newpony I have never been so disappointed and angered by a movie in my life! Dark Shadows was one of the greatest TV shows/soap operas ever made, and this movie did nothing to honor its legacy at all. It was a giant piece of smelly crap! I used to run home from school every day to watch the original Dark Shadows on television at 4 p.m., and it was a thrill for me and every other fan who adored the series and the cast. All of the fans were heartbroken when the series ended. In later years, we were able to buy the series on DVD (the only soap opera ever made available to purchase). We were able to buy the Dark Shadows movies, and an attempt to revive the series in 1991 with actor Ben Cross failed, but at least it was a genuine attempt to stay as true as possible to the original series.The problem is that you simply can't remake something as classic, unique and ground-breaking as the original Dark Shadows. In fact, most movies that try to retell classic TV shows fail, with just a couple of exceptions.This movie was so boring and so bad that it probably made Dan Curtis roll over in his grave. For those who don't know, Dan was the creator of the original Dark Shadows. Johnny Depp is a fine actor, but he's no Jonathan Frid. I respect his attempt, but it fell way short.The original series was not a comedy and the lame attempts at comedy were an insult to a classic series that was anything but comedic. The fact that four of the original cast members made a brief cameo in this movie simply proves that they had respect for Tim Burton by accepting his invitation to appear, but most likely they were paid handsomely to appear as well. Who can blame them? Also, I want to say that I have enjoyed many of Burton's other movies. He just should have passed on this one.I only know that I did not like this film at all. I'm sorry I watched it because it took me 6 years to break down and do so, and I got exactly what I thought I'd get. A horrible experience. Just leave the original Dark Shadows alone! It will live on and on and on without any help.

Matthew Kresal Translating television shows to the big screen is part and parcel of popular film-making dating back to the 1950s. So it was no surprise that Dark Shadows, the legendary Gothic horror soap opera that ran from 1966-1971, came back to the big screen in 2012. Unlike the earlier low-budget films made after the show's demise, this one was to be a big budget star vehicle from director Tim Burton with a cast that included Johnny Depp. On the surface, it looked to be a wonder mix of a director and star getting the chance to bring a mutual favorite of theirs to life once more. What it became instead was something of a mess.To be fair, translating any long running program to the big screen would be a challenge. Never mind if that series ran for something like 1200 episodes like Dark Shadows did while covering everything from vampires to witches, werewolves, and ghosts not to mention usual soap opera tropes like family secrets and twisted relationships. Yet for its opening twenty-odd minutes, Burton and his writers (John August and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter writer Seth Grahame-Smith) seem to do it as they quickly introduce the series most famous character, the vampire Barnabas Collins (played by Depp) and set the stage for the film's main setting: the Maine town of Collinsport in 1972. For these opening minutes, it's a wonderful Gothic film full of atmosphere and menace as Victoria Winters (Bella Heathcote) is introduced to the Collins family and their home. It doesn't last very long though.Sadly, once Depp's Barnabas reappears, the film can't figure out what it's meant to be. Is it an adaptation of the TV series? Is it a Gothic horror film? Is it a parody of the series? Instead of picking any one of those (which, under Burton's direction, would undoubtedly have been interesting), the script tries to be all three. For nearly ninety minutes of its running time, the film moves along from one genre to the other. Worse, it often does so within the same scene which leaves scenes feeling even weirder than one might normally expect within a Tim Burton film. One never knows where to laugh, cringe, or be scared and the result is a film that is immensely unsatisfying to say the least.It also plays merry havoc with every single performance in the film. Depp's Barnabas has some good moments but the ever shifting nature of the film, especially the attempts to make it comedic, never give him anything really solid enough to play with. The havoc really takes its toll on the usually reliable Eva Green as the villainous witch Angelique who instead gives a performance that, outside of her appearance in the film's opening minutes, becomes overplayed to the point of lacking either menace or humor. The rest of the cast including Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Jackie Earle Haley, and Jonny Lee Miller are all effectively wasted as nobody gets anything solid to do in the film with Carter and Miller in particular playing parody versions of their TV counterparts. Of the entire cast, Bella Heathcote as Victoria Winters fares better but largely because her character becomes the audience's in-road to the Collins' family and by her becoming Depp's love interest, something that allows her to shine ahead of almost everyone else. It's a potentially good cast let down by a poor script.Yet the film does have some positive attributes. The aforementioned opening minutes are superb with the combination of script, Burton's direction, and production values creating a wonderful atmosphere that the film then throws away. Even in the lackluster parts of the film, the production values are first rate though. The 1972 setting of the film is interesting with 1970s fashions conflicting nicely with the Gothic mansion. Indeed, Collinwood itself is a wonderful piece of pastiche Gothic design though Burton has always had that on his side. There's a number of nice cameos as well including some members of the original Dark Shadows cast that eagle eyed viewers might spot. If one was to rate the film on style instead of substance, it would be pretty good.Yet for all of its aesthetic attributes, Tim Burton's film of Dark Shadows is a mess. The biggest fault lies in with a script that can't ever quite make up its mind what kind of story it's trying to tell which in turn leaves virtually the entire cast out to dry. The opening minutes hint at a film that could have been good but instead it feels like a trailer for a film that should have been made but wasn't. Bigger isn't always better and this film is a perfect example of how not to bring a TV series to the big screen.

