Free Dark Shadows
Genres: ComedyFant
Starring: Jonny Lee Miller, Eva Green, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Christopher Lee, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jackie Earle Haley
Available Quality: DivX, Hi Def, Hi Def
Director(s): Tim Burton
Country: USA
Year: 2012
In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet-or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy...until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive. Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better...
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Dark Shadows (Hi Def) | Resolution: 1920x1080 px | Total Size: 1642 Mb |
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Dark Shadows (Hi Def) | Resolution: 1280x714 px | Total Size: 1672 Mb |
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Dark Shadows (DivX) | Resolution: 720x384 px | Total Size: 1518 Mb |
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Visitors Review
gingercat123 (17 May 2013)
Just Horrible!
Bleh! I am so over the weird and quirky Tim Burton stuff. How about adifferent approach... make an interesting, smart, and compelling movie.As a fan of the original Dark Shadows TV show, this was a hugedisappointment. What a missed opportunity to provide the massivebaby-boomer audience with something they could really sink their teethinto. I am a fan of Johnny Depp. But my two favorite movies of his wereChocolat and Donnie Brasco. Both of these movies had absolutely nothingto do with Tim Burton. He is a very capable actor with the ability toplay many genres. But I don't think he has explored his potentialenough. This will never happen as long as his movies involve the'creative team' of Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton. Bored to tears,I had a hard time staying awake while trying to watch this movie.
cliffcarson-1 (16 May 2013)
DULL with little bite. Depp is playing dress up
Oh the possibilities that were missed here. Except for the characternames and a similar architecture in the house this film bares verylittle resemblance to DARK SHADOWS. The movie starts out beautifullyand then goes off in so many awkward directions that it never findswhat kind of movie it's trying to be. A few scattered laughs here andthere do not compensate for a poorly conceived story that meandersitself to the point of being dull and confusing. What can you say abouta movie that only comes to life in it's montages set to a pop songsfrom the early 1970's? Depp doesn't even attempt to capture any of theguilt ridden angst of Barnabas Collins. His Barnabas is a trick ortreat Pirates of the Caribbean, very much like a kid playing dress upon Halloween and with two emotions, upset and more upset. Film has somenice set pieces but Burton doesn't bring any true Gothic feeling orsense of dread to the surroundings. The script has that throweverything up against the wall and see what sticks feel to it. Burtonsdirection comes off in a conveyor belt "okay, let's shoot this one"tone with interest only in visuals, which are striking. He's reallymore of a visual artist than he is a film director. Indeed, one getsthe feeling that this film would never have been made if not for JohnnyDepp and his love for the original series which is evident here. It'sunfortunate that he relies too heavily on make up to carry hisperformance. Helean Bonham Carter has no interest in being in the filmand it shows, doing it only as a favor to her husband. Eva Green is thetype of actress Tim Burton is attracted to and loves to cast in hisfilms, but she possesses little of Angelique's spellbinding jealousy.The only one in the cast that has a hint of what these surroundingsshould be played like is Michelle Pfeiffer. She is the Grande dame ofDark Shadows capturing both the Gothic feel of the original story andthe magnificence of the character.
Hellmant (12 May 2013)
For fans of Burton it can't be labeled anything but a disappointment!
'DARK SHADOWS': Three Stars (Out of Five) Tim Burton and Johnny Depp team together once again to bring thepopular 1960's horror soap opera (of the same name) to the big screenin campy spoof form. Fans of the original series will most likely notbe pleased by Burton's rendition of the melodramatic soap as it lacksstrong character development as well as story structure and never takesthe material seriously in the slightest. The film was written by SethGrahame-Smith and John August (both future and past Burtoncollaborators on other films as well) and co-stars the likes of EvaGreen, Michelle Pfeiffer, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jackie Earl Haley, JohnnyLee Miller, Bella Heathcote and of course Helena Bonham Carter(Burton's mainstay and partner). The film will most likely let downBurton and Depp fans as well, although Depp is good in the film likealways.The story focuses on Barnabas Collins (Depp), a rich playboy in 1752who breaks the heart of a servant named Angelique Bouchard (Green), whoalso happens to be a witch. Out of anger and jealousy Angelique cursesBarnabas to be a vampire and causes his one true love to commitsuicide. She then convinces the townspeople to turn against him andbury him alive. Barnabas is trapped, chained in a coffin, for centuriesuntil he is freed by some construction workers in 1972. He then returnsto his estate to find it in ruins and under the hands of his depresseddistant relatives, lead by Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Pfeiffer).Barnabas must then do battle with Angelique once again in order to savehis new family.The film is darker than I was expecting! Depp's Barnabas is not a goodvampire like the trailers lead you to believe; he murders and feeds oninnocent victims and yet he is the film's hero. Depp is hilarious inthe role and the 'fish out of water' humor does work for the most partbut the rest of the story does not. It has no direction and seems tojust consist of a bunch of random scenes thrown together. Burton'sdirecting is not efficient and I actually found the film quite boringat times. Still Green looks gorgeous, it's nice to see Pfeiffer workingagain and the rest of the cast is adequate. The film just had potentialto be a lot more and for fans of Burton it can't be labeled anythingbut a disappointment.Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGSyQ_obeNo
akasharpie (12 May 2013)
Good but a but overlong
Barnabas Collins is a vampire cursed by a witch who is love and,unfortunately for him, Barnabas does not return her love. He is left ina casket for more than a century and when released, he finds that hehas landed in the year 1972. Johnny Depp can play almost any role thatis thrown his way. A pirate, a hatter, and a vampire. The latter isshown here and it is interesting and amusing to see him play a vampirefrom the 1700s. Tim Burton's macabre and creepy humor comes outthroughout, with Johnny Depp definitely helping with that. It is alsoconsiderably dark and while trying to maintain the comedy over thecourse of almost two hours, the movie has its ups and down. The sexualcontent is a bit much as well and would have been perfectly finewithout it. However, I enjoyed it because you develop feelings for thecharacters and it certainly does grab you and make you want to learnhow it all turns out. "Dark Shadows" is also a perfect Halloween movie.
Sophie King (08 May 2013)
Average, nothing special.
Afraid to say I was actually pretty disappointed by Burton. I havewatched every single movie Burton has made from Corpse Bride to EdwardScissor hands. I love the cast, love the acting but the film seemedempty? Like there was no real story line, just about building up thefamilies fortune and then some interfering witch. The trailer made themovie look really funny but i didn't actual laugh at all in the film.For a 12A it was extremely sexual and for any one with children who isconsidering watching this, expect some weird questions from children. Iam only 18 and even I sat there and questioned the age rating. Theymade Chloe Moretz extremely sexual to the extreme it was sort ofunnecessary? It is a movie that I would only watch once. Overall Ithink very highly of Tim Burton but perhaps this wasn't one of his bestmovies. Me and my friends came out wondering if we'd enjoyed it or notbut it is worth a watch, the special effects are very well done :)
oneiroi (08 May 2013)
Beyond painful beyond the pale
Don't think this review will be a comparison to the original, becausethe Burton/Depp movie is so far removed and bears so little resemblanceto the series that it can be critiqued as its own separate entity.Knowing who was involved, I admit to having low expectations going in,but was surprised to discover that it was far worse than I imagined.The movie starts with a prologue and the problems begin immediately.The sequence is rushed and is aided by a Barnabas voice-over providingan expository information dump. This is a visual medium, show theaudience, don't tell them. Who is he talking to and why? The audience,another character? Or is he dictating his life story to Will Loomis inparallel time? This sequence was the only one which provoked a laughfrom me and an inappropriate one at that; when a bereaved Barnabastakes a dive off the cliff and splats on the rocks below. The effectwas terrible and I laughed out loud. From that point on, I sat instone-faced silence, nary a smile or chuckle to be had.The movie then skips to the future and the seventies soundtrack,intended to evoke the era, comes across as intrusive and obvious,although my reaction may stem from a long-time loathing of Nights inWhite Satin. And the movie just continues careening downhill.Characters are introduced, but are really nothing more than hoaryclichés. With the absence of any character development, we don't carefor them, and why should we? When Barnabas reappears in the twentiethcentury, the characters' blasé attitude regarding his vampirism isillogical. Barnabas' attempt to adjust to a new era, especially in themontage sequence, is bad burlesque in need of the hook. The sex jokesabout birthing hips, balls, fellatio, adolescent masturbation andpanties on the face are puerile, obviously aimed at the 12 to 18 crowd,who mistake such things for wit.The movie plods along at an excruciatingly slow pace, with the scriptattempting to insert too many characters and plot points from theseries into a two hour time frame, a poor decision. At one point, lessthan halfway through, I found myself growing bored, restless, fidgety,and my mind wandering. Shortly after that, I struggled to keep my eyesopen, as there was nothing to engage me. This movie is neithermysterious, dramatic, funny or frightening. Instead, it's dull, flat,slow, unfocused, turbid and directionless.The performances overall are uninspired and forgettable. Jackie EarleHaley gets off one or two good lines that belong in another movie andHelena Bonham Carter was best in the brief scene where Dr. Hoffmanattempts to psychoanalyze Barnabas. As for Depp, he does what one wouldexpect in a Burton collaboration - slap on the white face and actstrange. True to form, he "borrows" from other performers and/orperformances, mostly Max Schreck from Nosferatu. It's the usual shtickand his performance is grandiloquent (that's not a compliment).The climax of the movie is a pastiche from other films, including TheExorcist, House of Usher, the remake of The Haunting, Harry Potterflicks and, most notably, Death Becomes Her. Additionally, it throws inan out-of-nowhere, groan inducing "twist" and a hackneyed deus exmachina. Writer Seth Grahame-Smith should have his WGA card revoked andbe banned from touching any and all writing instruments for life.Burton and Depp should simply divorce.If this movie has you at all curious as to what Dark Shadows is reallyabout, here's a suggestion. To see the Collins' business rival, Vicki'sarrival and Roger's lousy parenting, rent Dark Shadows The Beginning,volumes 1-6. To see Barnabas' arrival, Maggie Evans, theJosette/Barnabas/Angelique triangle and how Barnabas became a vampire,rent the Dark Shadows Collection volumes 1-7. Yes, you'll invest a lotof time, but the acting is better (at times, great), the writing ismore intelligent and crisp and there's some genuinely humorous snarkdelivered with panache. If Gothic drama isn't your thing and you'relooking for a good vampire comedy instead, watch Love at First Bite.
r_fitzhugh01 (05 May 2013)
Confused Mess
It wouldn't be hard to argue that Tim Burton has lost some of his magicin the last few years. Granted his bank account has grown considerablein this period especially since Alice in Wonderland. It seemed thatfinancial wealth had paved the way to creative bankruptcy. Films likeCharlie and the Chocolate factory and Planet of the Apes had shown thatthe Director was less willing to take a chance instead trying to adapthis "quirkiness"" to already established properties. Trailers for DarkShadows provided hope of the director's return to form showing hints ofboth Beatle juice and Edward scissor hands. Sadly after watching thefinished project Tim Burton fans may have to wait a bit longer for thisreturn to form.Opening in 1760, Johnny Depp plays Barnabas, a well to playboy andlocal man about town. When he breaks the heart of the beautifulAngelique Bouchard (Eva Green) little does he realize that she is awitch and that his decision will cost the life of his true loveJosette(Bella Heathcote) as well has cursing him to spend all eternityhas a vampire. When the townspeople get wind of this curse they quicklybury him alive. Barnabas remains buried for two hundred years only tobe resurrected in the year 1972. He decides to return to his belovedCollinwood Manor where he is taken in by the remaining members of hisfamily. Little does he realize that Angelique is also immortal and sheis none too pleased when she discovers her old "flame" is back on thescene.From the above synopsis you can probably guess that Dark Shadows is astrange little picture. Tim Burton must be commended in a way for beingable to use his clout to bring a picture like this to screen. Based ona short running soap from the late 60's Dark Shadows is a mix ofcomedy, horror, drama and satire. Where the film falls down is in itsattempt to juggle all of these different tones together. First timewriter Seth Grahame-Smith screenplay seems unable to sit down anddecide what kind of film it wants to be. It seems to stumble from sceneto scene shifting from violence to comedy. Upon awaking after 200 yearsBarnabas violently kills five people only to quickly follow it with ajoke about the Mac Donald's. It's all a bit surreal and has the filmcontinues you try to figure out who this film could possibly have beenmade for. It's too violent for children but to childish for adults.Dialogue scenes have the feel of a soap or melodrama but all this doesis add a jarring sense to what is unfolding on screen. It is hard tobelieve that there is only two credited screen writers has it feelslike the work of several different people.The members of the Collins family themselves are each poorly crafted.Each character is introduced only to be dropped shortly after. Johnnylee Miller and Chloe Moretz are reduced to walk on parts for most ofthe running time. Michelle Pfeiffer fares a little better but isn'tgiven much to do for all the screen time she gets. The less side aboutBella Heathcote the better. Her performance is fine but after she isintroduced you get the feeling that most of her performance ended up onthe cutting room floor. She is supposedly the love of Barnabas's lifebut she spends very little screen time with him. This only takes awayany emotion from the climax because despite what is said throughoutthese two characters feel like complete strangers. All that leaves isthe two stars of the show, Johnny Depp is his usual watchable self andhe does well to keep his character likable given all the unlikablethings he is asked to do. Eva Green is over the top and incrediblepsychotic has the lethal witch who refuses to accept the Barnabus willever love her.The film is not without its positives. The look is fantastic and theattention to detail for the 70's setting is inspired. The texture ofthe decade is captured perfectly and it acts as a perfect counterpointto Barnabus 18th century lifestyle. The soundtrack is outstanding withsongs from T-Rex, the Moody Blues, Elton John and Alice Copper whomakes a brief cameo in the picture. There is some humor to be hadthought out and it's nice that the fish out of water scenario isn'tused solely has a punch line unlike another big summer release Men inBlack 3.Technically the film is top notch, it looks great it sounds great butmost viewers won't feel too great after watching it. A botched andstrange misfire from Tim Burton that is almost fascinating in how muchof a mess it is. It is guaranteed to be unlike any other big summerrelease you have seen in a long time, it's just a shame that the endproduct never quite becomes what it could have been. By the time the3rd act showdown kicks into gear viewers will be left cold by what'sunfolding in front of them. What you a left with is a handsome lookingimaginative misfire that will quickly be forgotten by all but the hardcore Burton fans.
debanjanmk (04 May 2013)
Its good but.......
I went on to see Dark Shadows with much expectation but it did notdeliver 100%.Firstly the acting by Johnny Depp was very good asalways,Eva Green also acted well as the cunning witch,rest of the castperformed accordingly.Story was also good but it lacked depth,the moviedid not know whether it is a comedy or a horror movie.Dark Shadows isundeniably entertaining and nothing else. There are things that couldhave been better.Dir. by Tim Burton was not up to the mark,he needed tomake the movie more compact.The horror aside - there's nothing to makeyou bite your nails - Dark Shadows clearly works on three fronts.First, is the picturesque setting then the acting and visual effect.
LeijonaSisu (04 May 2013)
An otherwise perfect comedy, ruined by the director who ruins movies for a living.
I've never been a fan of any of Tim Burtons films. When I have watchedthem in the past, they have always only been because I was otherwise'forced' to by my friends.Dark Shadows was no exception. My wife had wanted to watch it eversince she saw the 'Coming Soon' poster at the Cinema in Helsinki. Butonly because Johnny Depp was in it.Dark Shadows on the other hand is pretty much the 'opposite' of whatanyone would expect from Tim Burton. The movie starts off dark enough.I had planned to write a bit of a 'synopsis' because I often forgetthat I should be writing a review, but halfway in I just deletedeverything and my 'review' is as follows:While this movie does not 'really' play homage to what one shouldnormally expect from Timmy. That's precisely the reason you shouldwatch it. Most Burton films are horrible and he reuses the same actorsand dark-dead humour like you reuse a dishcloth. And lets face it, weall reuse our dishcloths for far too long before we throw them in thebin. That isn't to say that Johnny Depp should be going anywhere of thesort. However the Tim-train has certainly seen quite a lot of him,perhaps honestly too much by now. And don't even get me started onHelena Boham Carter. Sure, they're 'partners' but honestly, do you haveto cast the woman in every one of your films? She's really not worthall the fuss that surrounds her and she's as much, if not more of a1-trick-pony than Tim.Dark Shadows has a wonderful balance of well placed humour that willmake you laugh, sometimes for reasons that you aren't even sure of.It's awkward, it's silly and it all plays together perfectly. Some ofthe acting is slightly overdone, but it's deliberate and we don'treally care. Because we're enjoying it. Sure the story can start tolack a little bit and we also won't mind. There is enough substance tokeep us entertained and it's all quite unpredictable which is quiterefreshing in a way. Johnny Depp carries the entire movie on hisshoulders and without him the movie would be absolutely nothing.But I will now explain the 2 huge problems that I had with this moviewhich really did not tie it off well for me at all:1 - The romanticism that forms between Barnabas and Victoria is solacking flavour. Not only do they have zero, even less than zerochemistry. She's absent for 70%+ of the entire movie! How can you fallin love with a woman who is never around, and whom you've only had 2private conversations with? Barnabas isn't exactly the 'faithful' type,and that's okay. He's taken advantage of twice and given hiscircumstances both times it's fair enough. But the point, the bottomline here, is that there isn't enough of Victoria around to warrant thefeelings Barnabas has for her. She's the least cast person in theentire movie, yet she is supposed to be Barnabas' true-love interest.This didn't sit well with me, and it looks like it didn't sit well withanyone else either. Even Tim would absolutely have to admit that hedidn't think their love situation through enough.2 - The ending was so incredibly rushed and so out of line with therest of the story that once the credits started rolling in, I thoughtfor a moment that the ending had been replaced with something else atthe last minute. The ending is so terrible, and it's the biggest crimeof film making to not conduct the same amount of care, time and thoughtto the ending as the rest of the movie. An ending is the 'picture' ofthe movie that we will remember when the rest of the movie has fadedfrom our memory. The ending in Dark Shadows is one of the mostlackluster I have ever seen in my life. It fits nowhere with the restof the movie at all and not only that, it's just frustrating. I thinkeven die-hard Burton fans will be both shocked and disappointed withit. It's like someone slapping you over the face.In the end we all know that Burton is a 1-trick pony. This is hisdirecting style and these are the only types of movies that he knowshow to do. Any critic and even any fan will tell you the same thing.That he's either a 'love' or a 'hate' kind of director. Dark Shadowsdoesn't fit in the same 'love or hate' spectrum that all of his othermovies do. Because it dares to go further than where Tim's moviesnormally go. It dares to be better than all of them put together. Thismakes it the best movie he's done so far. Which in the end, isn'treally saying much.Dark Shadows is an incredibly funny movie with all the right acting,all the right jokes, all the right characters, and all the rightingredients. However, it is a dish that is unfortunately completelyruined by its unskilled and very 'blunt headed' cook (Director). Wherethe movie tried so hard to shine, and was doing so, beautifully, Timwas let down by his own short-sightedness. Thus he lost the directionand steered the movie back into the hole in which all of his othermovies have been buried into. So while Dark Shadows had the 'substance'to be absolutely spectacular beyond mention, it exploded in a giantball of flames right at the end, along with your good vibes. I think itgoes without saying now that this is the 'height' of Tim's directing.He will never do a movie as good as Dark Shadows.7/10 for me. Let down by its 'inhibiting' director like all Tim Burtonmovies.
Sharon (03 May 2013)
True Love wins in this Dark Shadows
This movie is for those 13 and older. This Dark Shadows shares littlewith the Dark Shadows of the late 1960s/early 1970s except for thenames of the characters. Yes, Barnabas is still a vampire and Angeliquea witch. With its overly dramatic acting and dark picturesque scenes,this movie comes off more like a comic book. Not the say theinterpretation is bad, it is just very different (no werewolf in theoriginal Dark Shadows in the original family). The interpretation is sodifferent that many who grew up with Jonathan Frid as Barnabas may feela bit cheated. Jonathan Frid's character tried to hide his monster fromhis family, this Barnabas does not hide his monster. Who cares if thecharacters are shallow or that the script is not that good. It is acomic book rendition of Dark Shadows.For what it is, it works. This isa popcorn popper and a cruncher at the end. You gotta love the sets andthe addition of Alice Cooper. I give it five thumbs up.
addison8019 (02 May 2013)
Started strong, but ultimately fell down in a heap
So disappointing, how could you mess this up with such a greatdirector, such amazing actors, visuals that were amazing (some SFXwithstanding). The soundtrack was great, the acting was great. The onlything that let it down, and in a major game ending way, was the script.More and more Hollywood movies place less emphasis on a great script,and just worry about the sound/visuals, which is fine if it's aboneheaded action flick, but anything else it's just sad and annoying.This started out strong and I was really excited to see a great newmovie. ended up with my finger hovering over the stop button way toomany times, just a waste of good talent and money.
captaincameron (01 May 2013)
Rated C, for Crap
If you always have enjoyed Johnny Depp movies, skip this one, as youwill be disappointed. If you have always enjoyed Tim Burton movies,skip this one, as you will be disappointed. If you were a fan of theoriginal television series, skip this one, as you will be disappointed.If you are a fan of Eva Green, my favorite of the current Bond girls,skip this one, as you will be disappointed. Highly predictable anddull, although with a twist or two towards the end. Every funny scenethat you have seen in the commercials is the sum of all of the funnyscenes in the movie. Otherwise, this is two hours of your life that youwon't get back. While not as bad as the third Twilight movie (fromwhich I am still reeling), this movie was a tremendous waste of timeand talent. I will go see the next Burton/Depp combo, but unless I ambeing paid or my family held at gunpoint, I won't watch this piece ofgarbage again, even as background noise on TV.
cameron3673 (30 April 2013)
Dark Shadows would be better without a globe in the projector!
Unfortunately for fans of Johnny Depp and Chloe Moretz this would haveto be one of the worst pieces that they have made. Hopefully fans willforget quickly. The film had me wishing that I had bought a biggerpopcorn. That way after about the first ten minutes I would havesomething to do. The scenery was excellent and gave the film a greatGothic feel that it needed. The ruins of the mansion lookedspectacular. Unfortunately the wooden acting and the manner in whicheach sub plot was written and resolved like a weekly TV drama made itdifficult to have any real reaction when something happened. The comedyaspects that this film is supposed to have must have been playing inthe cinema next door. I didn't find any comedy in this film except forthe abysmal performance of Eva Green. Yet again another movie where theending is so obvious and embarrassing when it is finally revealed yousit cringing in your chair hoping that they really don't make thesecond movie. If you want to see this film wait for it to be on TV soyou don't have to pay for it.
foximus (30 April 2013)
Sort of lame
What would you call this movie -- a spoof? The problem was with the plot and the writing I suppose. I just didn'tsee the point of most of it. It seemed to be another kick at theBeetlejuice can (family deals with crazy character).Tim Burton has produced some great movies, but something went wrongwith this one. Maybe I'm in the wrong demographic. I enjoyed the many 1970s references. This movie had a few laughs. However, mostly the fun seemed forced. Thehippie scene, for example. The strange thing is that the performances delivered by Depp, BonhamCarter, Pfeiffer, Green and the others were actually quite good. Deppwas amusing and seemed be enjoying the hand thing. Bonham Carter isalways good. I love her.When I attend this movie, there were only three people in the theatre.And I have to admit I dozed off during the first half hour.I want to give it a 5.5, but I've rounded it down.I'm surely not the only one who is a little tired of the vampire,zombie and werewolf theme. I refuse to go to a Twilight movie. Don'tget me wrong. When they're well done, I enjoy them as much as everyoneelse. But they just seem to be everywhere lately. What is it with thepopularity of this genre? I want to blame the Americans, but I supposeI can't. It's everywhere.
wes-connors (27 April 2013)
Light Shadows
In 1760 Liverpool (which we later learn reeked with the stench ofun-dumped commodes), we meet the "cursed" Collins family. They move toMaine, successfully start a fishing business, and "found" the town ofCollinsport. Grown up handsome son Johnny Depp (as Barnabas Collins)becomes a real lady killer. This irks sexy servant girl Eva Green (asAngelique "Angie" Bouchard), who yearned for Mr. Depp from their daysin Liverpool. He soon finds "true love" with pretty blonde BellaHeathcote (as Josette DuPres). Jilted, Ms. Green turns out to be awitch. She turns Depp into a vampire and has him sealed in a chainedcoffin...This set-up - all occurring before the opening credits - is fine, butoffers some timing problems, especially when you consider laterrevelations. It seems like Depp had to be a vampire before he turnsinto one, and we aren't sure how it all went down. Possibly there isplot skimmed away, and this feeling continues throughout the film.After the prologue, credits roll and we are in the year 1972. The storyshifts to Ms. Heathcote (as Maggie Evans) on a train. She's the mirrorimage of Depp's "Josette" from the past. Harboring a more modernmystery, Heathcote takes the name "Victoria (Vicki) Winters" from atrain poster advertisement...The story begins with the arrival of Heathcote to seek employment asgoverness, coupled with the unearthing and arrival of Depp. The filmbecomes mostly a situation comedy until the climax. Some of the jokesare funny - some are not. Two of the better characterizations arebeautiful family matriarch Michelle Pfeiffer (as Elizabeth CollinsStoddard) and troubled young nephew Gulliver McGrath (as DavidCollins). Depp falls somewhere in the middle. Dead-panning with amusingsincerity, he nevertheless is victimized by a lack of romanticdevelopment; increasingly hidden behind elaborate make-up, Depp hitsthe comic notes well, but he fails to make "Barnabas" a passionatelead. Director Tim Burton's quirk looks something like a slip. But theart and set direction are terrific.****** Dark Shadows (5/7/12) Tim Burton ~ Johnny Depp, Eva Green,Michelle Pfeiffer, Bella Heathcote
reviewer135 (27 April 2013)
Edward scissor-hands re-visit with no direction
I generally like Tim Burton because his quirky attention to detail tosets and costumes but sometimes he leaves the movie behind. This is thecase here. I was unaware that Dark Shadows was a previous TV series sothis is a review just of the movie. The movie lacked any direction orfocus and just seemed to meander around trying to get to the next jokein which every punch line was already broadcast in the previews.Literally there was nothing new to the plot that wasn't spoiled in thepreviews.Johnny Depp was given no direction by Tim Burton and as a result hejust revisited his Edward Scissorhands persona by holding his hands upin every scene and flicking his fingers around like they haduncomfortable poles attached to each finger. His role was aggressiveand out-going character but retarded. A tiny Songstress in a box??? andwhy attack the box??? OK, I get zany but his role kept flipping fromdark evil powerful to retarded 3 stooges zany. This did not work.Go to watch Tim Burton's 70's sets and the fantastic bright yellowChevy station wagon in the movie. Literally the only cringe for meduring the entire movie is when they unloaded a coffin from the back ofthe station wagon and it looked like they may scratch the tail gate,no!!!! Don't expect much other then giggling school girls in theaudience from Depps performance.
kdorsey321 (25 April 2013)
Could have been better
Got a chance to check the movie "Dark Shadows," starring Johnny Deep,Michelle Pfeiffer, and Chloe Grace Moretz. When I first saw the trailerfor this movie, I was under the impression that it was a comedy. Ibelieve this film tried to get the best of both worlds, meaning funnyand serious, but just didn't succeed. When this film tried to be serious, there was so much corny enteredinto it before the seriousness of the movie arrived. It made it hard totake the movie seriously. When the film tried to be funny, it justwasn't really funny at all. There were very few parts of this moviethat I felt were funny even a little bit and I'm not a hard person tomake laugh. Maybe I'll watch it again one day and I'll say somethingdifferent. I'd say one of the bright spots of this film was that Johnny Deep wasin it and he didn't do a bad acting job. It was also nice to seeMichelle Pfeiffer in a movie again too. I thought it was nice to seeChloe Grace Mortez in another movie too. I've been a fan of hers eversince the movie "Kick Ass." Besides that I really didn't feel asthought there were any other good things about this film. Which is ashame because I heard that this was once a television show and thetelevision show was pretty awesome.With that said I'm giving this film a 6 out of 10. I'm not saying thisis the worst film that I've ever seen, but I can't give this movie arating of anything higher than a six. I believe this film is still outin the movie theater, but don't see it. I'm not getting this film onDVD. If you're curious about the movie feel free to get it on Redboxfor a "dollar" or wait for it to come on Netflix/TV. It's at leastworth that.
Neuenschwander9 (24 April 2013)
Burton fumbled, and dropped the ball again
I think they dropped the ball on this one. It is a Tim Burton film, andat times it has a weird atmosphere, and at times it's amusing, but forthe most part it does little to add to the original story and show, anddoesn't quite make it above another Addams Family type of horrorcomedy, which is sad, especially for the fans of the original showwhich created something strangely special and dramatic on a shoestringbudget. This film is based on the show but manages to drain a sense ofreality out of the original story to make a vehicle for Johnny Depp toonce again, stutt around in his costume, fake a British accent, andspout one-lines that can be used in the trailers. The art director andTim Burton have their usual field day overdoing every aspect of thevisuals until there is no connection to real life, so how could thecharacters come to life? It's a dopey comedy with no base in a love ofthe original show except in a quasi-Halloween-ish, "let's dress up infunny costumes and wigs" sort of way. Too bad, a serious script andserious reboot of the original show would have been amazing.
ARTaylor (22 April 2013)
Poor Effort from Burton
I don't know what to make of this movie. I really don't. It tries to doso many things and ends up doing nothing. The plot is all over theplace. There's a lot going on so it's hard to find the importantdetails.I've been a fan of Tim Burton as long as I can remember. I grew upwatching his two Batman films, Beetlejuice, and Edward Scissorhands.I've followed his work from Pee-wee's Big Adventure through Big Fish.His recent efforts (Planet of the Apes, Alice in Wonderland) havenoticeably lacked his earlier charm. I've only been disappointed withtwo of his movies: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (which was moredue to how good the original is) and now Dark Shadows.The movie is based on a Gothic soap opera from the 60s and 70s. JohnnyDepp plays a vampire who awakes to find his dysfunctional descendantsplagued by the witch who made him. I have very vague memories of theshow, mostly when I caught the last five minutes while waiting for TheIncredible Hulk on Sci-Fi Channel. I know little about the series, andit seems the movie is made for fans of the show with little effort tocreate new ones. Besides Barnabas and Angelique, there's littledevelopment in the other characters. They all have the occasional scenebut nothing memorable. These seem mostly to reference some event in theshow and not really help the movie in any significant way. Worse yet,Angelique makes a horrible villain. She has no reason to act other thanshe loves a man who doesn't love her. The whole time I kept waiting forsome dynamic motivation that never appeared.The movie is trying to be a comedy, Gothic horror, and romantic dramabut never really succeeding at any. The problem is, anytime the moviestarts getting into one particular genre it changes gears. The separateelements never really blend together. I understand that the show has acertain camp factor to it, but I've read that this was mostlyunintentional. Perhaps if they had simply made it a comedic Hammerfilms style film, or romantic comedy, or Gothic romance. But the threetogether never work as a cohesive whole.The finale (not really spoiling anything here) is representative of allthe problems of the movie. By the time the third act came out I hadsomewhat zoned out. I knew what was going on, but simply didn't care.It felt like the movie was just going through a series of checkpointsbut without any feeling. There are revelations that mostly come out ofnowhere, but apparently are based on the show. The whole thing screamsof committee filmmaking, like the studio put too many demands on thefilm without letting Burton be Burton. Either that, or since Depp andBurton were such fans of the show they tried to hit too many majorstory points and forgetting to make it into a single film. It's okay tocut stuff out for a sequel. The first Terminator and Indiana Jonesfilms cut out material that they ended up putting into the second. It'sokay to not include every single idea.Had the movie stuck with the fish out of water story, this would havebeen great. The best scenes are Barnabas encountering "modern" lifelike roads, television, and pot-smoking hippies. Depp makes thesemoments quite hilarious. I found the line confusing McDonalds withSatan to be very effective.The only really good thing about the movie is that Burton certainly hashis unique look. He is definitely one of the most visually distinctdirectors out there, if not the most. Every frame of the movie has hisvisual stamp on it.Honestly, I can't really recommend this to anyone. It's not even anokay-at-best effort from Burton like Alice in Wonderland was. The moviewon't win over any new fans for the show. And fans of the show willprobably find this to be little more than a overly-silly CliffNotesversion. It's too dark to be a comedy and too silly to be a drama. Theseries is fondly remembered. The movie won't be.
Pumpkin_Man (21 April 2013)
Finally, a Fun Vampire Movie!!!
I saw this movie with my friend a few hours ago, and we had a blast. Itwas a hilarious good time. I watched a few of the original episodes topsych myself up and to understand the storyline, but I couldn't getinto it. Soap operas aren't my thing. After seeing the movie, it makesme wanna try and watch them. I love how this was mostly a comedy, and atribute to the series, rather then a boring melodramatic soap opera.Johnny Depp was great as Barnabas Collins, the vampire of CollinwoodManor. I love how it had a classic 'fish-out-of-water' story. It waslike taking Bela Lugosi's Dracula and putting him in the 70's hippieage. This is definitely a Tim Burton film because everyone wears paleMarilyn Manson-type makeup, and it has Helena Bonham Carter, along withDanny Elfman music. Chloe Moretz gives a great performance as CarolynStoddard. She's the rebellious teenager we've seen in all of Burton'sother films like Ryder in Beetlejuice. In the 1700's, Barnabas makes the mistake of breaking the heart of awitch named Angelique. She curses him by turning him into a vampire andlocks him in a coffin for 200 years. In 1972, the Collins family aretrying to find a governess for young David who claims to see the ghostof his mom. Along comes Maggie, who changes her name to VeronicaWinters. When Barnabas is found and awakened, he returns home to returnthe manor to its former glory and re'vamp' the family business. WhenAngelique returns and threatens his family, Barnabas must take actionand seek revenge on the witch who cursed him. If you want a smartGothic fun hilarious vampire movie that pays tribute to the 70's eraand the original series, I would definitely recommend DARK SHADOWS!!!
Review total: 20, showing from 1 to 20