Dark Shadows

Release date: May 11, 2012
Directed by: Tim Burton
Television series by: Dan Curtis
Written by: Seth Grahame-Smith
Cast: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green, Helena Bonham Carter, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Bella Heathcote, Chloë Grace Moretz, Gulliver McGrath

It’s impossible to deny that Tim Burton has made fantastic movies, alongside some downright horrible movies throughout his career. From the trailer, Dark Shadows seemed as though it could have joined the greats, but thanks to some very messy writing, it inevitably ends up falling into “The Average Zone.”

Burton’s film begins by introducing Barnabas Collins, a young man whose family set sail from Liverpool to America to start a new life. After decades of building the town of Collinsport from the ground up, everything seems wonderful for Barnabas, but after he breaks the heart of Angelique Bouchard, a curse is placed upon the Collins family. Rather than kill him, Angelique turns Barnabas into a vampire and buries him alive, leaving him to suffer in a coffin for almost two centuries.

Emerging in the 1970s, Barnabas returns to his home, Collinwood Manor, only to meet the remaining members of the Collins family, and discover that everything he once knew has changed. Finding out that his family has fallen out of favor with the town, Barnabas now works with his descendants to restore wealth and prestige to the Collins family.

The gothic feel in the first few minutes of the Dark Shadows is nice, but Burton’s style really blossoms in the 1970s setting. The entire opening sequences look straight out of a film from the period, and the costumes and set design really add to the way it captures the seventies. The soundtrack selection is especially terrific, featuring the likes of Alice Cooper (who makes an amusing cameo in the film), The Carpenters, Barry White, and The Moody Blues, all of whom overshadow Danny Elfman’s unmemorable score. This isn’t to say everything is great because there are more than just a few childish gags that don’t work, including a lot of scenes that could have massively benefited from an R rating.

Everyone performs well with the character they were given, although Depp could have done better by giving us a little less Jack Sparrow and a little more Sweeney Todd in this case. Eva Green steals the show with her performance as Angelique, flaunting her gorgeous looks and bouncing between menacing and delightful with each scene.

Pfeiffer, Harley, Miller, Moretz, and Bonham Carter all do their best to work with their characters, but more often than not they are thrown aside in plots that just go nowhere. It’s unfortunate to see a collection of talented people like this go to waste, and whether it’s Burton’s direction or Seth Grahame-Smith’s writing that’s to blame, we’ll never know (though I’m willing to bet on the latter).

Grahame-Smith, on his first time writing for a feature film, fails at creating a coherent set of stories for these characters. The main story is the vengeance plot between Barnabas and Angelique, which is the only one that works well throughout the movie, until it ends with an unfulfilling climax. He then throws in boring dialogue about family and secrets with Pfeiffer’s Elizabeth Collins, an interesting side-story with Bonham Carter’s Dr. Hoffman that is left unresolved and quickly thrown aside, and some daddy issues between Miller’s Roger Collins and his son David, played by McGrath, that are handled poorly as can be.

None of these are quite as terrible as the romance plot of the film and how they handled Victoria Winters’ character. Bella Heathcote seems like a promising young actress, but she’s given almost nothing to work with. There’s a scene where Eva Green throws up in an exorcist-like fashion that accurately sums up my feelings on how badly they wrote her character and the romance that accompanies it.

Dark Shadows could have been a great film with an R rating, better writing, and a lot less childish humor. However average it may be, it embraces the seventies nicely, provides a few good laughs, and is worth watching if only for Eva Green’s entertaining performance.

Rating: ★★½☆☆ 

Juan Barquin

Just yer average twenty-something college student with no time on his hands who ends up watching (and writing) too many movies and shows for his own good.

12 Responses

  1. amy says:

    I tend to be a LOT more forgiving with Tim Burton – I think I’m one of the few bloggers out there that gave a really positive review for Alice in Wonderland… though, down here, it wasn’t that strange. LOL

    So I’ll keep my mind open xD

    • Juan Barquin says:

      @amy, I think I was pretty forgiving with this one though. My three stars were generous simply because I had fun with it, but my expectations were pushed down and shot in the face.

  2. Rodrigo says:

    I saw this a couple of hours ago. Visually great and Eva Green was solid, but the rest was overall weak.

  3. amy says:

    I am SO disappoint. I do agree with your Eva Green take, but I hate everything else. And I went in with low expectations!

  1. September 9, 2013

    […] Dark Shadows (2012) […]

  2. November 3, 2013

    […] other news, there are 9 clips from Dark Shadows on YouTube now. I really want to see this movie despite the loud complaints from fans of the […]

  3. December 18, 2013

    […] The Avengers reaches $1 billion worldwide and the fandom rejoices! Makes me feel a bit bad for Dark Shadows though, but it was a terrible idea to open so close to The […]

  4. July 12, 2014

    […] Dark Shadows – 2.5/5 […]

  5. July 12, 2014

    […] Dark Shadows is set to premiere on May 11, 2012. […]

  6. September 20, 2014

    […] year for Tim Burton, both of his movies underperformed, for Tim Burton movies that is, and while Dark Shadows wasn’t that good, this Frankenstein homage/parody deserves better. The reason? Frankenweenie is […]

  7. September 20, 2014

    […] El primer avance para la bienvenida oficial de Amy Adams a la carrera para Mejor Actriz de la próxima edición del Oscar acaba de ser lanzado, con Tim Burton de vuelta… con diferente estilo, después de la tibia recepción de Frankenweenie y (especialmente) de Sombras Tenebrosas. […]

  8. December 1, 2015

    […] The first look to Amy Adams’ official welcome to the Best Actress Oscar race is out, with Tim Burton back in different form after the lukewarm Frankenweenie and (specially) Dark Shadows. […]

Leave a Reply to amyCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.