If you want to see two best friends end up representing opposite sides in a vampire war, watch Cirque du Freak online. The Saga of Darren Shan books, written by Darren Shan, were the inspiration for the screenplay.

This fantasy movie concerns a boy who unwittingly breaks a truce between two opposing vampire factions. After a post-freak show theft of a trained show spider goes horribly awry, Darren (the main character) ends up having to become half vampire in order to save best friend Steve's life.

But Steve is ungrateful, because he wanted to be a vampire and could not. The vampire Larten Crepsley takes on Darren as his apprentice. Steve is furious and he threatens to kill Darren for daring take his place as a vampire.

Crepsley helps Darren fake his death and escape with the Cirque du Freak members. After befriending a snake boy, he becomes interested in a monkey girl.

Watch Cirque du Freak online to learn the fine points of being a "good" versus a "bad" vampire. They neither kill their prey nor suck blood through their fangs. After getting a meal from their prey's jugular vein, they use magic spit to heal the bite wound.

The Vampanese, on the other hand, kill their prey, hate sunlight, and give all vampires a bad reputation. Steve ends up being recruited by the Vampanese. Can you guess where this goes? You'll see a very impressive cast of characters if you watch Cirque du Freak online.

The actors playing Steve and Darren aren't well known, but there are some big stars playing parts in the Cirque du Freak show. Larten Crepsley is played by John C. Reilly, Darren is played by Chris Massoglia and Steve is played by Josh Hutcherson. Willem Dafoe, with the world's narrowest mustache, plays a vampire named Gavner Purl and steals his scene.

Brandon Molale plays Vampanese and Ray Stevenson plays Murlough. Besides Darren and Steve, there are a few other humans in the cast: Morgan Saylor as Annie Shan, Stephen McManus as Dermot Shan, and Christy Hutcherson as Mrs. Leonard.

In the Cirque du Freak lineup are Jane Krakowski, Ken Watanabe, Orlando Jones, and Salma Hayek as Corma Limbs, Hibernius Tall, Alexander Ribs, and Madame Truska. Enjoy a delightfully wicked movie: watch Cirque du Freak online.