Dark Shadows (2012)

 

In the middle of the 1960s, the television company ABC acquired an import of a British television series entitled 'Dark Shadows', which ran until 1971. Now, nearly over 50 years later, director Tim Burton attempts to bring the TV series to the big screen in an adaptation of “Dark Shadows”. And what's the final result? It's a disappointing mess. It tries too hard to call itself a comedy, yet there is a hard seriousness to it. Though to be fair, there are some things that do make the movie work. “Dark Shadows”, while having a few good factors about it, doesn't try to imitate the original series that it is based off, and becomes something else entirely.

The plot of the film revolves around Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) who has been cursed by a witch (Eva Green) by becoming a vampire due to rejecting her love. Barnabas returns to his home of Collinsport, Maine nearly 200 years later, and finds it in ruins. Barnabas must find a way to reverse the curse that was bestowed on him and revive the family business to get it back on its roots once more.

“Dark Shadows” is a mess.

The writing tries to play the movie as a comedy, where the original TV series was a serous drama. If the movie had taken out the jokes, and added a more serious overtone, then it would have worked so much better. Plus, the comedy doesn't work well. With jokes that don't work, and trying to be too obvious, the comedy just doesn't give the audience a chance to laugh.

The cast was all right; we have decent performances, but with so many characters in which the movie focused on, it felt very confusing as to pay attention to who you want to see finish their story arc. Plus, the writing kind of just doesn't know what to do with them. Especially near the end of the feature. This is mainly because you feel attached to these characters. Yes, they're important to the plot, but they offer little to no purpose other than to be on screen.

But what really kills “Dark Shadows” is the pacing.

At nearly two hours, the movie is slow, and at certain points boring. The first 30-45 minutes keep your interest, but after that, the film just drags, and it doesn't becoming engaging enough for the audience to care. And just when you think it's going to give the audience more to offer, it just ends, leaving on a ridiculous cliffhanger that we will never get a chance to see. There are also some story elements that are quickly explained at the last minute and that felt rushed, i.e. plot elements that do not add up in the slightest, or just feel like they were taken out of left field.. “Dark Shadows” just needed to be a bit stronger in order to maintain itself fully.

That being said, there are some good things about the movie.

The costumes fit the time period of the 1970s perfectly, and the wardrobe is appropriate towards each gender in question.

And the sets was were designed to capture the look of the original series. In fact, the whole movie has a very nice visual flair that only Tim Burton could deliver. The cinematography is pretty good, and the theme of darkness emanates throughout the production.

The score by Danny Elfman is good, and is definitely worth listening to. And the actual soundtrack, with licensed songs, especially from Alice Cooper who makes a cameo in the film, definitely add a feeling of the time period that the feature is set in. The music is definitely a highlight here.

But everything else, just doesn't feel right.

In conclusion, “Dark Shadows” is a bad movie that doesn't have a lot going for it. With a change in tone, this movie could have worked. But as it is, it just does not feel right. It's not terrible, but could have been something better that was worthy of the original television series.