Dark Shadows

Film: Dark Shadows

Year: 2012

Director: Tim Burton

Writer: Seth Grahame-Smith

Starring: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer and Eva Green

Review:

This was a film that I originally saw in theaters. I wasn’t familiar with the soap opera that it was based on. What got me in the seats was the cast. Plus knowing it was another Tim Burton collaboration with Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Danny Elfman, that helped as well. It has been ten plus years since I last saw this one. Jaime and I watched it for Depp Dive and this doubles as Trek through the Twos.

Synopsis: an imprisoned vampire, Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp), is set free and returns to his ancestral home, where his dysfunctional descendants need his protection.

This film begins with our main character voicing over the history of the Collins family. We see Barnabas as a boy in Liverpool in the late 1600s. He’s coming to America with his mother and father to grow their empire in the fishing business. They decide to stay and build a magnificent house, showing off their wealth.

The boy grows up and takes over the empire. We see him have an affair with a maid, Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). When she asks him to tell her that he loves her, he won’t and we learn she is a witch. Barnabas is in love with Josette DuPres (Bella Heathcote). Angelique gets her revenge with magic. She uses a spell that forces Josette to commit suicide. Barnabas tries to save her and finds he’s cursed as well. Angelique turns him into a vampire. She then leads a mob who locks Barnabas in a casket and buries him.

We then jump to the 70s. In the 1970s, the Collins family, led by matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer), is financially ruined, only having the house and a meager remnant of the empire. Living with her are her angsty daughter Carolyn (Chloë Grace Moretz) and her brother Roger (Johnny Lee Miller), whose son David (Gulliver McGrath) is depressed, claiming to see his deceased mother's ghost. Carolyn also harbors a secret.

One day, a woman who resembles Barnabas’ love, Victoria Winters (also Heathcote), comes to be a governess for David. He already has a doctor who lives in the manor and attends him, Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter). Soon after, while McDonalds is being put in, they uncover Barnabas’ casket and free him. He returns to his manor to find his ancestors living there. He strikes a deal with Elizabeth to restore their honor and wealth.

This will be more complicated than he can imagine. He’s been locked away for so long that the world has moved on and he’s out of place. Elizabeth is there to help him integrate. The Collins’ business was gutted by the emergence of a rival, Angelbay. This company is run by Angelique, pretending to be an ancestor. There are other complications with shady family members, black magic and secrets that could derail their comeback.

That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. This film is darker and more sexually charged than I recall, particularly with Angelique and Barnabas, pushing its PG-13 rating. It features a vampire, a witch, and Gothic elements like David seeing a ghost, alongside Barnabas's need to feed. There is more that I’m holding back to not spoil it, but I wanted to credit this to start.

Now that I’ve set that up, let’s delve deeper into the overall concept. I saw that Dan Curtis, the horror television maestro, was behind the creation. It feels like he saw the success of the Addams family and the Munsters, then decided to do a soap opera. I like the setup. Angelique is a lover scorned by Barnabas so she gets her revenge by forcing his new lover to suicide and cursing his family. She continues this in hopes that he will choose her, which is wild. I know I’ve been blinded so there is that.

I will then say here that this isn’t necessarily horror in tone. It is more of a dark comedy and then a family drama. Like I’ve said, we do see Barnabas feeding. That gets brutal. He is a vampire. Angelique is a witch, using her powers for personal gain. For the sake of just continuing to repeat what has already been said, this has elements that are in genre. It uses them to flirt with it and that’s why I’m including this in my research.

What I’ll do then is just finish out the filmmaking aspects. Good cinematography effectively captures the past and present, using framing to hide seams. The overuse of CGI and a glossy filter are downsides. While Barnabas's paleness and Dr. Hoffman's hair color pops, the filter's application is inconsistent and overused. The film's nearly two-hour runtime and slow pacing are also concerns.

All that is left then is discussing the acting performances. Depp excels as a 17th-century man resurrected as a 1970s vampire, creating comedic "fish out of water" moments. Pfeiffer and Green deliver strong, unique performances. The supporting cast, including Carter, Moretz, McGrath, and Miller, as well as Jackie Earle Haley, are great. Heathcote's role is good but inconsistent. The biggest issue is that she disappears for a stretch. Christopher Lee and Alice Cooper are appreciated in their cameos.

In conclusion, this presents a unique blend of dark comedy and family drama, leaning into gothic elements without fully committing to horror. While the film benefits from strong performances, particularly from Depp, Pfeiffer and Green. It features commendable cinematography while being hampered by an overreliance on CGI and a glossy filter, inconsistent pacing and a somewhat disjointed narrative. Despite these flaws, the film offers an entertaining "fish out of water" story with a rich premise rooted in a scorned lover's revenge and a family's struggle to reclaim its past glory.

My Rating: 7 out of 10