Dark Shadows (2012)

Dark Shadows, a film I've been anxiously anticipating for at least two years finally makes it to theater screens today.  It's been a bumpy ride for a film that's been in the works for a long time, and since the first trailers appeared about a month ago, most fans have quickly discounted it, and everyone else has grown excited to see it.  In the end, I think it's the general fans that will be more pleased, and the general public who will be more disappointed.

If you're not familiar with the expansive history of the Dark Shadows series it was a daily half hour soap opera that ran on television from 1966-1971 and generated approximately 1,245 episodes.  It was not your normal soap opera but centered around the supernatural with the show's main star being a vampire.  For me it's best modern day comparison is something akin to The Vampire Diaries.  The show gained cult status and since it's run in the late 1960's has garnered two feature films and a couple attempts at reviving it for television audiences.  Needless to say the show is definitely an acquired taste, the budget was minimal, everything was usually shot live and only once so the show was notorious for cast slip-ups or technical issues, and the story-lines tended to drag at times, but this was all ultimately the intrigue of the series.

Not being alive during the show's original run I recently got into the series only a few years ago, a combination of ironically discovering the series through an episode of The King of Queens where it's briefly made fun of, and then discovering Tim Burton and Johnny Depp where planning on resurrecting the story for the big screen.  This got me interested to check it out, where so far I've made it through about seven volumes of the DVD set, which have been reviewed on this site and might be worth checking out if you're thinking of delving into the Dark Shadows expanse.

Now I must say even though I'm not a hardcore fan of the series, I was a little weary of this new interpretation after the release of the first couple trailers which appeared to be more of a mockery of the series like so many TV to film adaptions have been in the past couple decades.  Surprisingly the comedy depicted in the trailers is about the extent of the comedy in the film, which is why I stated in the beginning that the general public might actually be the ones who come out of this disappointed.  For me Tim Burton and Johnny Depp did a very good job in sticking to the series and the characters while at the same time putting their own spin on it.  Unfortunately this might ultimately also be the film's box office downfall.

The film features Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins, a man who is transformed into a vampire due to his denial to love the very beautiful and jealous Angelique (Eva Green) who he learns a little too late is a witch.  She kills his true love Josette, and curses him to live eternity in a coffin buried in the woods.  Almost 200 years later he's released and finds himself in the 1970's, where everything he once knew is gone or in shambles.  In his attempt to rebuild the Collins family he once again gains the attention of Angelique, still alive and still wanting him all to herself.  When Barnabas falls for Victoria Winters, the nanny of the youngest Collins child (David) and the spitting image of Josette, the jealous cycle begins all over again!

Dark Shadows is typical Burton style, which actually fits extremely well with this series, unfortunately the film plays it too safe which I think will ultimately alienate most viewers.  I could easily see Dark Shadows purists still being somewhat put off by the changes made, here Victoria Winters and Maggie Evans are essentially the same person, Carolyn Stoddard ends up having a secret I doubt she had in the series (I've yet to watch the entire series so I can't confirm this, but it does appear to be striking deviation), and some other inconsistent aspects.  Personally these didn't bother me as one must realize the difficulty it would be to accurately summarize the entire series into a 113 minute film, and still make it somewhat modern and relatable to a wider audience. Changes are going to have to be made and for me they did a wonderful job in still keeping true to the series.

Ultimately the general public (those not familiar with the series) or those old enough to remember it but haven't watched it since they were a kid probably will be disappointed as well, if they expected the trailers to reflect the tone of the film, because they don't.  Dark Shadows is much more akin to the style and flow of the series than the trailers ever lead on.  This is not a straight comedy, but more a of dark comedy, although there are campy elements, this is really a modern day version of the soap opera, and in a sense it plays out a lot like the old soap opera series even down to the script.  It's in this case that I can easily see someone who is not familiar with the series, or the characters quickly becoming bored, especially if they're expecting a lot of laughs or action.  While the film does have it's fair share, the trailers are a false representation of how much.

I was generally entertained, and I could see most people who don't have any preconceived ideas going in and being entertained as well.  The acting is really quite spot on with most of the characters, except for Jonny Lee Miller as Roger Collins.  Louis Edmonds, the original Roger Collins played the character so brilliantly in the series (in my opinion he was the best actor in the series) that Miller's interpretation just falls extremely flat for me.  Everyone else though hit their characters pretty spot on, with the exception of Eva Green as Angelique which I can't comment on as her character appears much later in the series so I'm not too familiar with her.  But Green being my favorite actress was definitely a plus to film for me, and not only looks delicious in that red party gown but plays the role of the villainess quite well.  This is a completely different vein of genre for her and she fits in perfectly.

Overall, I give Dark Shadows a solid passing grade, which is about the same grade I'd give what I've seen of the TV series.  The film takes itself a little less seriously than the series but still retains the same campy dark vein that made the series so enjoyable, without going over board, finding a balance somewhere between Burton's Sleepy Hollow and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in terms of camp. It should satisfy most general fans of the series like myself but probably alienate most everyone else, leading to a pretty mediocre box office display.  Unfortunately being released on the coat-tails of The Avengers is not going to help it out either. Maybe in twenty or thirty years it will be a cult classic just like the series.  Until then it's a respectable film interpretation of a once loved show that has since then drifted into somewhat obscurity, which on the bright side is better than most TV series to film adaptations usually are.

8/10