Dark Shadows (2012)

The film Dark Shadows opened to an eagerly awaiting audience of both Tim Burton and Johnny Depp fans. Based on the ABC daytime show which aired during the late 1960s which generated a cult following, what was taken seriously in the late 60s / early 70s comes across as comedy today. The majority of the movie is set in 1972 and incorporates music from the Moody Blues (Nights in White Satin) with appearances by Karen Carpenter in a TV scene, a cameo appearance by Alice Cooper and appearances by four of the original Dark Shadows actors including Jonathan Frid who passed away shortly after filming. Rated PG-13 for comic horror violence, sexual content , drug use, language and smoking, one of our 14-year-old critics, Raven Devanney rated it 6 out of 5 stars for ages 13 and up. Here's her take: Dark Shadows Reviewed by Raven Devanney http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2NE6UPSLcM Dark Shadows is a hilarious movie about a man named Barnibus Collins, who is cursed by an evil witch when he refuses to give her his love. Turned into a vampire, Barnibus is locked away in a coffin for two centuries. Now, freed by unsuspecting construction workers, Barnibus finds that his home town of Collins Port has drastically changed. He must learn to fit into the 70s while protecting his family, restoring Collins Port to its former glory and riding himself of the evil witch, Angelique, who cursed him to be a creature forced to hide in dark shadows. I absolutely loved this movie. Johnny Depp, who plays Barnibus Collins, did fantastic! Johnny is one of my all time favorite actors and when he teams up with director Tim Burton, you know it's a film worth seeing. The cinematography was great because of the gloominess that you will often find in Tim Burton's films, but they found a flawless way to thrown in the bright colors of the 70's. The special effects were great too, especially in the end when Angelique's skin started to crack; she really looked as if she was made out of porcelain. Something that did bother me about the visuals was that the blood in the film looked way to fake considering that it is a vampire movie. My favorite character would have to be that daughter of the Collins family played by Chloe Moretz. One; she is my favorite young actress, two; she played a moody, mellow dramatic, angsty teenager perfectly. The acting in this film was priceless because there was a lot of over- acting, but not in a cheesy way, it was done very purposefully and it gave a wonderful comedic feel to dramatic situations. I suggest this film for ages 13 and up because of sexual situations, mild drug use and language. I would give this film 6 out of 5 stars because it far surpassed my expectations!

Fmovies: Let's leave it all at the door here. I loved Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and Batman. Hated Batman Returns, Alice in Wonderland, and Willy Wonka. Could care less about Nightmare before Christmas and Sweeney Todd. Okay, so I'm not a Tim Burton hater. I'm not a huge Tim Burton fan. I think in this situation, I'm as close as you get to the average movie goer. No agenda, no attachments. That being said, this film is terrible. Burton spent so much effort and time worrying about making this film Gothic and off pace, stuffing his favorite actors into the film even though half of their parts were pointless, he forgot he was making a film. It's a simple and fun idea but it feels like ego and "showiness" kept them from making the plot even make sense. We get it Tim! You are weird! Don't ruin a good performance by Depp and a fun idea for a film because you have to live up to your own Gothic standards. Grow up. So much talent is wasted on these films having the same look, cast, and feel to them. Take that talent and make something fresh! Stretch yourself just a tad out of that Hot Topic comfort zone will ya? This movie was long, boring, and ruined. All of the funny scenes were in the trailer. By the way.... wasn't this supposed to be the 70's? Other than a shot or two of trees and a hippie van it was just like the set of Sweeney Todd. The whole film felt like London in the 40's. That's bad film making whether your name is Tim Burton or not.

