Dark Shadows review

Hello all...hope everyone is having a good week so far. Monday night me and another team member were lucky enough to be invited to the premier of the Dark Shadows at the Grauman's theater in Hollywood. Celebs that attended were Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jackie Earle Haley, Eva Green, and Isabella Heathcote. I did not see Tim Burton or Helena Bonham Carter but was told they did make an appearance, perhaps while we were already seated.

The movie itself I thought was very funny and very entertaining. Don't expect this tho be a scary vampire movie, it was far from scary. But then again it was based off a sitcom so what do you expect. I loved it. One thing I really did like was that it was in the 1970's. I am so glad that Tim Burton didn't try to create it in present time. One thing I can't stand is when when someone re-creates a movie or a show and try to create it in present time and then almost always never works. Also there are reasons films/shows like these were made then and never done in this time..and that's because there were alot more things you can get away with back then that would make it look cheesy in present time. Imagine if they made Dark Shadows in the 2000's and seeing Barnabas Collins wake up to the year 2013...wouldn't work.

Johnny Depp plays Barnabas Collins a very wealthy heir to the Collins fortune. While having an affair with his maid/witch named Angelique (played by Eva Green), falls in love with a young woman named Jossette (played by Isabella Heathcote). When Angelique (Green) sees Collins and Jossette (Heathcote) together, she curses the two. For Jossette, the witch curses her to commit suicide and for Collins, he was cursed to suffer for eternity as a vampire. When Angelique convinces the towns people that Collins is a monster, they hunt him down and lock him up in a coffin and bury him. Collins awakes 2 centuries later to a very different world that he doesn't recognize. He sets off to find his living relatives and a still living Angelique.

Michelle Pfeiffer played Elizabeth Collins and although she didn't have as much screen time as I would have liked, I really liked her character. She always plays a strong character and you feel her presence on the screen. Chloe Grace Moritz played the daughter of Elizabeth Collins. She played the part of a rebellious disconnected teen very well but not much of a stretch for her acting. Helena Bonham Carter played psychiatrist Dr. Julia Hoffman that I found to be a pretty funny character. Being a Dr that is there to help but ends up being drunk all the time...very entertaining to watch. The only character I didn't really care for to much was Jossette/Victoria played by Eva Green. I found her to be very bland and almost boring. I really didn't care for this character at all...not sure if it was the acting or just the character itself. Other characters included Elizabeth's obnoxious brother Roger (played by Johnny Lee Miller), a care taker named Willie (played by Jackie Earle Haley) and Roger's son David (played by Gulliver McGrath) who I actually loved in the film.

All in all a good cast and some very entertaining characters. It was nice to see Tim Burton go back to the style he is so good at. I was a little weary at first because of the disappointment of  "Alice In Wonderland". But this was so much better, back to the Beetlejuice/Edward Scissorhands style that we all love so much and the only way I think Tim Burton should make his movies. Its what he's known for and what we love about him and I was so happy it turned out the way it did. Tim Burton is rumored to direct the movie version of the book "Miss Peregrines Home For Peculiar Children", a book I love. I have been telling everyone that I thought this was a mistake having Tim Burton direct. Now don't get me wrong I love Tim Burton as much as the next but this book was so dark and eerie and Tim Burton's films tend to be yes dark but whimsical and I just didn't think he would be able to pull it off. But after watching Dark Shadows although a funny movie , but seeing that he can still pull off that dark beetlejuice/sleepy hallow look (and not the ridiculously over done CGI of Alice or the over the top Charlie and the chocolate factor) ..made me feel a whole lot better about him directing one of my favorite books and I look forward to it now.

So I do recommend this movie...especially if you just want a fun movie to watch. It is really entertaining and you don't even have to be familiar with the original tv series to enjoy it. Just watching Depp try to get used to his new surroundings and new technology is hilarious. The lava lamp scene is especially funny. But go see it, its worth watching.


~Jennifer~
Bastard Productions Team