Review: Dark Shadows

Dark Shadows, originally based on a television series is a wonderfully dark and detailed film. The Tim Burton regular, Johnny Depp, plays Barnabas Collins, a man cursed to be a vampire by the jilted witch, Angelique, fantastically played by Eva Green. There is no doubt that this film was tremendously well cast. The Collins family is Michelle Pfeiffer as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, mother to Carolyn, played by Chloë Grace Moretz in a wonderful hippie fashion. There is also brother to Elizabeth, Roger (Jonny Lee Miller), father to the supposedly troubled David (Gulliver McGrath) who is counselled by Dr. Julia Hoffman, who is none other than Helena Bonham Carter. Barabas’ love interest is played by rising Aussie talent, Bella Heathcote.

 I really liked how many different stories each character had. Burton could have easily spent another hour explaining their backstories, and franchising would be so easy with an immense amount of stories to base future instalments on. The details in this movie are fantastic. Without trying to spoil too much, my particular favourite detail was Angelique’s tear in one particular scene. You are immersed both within the gothic and the hippie vibe of this film.

Though the attention to detail is stunning, Dark Shadows was unable to impress in other areas. My main point of disappointment was the comedic aspects. This movie is obviously not a serious one, but it was sad to see some of the most humorous moments used up in the trailer. I also felt like I might not be totally grasping some of the jokes since I hadn’t seen the original series, or maybe it was a simple generational gap; the older couple sitting close to me in the theatre were happily cackling away, while all the under 30’s had the occasional laugh. The sex scene, however, was crazy and incredible (sadly a lot of this was shown in the trailer too).

Dark Shadows is definitely enjoyable, but there definitely felt like something was missing. The melodramatic acting was great and probably wouldn’t be so wonderful if done by other actors, but other comedic aspects failed to impress. I am giving Dark Shadows 3/5. 

I think this movie will be great for gif makers. If you see any that are good or you’ve recently made, send them my way!