special to MSN Movies

Have you had your share of vampires? From the "Twilight" franchise to HBO's hit series "True Blood" to the upcoming CW series "The Vampire Diaries," it's almost impossible to escape a postmodern view of the blood-sucking antiheroes these days. And as this writer discovered on a set visit more than a year ago to New Orleans, there is yet another vampire adventure on the horizon: "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant."

Ironically, at the time of the visit 15 months ago, the word vampire was hardly being tossed around. As a group of journalists entered an abandoned warehouse converted into a soundstage to recreate the circus-like campground of the film's traveling freak show, the emphasis was much more on the "freak" aspect of the story.

The movie encompasses the first three novels of Darren Shan's 12-book "Saga of Darren Shan" (yes, the title character has the same name as the author). Directed by Paul Weitz ("About a Boy"), the film stars relative newcomer Chris Massoglia as Darren and John C. Reilly as the vampire Larten Crepsley, his mentor. Crepsley's day job is as the "ringmaster" of a traveling freak show (hence the "Cirque du Freak" title). Similar to the series, the movie finds the teenage Darren deciding to become a half-vampire and stage his own death in order to save his "best friend" Steve (Josh Hutcherson of "Bridge to Terabithia" fame) from dying. If it sounds a bit dark, it is -- at least it still was when we spoke to Weitz on set. And considering the movie still has a PG-13 rating, you know this isn't for kiddies.

"There is some really dark things in the books," Weitz says regarding the source material. "Like, in the books the kid fakes his own death, which is a horrible thing to do to your parents, obviously. And Crepsley in the books is morally ambiguous; he's taken this kid as his assistant, as his mentor, without wondering too much what it's going to do to his private life or normal childhood. And I think that aspect of it got under my skin. It reminds me a little bit of Grimm fairy tales, where there are horrific things happening, but somehow they make sense."

Weitz, whose brother Chris took on directing "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" months after this interview, spoke about how he'd been wanting to write a similarly themed movie before he ever knew about Shan's books.

"I'd actually been thinking of doing a movie about where a kid gets a vampire as a mentor and growing up is sort of largely having to do with moral ambiguity and gray areas," Weitz recalls. "In fact, Hugh Grant always used to make fun of me, ribbing me about 'the vampire movie.' And then I read these books and [what I was interested in] was part of the core relationship."

Because the series has sold millions of copies around the world, Weitz is trying to stay as honest to the book's mythology as possible. As you'd expect, the vampires of Darren Shan's world aren't the same as those in the worlds of "True Blood" or "Twilight." Just to keep things straight, here's a quick rundown on the "Vampire's Assistant" vampire rules:

- A vampire can be killed, and not just with a stake in the heart. They could get stabbed or run over, but they are much tougher than normal people.

- Vampires don't live forever, but they do age 10 times as slowly as a normal person. A 40-year-old-looking vampire who was turned into a vampire at age 20 would actually be about 220 years old.

- They can't go out during the day, but we're not sure why (or at least Weitz isn't).

- Inside their coffins they are not in some sort of coma form, they can hear.

- They have razor sharp nails.

- They have the ability to make great leaps in the air.

- Vampires in this world do not drink from the neck, but cut a vein of a victim, drinking small amounts of blood and then healing it with their saliva.

For Reilly, "Vampire's Assistant" is a big departure from his earlier work. He's never really gone into fantasy before, having made his name in dramatic and comedic roles such as "Boogie Nights" and "Step Brothers." Speaking to us during a break in shooting a scene with Willem Dafoe (more on that later), he said it was Shan's insight on the mind-set of young adults that sold him on the part.

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