Video: ‘Cirque du Freak’ is tres average

The appeal of “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant” does not lie in the title character. It’s an odd little underdog story — a bored teenager trapped in a high school where, for some reason, everyone wears pastels. He sneaks out one night to a freak show, steals a spider, becomes a half-vampire, makes friends with a snake boy, falls for a monkey girl — you know, ordinary stuff. All this is embellished with freaky visual effects.