Eventually Darren comes to see them as people and not as whatever oddity they display.Screenwriters: Paul Weitz, Brian Helgeland, Darren Shan (book) We meet a variety of characters including the rather engaging snake-man Evra Von (Patrick Fugit) and the rather normal looking young lady Rebecca (Jessica Carlson). Crepsley decides to hide Darren among the freaks in their circus camp.

Tiny, while not a vampire, is on their side). On the other hand there are the 'old school' vampires called the 'Vampanese' who kill their victims and drain them dry (Mr. Crepsley, who figured out (finally, if you ask me) that it's better to just draw some blood from a victim and leave them alive with no memory of what happened than to kill them, thus avoiding the whole 'driven out of town by people with pitchforks' scenario. There's a split in the vampire community - there are 'good' vampires like Mr. Tiny's mission in life is nothing short of bringing on the apocalypse and he's looking for a young man to fulfill some prophecy. Tiny (Michael Cerveris, who gives another effective, if over the top, performance). Crepsley, who does this to protect Darren from the also quite creepy Mr. Steve feels he has nothing to lose and wants to become a vampire, while of course Darren has no interest - guess what happens. Throughout the film there are fight scenes that are very dark, aggressive and creepy, and some of the characters may be disturbing to kids under 10 in my opinion - under 8 or so I'd say forget it. It includes a man with a super-narrow midsection with his internal organs exposed, a man with two huge, grotesque stomachs and a scene where a werewolf rips off a woman's arm. The stage show is VERY creepy for a film that parents may think about bringing younger kids to. Some slight spoilers follow as an FYI to parents. Tall (played wonderfully by Ken Watanabe) - the man who runs the show and plays head of the family for the assorted misfits we are about to meet. They find out a freakshow (Cirque du Freak) is coming to their little hole in the wall town, and Steve talks Darren into sneaking out to see it. He's best friends with Steve (Josh Hutcherson), the 'wild kid' who's had a rough upbringing and has stood up for Darren over the years. He gets good grades, stays out of trouble and listens to his overly 'square' parents. Darren Shan is your basic 'good kid' teenager.

Cirque du freak the vampire's assistant