I am a huge fan of the old Dark Shadows shows. I liked the old series, bloopers and all. I liked the films House of Dark Shadows and to a lesser degree Night of Dark Shadows. I liked the 1991 revival series of Dark Shadows. This new Tim Burton/Johnny Depp version has some good elements in it, like the costumes, soundtrack and special effects, but the problem here lies in the written word. The script relies too much on gags, some funny and some rather lame. The basic characters are mostly here with the exception of the melding of Maggie Evans into Victoria Winters, and the actor playing Willie Loomis does a better job with the character than did the one from the 1991 revival, who chose (or was directed) to play the role as a half-wit.(The one element I disliked about the revival). The 1970s music, cars, costumes and hairdos are spot-on and add to the comfy 1970s feel of the piece. The climax is all special effects and one "revelation" of the plot is so absurdly done here that it is (unintentionally) laughable. In all, I would say that this film may appeal more to those who never saw any of the original versions of this than the fans of them. I didn't hate this film, I just didn't love it either.

Dark Shadows fmovies. I saw every Tim Burton film since Mars Attacks! at the cinema. Until this came along. I had had enough of Burton's subpar efforts over the years and Alice In Wonderland was his last chance as far as I was concerned. Finally saw this and I'm glad I waited. This is simply awful. Based on a soap opera, Burton doesn't seem to know what to do. It changes tone dramatically from obvious humour involving Depp's character waking up after 200 years of being buried and being confused by things such as television. To grisly kills where he takes out innocent victims. There are a whole cast of characters, each one is given their own story, but none of them are given enough time to develop. Miller, Carter, Heathcote are all wasted as are their stories. I didn't even get the point of Miller, which is a shame because he was great with what he had. Entire scenes have no place in the film, or are needlessly long and repetitive. The main plot seems to have Eva Green asking Depp to be hers and him rejecting her, over and over and over again. It really does feel like snippets from a soap opera condensed down. This is really just a clip show. By the end it starts pulling things out of its backside. Couldn't care for anybody in this film and think the original property should have just been left alone.

Oh the possibilities that were missed here. Except for the character names and a similar architecture in the house this film bares very little resemblance to DARK SHADOWS. The movie starts out beautifully and then goes off in so many awkward directions that it never finds what kind of movie it's trying to be. A few scattered laughs here and there do not compensate for a poorly conceived story that meanders itself to the point of being dull and confusing. What can you say about a movie that only comes to life in it's montages set to a pop songs from the early 1970's? Depp doesn't even attempt to capture any of the guilt ridden angst of Barnabas Collins. His Barnabas is a trick or treat Pirates of the Caribbean, very much like a kid playing dress up on Halloween and with two emotions, upset and more upset. Film has some nice set pieces but Burton doesn't bring any true Gothic feeling or sense of dread to the surroundings. The script has that throw everything up against the wall and see what sticks feel to it. Burtons direction comes off in a conveyor belt "okay, let's shoot this one" tone with interest only in visuals, which are striking. He's really more of a visual artist than he is a film director. Indeed, one gets the feeling that this film would never have been made if not for Johnny Depp and his love for the original series which is evident here. It's unfortunate that he relies too heavily on make up to carry his performance. Helean Bonham Carter has no interest in being in the film and it shows, doing it only as a favor to her husband. Eva Green is the type of actress Tim Burton is attracted to and loves to cast in his films, but she possesses little of Angelique's spellbinding jealousy. The only one in the cast that has a hint of what these surroundings should be played like is Michelle Pfeiffer. She is the Grande dame of Dark Shadows capturing both the Gothic feel of the original story and the magnificence of the character.

Lets be frank. If you had a dime for every time Hollywood took something dusty and old, and tried to turn it into something shiny and new, you could retire.

In fact, most of these attempts barely work. But (having seen this one front to back three times since its first release) I believe this is an exception and moreover I believe that viewers have become so jaded to these attempts that they instinctively rebelled against the film (hence the low rating) without even giving it a chance.

The script by Seth Grahame-Smith is witty and clever and engaging. And wonderfully demented. The cast is to die for. Eva Green and Johnny Depp are at the peak of their craft, delivering with a straight face bits of dialog that lesser actors would choke on. The supporting cast (almost all A-list with a young Chloë Grace Moretz) is rock solid.

Overall a delightfully deranged yet still entertaining exercise in being silly -- which is exactly what Hollywood aims for in these odd exercises.

The IMDb rating is much too low. Give it another chance.