This will be the only entry during the busiest week of a very busy month—and all I’m doing is endorsing The Vampire’s Assistant. Actually, the full title is either Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, or The Vampire’s Assistant: The Cirque du Freak Saga Begins. I’m not sure yet. The important thing is that this teenage vampire tale is like going to see Twilight as directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis. Please don’t Google this Friday to see how many other writers have hacked out a similar line—although they’ll probably go with invoking Tod Browning.

There’s a lot to enjoy in The Vampire’s Assistant, but the most remarkable thing is a lack of moronic politics. The last film from co-writer/director Paul Weitz was 2006’s lousy American Dreamz. That comedy tried to explain that American soldiers are the real terrorists running around our country. To be fair, Weitz also co-directed 2002’s About A Boy, which remains an underrated film that goofs on aging hippies.

It’s still unexpected when the biggest creep in The Vampire’s Assistant turns out to be a high-school history teacher. We first see the character while he’s trying to force his ancient peacenik ignorance on his bored students. Then he attempts to shut down a touring freak show because the mere idea is so politically incorrect. One freak helpfully points out the teacher’s hypocrisy. That may not make for a lot of political content, but it’s certainly our kind of political content.

Also, there’s this young actress named Jessica Carlson who is easily the cutest girl to hit the big screen in a very long time. She gets even cuter once you find out why her character is hanging around with the freaks.

 

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