Dark Shadows

Trailer here on Apple.com.

Personally, though I'm getting a bit tired of Tim Burton movies with Johnny Depp(to the point where his Frankenweenie remake was a breath of fresh air), this does have the potential to be campy fun a la Beetlejuice.

Edit: It think watching the trailer made me extra stupid.

So yeah, wacky character is rejected at first but then saves the family business. Same movie as the previous 100 times, same music in the trailer, same everything. Looks like Tommy Boy with Count Chocula replacing Chris Farley.

edited 16th Mar '12 10:48:57 AM by MildGuy

I'm not this guy's audience...

edited 24th Apr '12 6:24:39 PM by johnnyfog

I'll see it, not for Burton, not for Depp, not for Vampires.

Just for Chloe.

Ahh, yeah! She's awesome!

The music killed it for me.

Does anyone even remember the original series?

That question is only half rhetorical. I really have no idea who they're banking on drawing in with the name.

Edit: 1971! It finished in 1971! I had no idea it was that old!

edited 18th Mar '12 10:44:55 PM by feotakahari

I do, and I'm not very old...evidently I used to hum the theme song before I could remember doing such things like that.

The movie looks dumb. But I've really never hated a Burton film.

That explains the choice to set the film in 1972.

^^ I do too. I would hurry home from school to watch it. I have no interest whatsoever in this. It wasn't silly and campy, Barnabas was seductive and dangerous — very Byronic, in the "Mad, bad and dangerous to know" sense, not the ansty-wangsy way it's often applied now. He was witty in a biting sardonic way. If the trailer is anything like the actual movie, they've completely gutted everything that made Dark Shadows so loved by its fans.

edited 19th Mar '12 7:03:34 PM by Madrugada

Well, the promotion for the film is releasing the old series on DVD, so, in the bright side, a whole new generation will be exposed to the original series, and they will have the opportunity to decide which they like best.

And yes, Tim Burton films are becoming a genre unto themselves. I still look forward to this movie: this Barnabas looks like he could be seductive, charismatic, mad, bad, and dangerous to know in a wacky, Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas way: I just watched that film recently, and didn't find it funny in the least, I found it pants wettingly terrifying.

I think you're mistaking genre for formula, there.

The first time I saw a trace of this movie was when reading about it on a blog where people bashed it immediately for how Tim Burton threw out everything that gave the show depth, and went for a stupid Fish out of Water comedy instead. It BARELY resembles the show! That was 6 months ago. A month before its release, and now, I can't get away from it! Every half hour a trailer plays on TV!!!! God...

No-one I know has ever heard of the TV series, so we've had to take the trailer for what it is. For myself, I'm pleasantly surprised. This is the first Tim Burton film starring Johnny Depp that doesn't look shite. Obviously Depp has decided that Captain Jack Sparrow is how he's going to play everything these days, but so far it seems to be working.

My mom is one of those people that would run home to watch the show as a kid, and she actually likes the trailer.

I'm holding onto the hope that the funny stuff in the trailer is not as funny in context.

Because drama is what separated this series from The Munsters.

Or heck, Beetlejuice.

If our own page is to be trusted, apparently it's a serious case of Never Trust a Trailer.

44% on Rotten Tomatoes. Ouch. But it could be worse.

edited 10th May '12 8:48:13 PM by Mort08

Sh**.

My friends and I plan to go see it tonight. Is it any good?

I don't think anyone here's seen it yet, but the RT rating is still only 44.

Even if it really is that bad, you might still like it.

Seen it. Really really enjoyed it. Exactly what I was expecting. The climax was kind of messy, but otherwise the show was quite enjoyable. Much more so than the TV series, I mean, seriously, it's been like six episodes already and they will not get to the point. It's even more irritating than Lord Byron's terrible secret (he touched weiners with his cousin once. Yeah, really, he that was it. That was his terrible secret.)

As for those who complain about tone inconsistency, they just don't get it. It's Nightmare Fetishist and Perky Goth. It's revelling into the full horror and weirdness while at the same time sympathizing with it and making excuses for it. It's distilled Tim Burton. It's the sort of mentality that gives SA goons aneurysms. I love it.

edited 12th May '12 3:56:03 PM by TheHandle

Yeah this was not very good at all.

Like, I don't mind the constant tonal shifts, I think a mix of dark comedy with genuine horror and tragedy totally works for this kind of film, it's main flaw is just how hollow and rushed it all is.

All of the actors TRY but the script gives about 80% of them nothing to do. The other Collins members just faf around while Barnabas get's into ZANY FISH OUT OF WATER comedy situations. I think the film should of focused on Barnabas finding out the weird, dark secrets of his family (with Willie as his wacky sidekick) and then at the end use those "curses" to destroy the witch together and OMG THEY"RE A REAL FAMILY NOW.

But lol nope instead everyone walks around miserable and then CGI fight with random OMG HIT-GIRL'S A WEREWOLF revelations that add nothing. And the romance with Victoria is classic Strangled by the Red String shit.

On the plus side we do get to see Michelle Pfeiffer be badass with a shotgun, that's worth something.

edited 13th May '12 7:50:08 PM by Firestorm

Yeah, not feeling too strong about this one.

There's so much that just seems extremely shoehorned in. There are moments between characters that are supposed to be dramatic, but you don't really get to know the characters well enough to feel any of it.

The whole relationship between Barnabas and his love interest? I know it was supposed to connect with his past, but they only had around 4 scenes together!

The relationship between the boy and his neglectful father? Do we ever really see any of that?

I haven't seen the original show, but I've been told that the film is merely shadow (a DARK shadow, if you will... *shnort*) of what the original show ultimately entailed.

And the ending kind of whipped out a shit ton of stuff to set it up for a sequel.

I watched this with some friends yesterday. They really enjoyed it, but I was left with the impression that I just watched a bad movie. Good to see it's not just me being overly nitpicky.

It bugged me how Barnabas killed like twenty something innocent people, and nobody cared. I mean, I get how in a lot of black humour-y stuff, the humour comes from the fact that you know these people are bad people, but you laugh anyway. In this... I got the feeling I wasn't supposed to think Barnabas did anything wrong at all.

The love story irritated me a lot. I mean, Victoria is... Josette now? How is she Josette? You barely know this guy and your love is founded mainly on how attractive he finds you, and yet you're ready to jump into becoming a vampire for him? Even Bella Swann wasn't as stupid and spineless as this.