Film Review: Cirque du Freak

Cirque du Freak is an absolutely fantastic series of books written by its protagonist, Darren Shan.  I've read the first seven books in the series and have asked for the rest (of the twelve total) for my birthday (keep your fingers crossed).  I read and reviewed the first three in the series during the October 2009 Readathon, and I recently reviewed books four through seven after tearing through them on my vacation in February.

Darren Shan was a normal boy until an unexpected trip to a Freak Show introduced him to a world of snake boys, wolf men, fire eaters, and vampires.  He consented to become a vampire's assistant to save his best friend's life, but as they say no good deed goes unpunished. Now Darren is involved in the rising tension between the vampires and the vampaneeze, vampires' killing cousins, and he is struggling to find his place among the vampires while maintaining his human-ness.

The film combines the first three in the series - at least, that's how it's marketed.  Watching it, however, is an entirely different experience from reading.  While the essence of the books remains, the plot is remarkably different with what I would actually consider plot spoilers of later books - books I haven't even read yet - permeating the film.  Quite a bit of what is shown in the film is only suggested in the first seven books of the series; and yet the bulk of the plotline from the books is missing.  It's a strange contradiction I know, but still the truth.

Still, I enjoyed the movie and I very much hope they continue making the films.  Logically, there will be three more films, with three books per film.  I do realize, however, that I'm in the minority here.  As far as I'm aware, the film received some scathing remarks and prospects for future films aren't exactly encouraging.  And yet, I am still hopeful.