Filipe Neto Barnabas Collins has a huge fortune and a great future but he turns out to be cursed by a witch, whose love he despised, becoming a vampire. Now, centuries after his disappearance, he will try to return to his ancestral home in order to protect his descendants. Directed by Tim Burton, it has screenplay by Seth Grahame-Smith. The cast is headed by Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer and Eva Green.This is the film adaptation of an old soap opera. First, I must say I never saw the original series, so I can not make comparisons. But one thing I noticed: as this film is a dark comedy, many people did not like it because they expected to watch a horror movie or a thriller. This happens especially when we know the story from a book or previous film. But that does not make it a bad movie. As I had no expectation, I watched it as a comedy and really liked it. The dark mood is rare because it is controversial, but this movie is full of good comic moments without breaking with political correctness.The script works on a regular basis, it should have been more reviewed and worked. There are a handful of dubious elements, poorly explained situations and plot holes throughout the film. The provision of the actors was positive, but Johnny Depp's performance in the lead role, overshadows almost all colleagues. Actor experienced and proved in terms of versatility, he is able to do almost any role. Eva Green was also perfectly at the height of her role, giving an icy sensuality to the villain. The scenarios are excellent, particularly Collinwood, whose Gothic and sinister environment has lots of charm. I'm not a big fan of the seventies, but the epochal recreation seems to me dubious and untidy. Most of the scenes seem so much like the present that the audience quickly forgets the story takes place in the past. The cinematography is good, alternating darker and gray tones with more colorful scenes in order to emphasize sensations. The visual and sound effects are good. In turn, the soundtrack has coordination problems between the original track, made for the movie, and music pieces from the seventies that arise in the film and obfuscate soundtrack.

TheLittleSongbird While it had a bit of a slow start, with technical limitations being obvious and the characters not being as interesting, from the moment it switched to colour and introduced its most iconic character Barnabas Collins (unforgettably played by Jonathan Frid) the 1966 'Dark Shadows' is a classic.It is easy to see why it was so popular back in its day, and it is equally easy to see why it is remembered so fondly now. Despite its flaws (which were forgivable in a way), this reviewer spent many days and hours watching it with sheer joy, it really helping me get through many stressful and mentally straining times this year at music college (though there were many great times too, and saw a huge progression and several seemingly impossible achievements).Sadly, this 2012 film version of 'Dark Shadows' was hugely disappointing. As an adaptation of the show, it just doesn't compare and understandably can (and has been) be seen as a travesty to die-hard fans. Tim Burton and Johnny Depp apparently claim to be fans of 'Dark Shadows', but to me that wasn't obvious at all. There was more of a sense that Burton hadn't even seen the show, seeing as the tone and spirit feels completely wrong, or he thought he could improve upon it.On its own as a film, it has its good points but several major flaws that to be honest for this reviewer were more obvious. It is a shame as I am a fan of Burton's 80s and 90s stuff, especially 'Edward Scissorhands' and 'Ed Wood' which are two of my all-time favourites, but after his career low-point 'Planet of the Apes' he became hit-and-miss. While it is better than 'Planet of the Apes', along with 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and 'Alice in Wonderland' 'Dark Shadows' is very much a lesser effort from Burton.There are good things. It does look great, with splendidly Gothic and vibrantly colourful sets, wonderful and atmospheric use of colours, effectively ghoulish make-up and appropriately kooky costumes that suited the characters very well, while it's beautifully and stylishly photographed as well. The music score is groovy, rousingly orchestrated, haunting and a long way from forgettable or generic, if not one of Danny Elfman's best or most inspired scores, with some clever song choices. There are some amusing, well-written lines in the script, loved the line about Alice Cooper and it is most successful when Barnabas is struggling to fit in, and a few of the cast acquit themselves well.Johnny Depp is no Jonathan Frid and he has given better performances (though also much worse, it is one of his better performances in any of his later collaborations with Burton), but he is clearly having a lot of fun as Barnabas without overdoing it and is one of the most involved members of the cast, he also is very charismatic. Michelle Pfeiffer is one of the most successful at injecting a genuine and faithful personality, while Eva Green is both sexy and intense. Cameos by Christopher Lee and Alice Cooper are well-utilised.Unfortunately, a number of the cast don't come off well. Jackie Earl Haley, who is very good at being menacing and sometimes low-key if he needs to be, looked bored in a role that is so much in the background that there was almost no need for him. Helena Bonham Carter overdoes it and comes over as out of place, while Chloe Grace Moretz is irritating in a negatively stereotypical role. Much of the acting is either over-compensated and bland, being able to do very little to nothing with their dull and often unrecognisable in personality characters, and while it was interesting to see Frid his appearance is far too short to leave a lasting impression. The chemistry between the characters, one of the show's biggest strengths, is barely there.'Dark Shadows' script has its moments, but these moments are too sporadic. Tonally it is very unfocused and muddled too often, it rarely seems to know whether to be eccentric comedy or full-blown melodrama. It attempts to do both (amongst others) and never completely succeeds at either, the comedy is too sporadic and can be childish and overdone and the melodrama is unmoving and overwrought. Story-wise it's a mess, it never really comes to life, has twists that come out of nowhere and are completely misplaced (especially the werewolf subplot), parts that drag endlessly and contribute very little to the plot and parts that looked alright on paper but executed in a half-baked way.As a result, the Gothic atmosphere is almost completely lost, with it only being obvious in the production values, while the sex scene choreographed to Barry White is too broad and overly-wild and the ending is overblown to ridiculous extremes. Burton's direction does well with the style is but severely lacking in the story and the substance, where there is a complete lack of heart and soul.Overall, not awful but disappoints hugely both as a standalone and especially as an adaptation of a classic show. 5/10 Bethany Cox