Vampires are more popular than ever right now in the entertainment world, thanks to “The Twilight Saga” and TV shows such as “True Blood” and “The Vampires Diaries”. Hard to imagine that they were also big 40-years ago, on daytime TV of all places.
But that was the case. And now Johnny Depp and Tim Burton have teamed-up, for the 8th time, to bring the daytime soap opera , “Dark Shadows” (1966-71) to the big-screen.
Depp plays Barnabas Collins, who was a member of the richest family in Maine back in the late 1700’s. He’s cursed by a witch who loved him, because he loved someone else. She turns him into a vampire and locks him in a coffin. We flash forward to 1972 and the coffin is discovered by some construction workers who open it (big mistake) allowing Barnabas to return to what’s left of his family and try to restore them to glory in a town that’s been taken-over by an evil woman named Angelique (played by Eva Green), who just happens to be the same witch who cursed Barnabas nearly 200 years earlier. He’s looking for revenge, he’s looking for love and he’s looking for blood.
“Dark Shadows” starts with a good set-up, laying-out the plot in soap opera fashion. It grabbed my interest from the opening shot. But one of the big problems with the film is that it’s extremely inconsistent. An engaging scene is followed by one that just loses you and any momentum the story had. And this happens over and over.
This movie was marketed in the trailers and ads as a comedy – but it just isn’t. All the attempts at humor fall flat, including trying to get laughs out of the fact that this is a vampire from the 1700’s is now living in 1972. He’s amazed by a McDonald’s sign, baffled by a lava lamp. Please, that’s the best the writers could do?
The strength of “Dark Shadows” comes from what Tim Burton always provides: a great look and feel. You could tell this was a Burton film even if you didn’t know (and Depp and Burton’s wife – Helena Bonham Carter weren’t in it). The sets and costumes are fantastic and even the make-up is well done.
The cast does a nice job of playing this is soap opera style – delivering dialogue that is sometimes sharp, other times intentionally bland and almost always over-the-top. Michelle Pfeiffer is a good choice to play the matriarch of the Collins Family. She has some good early scenes with Depp, who is classic Depp here again. But seeing him play yet another “wacky character” is getting kind of old.
“Dark Shadows” is rated PG-13 for some language, adult content and violence. There are more sexual references than you might expect from a PG-13 film, probably because sex was a big part of daytime dramas. It’s appropriate for kids 12 and up, but most of them will likely not be interested. This movie was made for fans of Depp and Burton and fans of the original show, which had a huge cult following. I’m not really sure how those fans will like it. There were certainly a lot of them at the screening I attended, but I didn’t hear too much from them during or after the movie. Regular movie goers will likely be split down the middle, which was exactly the way I felt leaving the theater.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “Dark Shadows” gets a C.
At times it tries too hard, especially over-doing the fact that it’s set in the early 70’s (including a weird Alice Cooper cameo). The editing is a little rough and it’s not a bit scary. In fact this is probably the dullest vampire movie ever made. But with a solid cast, a director who’s a visual master and a great soundtrack “Dark Shadows” is not a complete wash-out.
I just wish it had a little more bite.