Dark Shadows

Though my mom watched the original series and I watched the 90s remake, I’m in no way an expert on Dark Shadows. I’m not sure how faithful the movie was to those projects.

The film takes a little while to really get going and at times, you wonder where it’s going next and how long will it get there. The scenes which actually move the plot forward are quite good, but to make a 2 hour movie on a 1200 plus episode soap opera, it’s not wonder things happen suddenly coming from far left field or that some plots threads are left dangling. For instance, when one characters transforms into another creature in order to fit the main villain, you scratch you head because there really wasn’t any plot development leading to the transformation.

Also, some characters pop up for no really purpose, like a 60 some odd year old Alice Cooper performing a trio of hits while heavily made-up to look like he was in his 20s. Sure, the songs used are motifs for parts of the movie occurring at that time. But, why not just have his music play during a montage- he’s not really needed in person.

Yet, the acting is what really makes this film. Johnny Depp is both charming and aloft as the suddenly out of his time period vampire Barnabas. He brings a wisp of magic to the film. Michelle Pfeiffer is a chameleon, making you think she’s a Joans Collins type character but is in fact a true matriarch who knows blood is thicker than water.

Then there’s the always wonderful Grace Chloe Morentz playing her usual bratty and way too smart for you rich girl with problems role. And the girl who plays the witch, Angelique is crazy good with her perverse devotion to Barnabas while trying to single-handedly bankrupt the Collins family. There’s times I thought to myself “She’d make an awesome Harley Quinn.”

Yes, it’s a Tim Burton film. But at times, you feel like he’s given up his normal film style to make a film as close to the original. The movie doesn’t suffer because he’s a faithful fan of Dark Shadows, but it’s easy to forget it’s one of Burton’s film.

Though it wasn’t a huge it, it had lots of laughs and a really good soundtrack, that’s strangely limited of Danny Elfman pieces. Not too scary, but a little too sexualized for my tastes.

Wicked fun though.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars