Dark Shadows - Review

"WE ALL go a little mad sometimes." -- Norman Bates, "Psycho" Dark Shadows Release Date: May 11, 2012 (USA) Comedy - Fantasy PG-13 Run time 113 min. Rating: C- An imprisoned vampire, Barnabas Collins, is set free and returns to his ancestral home, where his dysfunctional descendants are in need of his protection. The story takes place in 1972, one year after the TV series Dark Shadows was canceled. For those of you who are younger and never saw the TV series, or those who don’t know the basics of the show including myself, I never saw a single episode, you might need a primer, so here goes... 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 Brouchard (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, each harboring their own dark secrets. Matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) has called upon live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter), to help with her family troubles. Also residing in the manor is Elizabeth’s ne’er-do-well brother, Roger Collins (Jonny Lee Miller); her rebellious teenage daughter Carolyn Stoddard (Chloe Moretz); and Roger’s precocious 10-year-old son, David Collins (Gulliver McGrath). The mystery extends beyond the family, to caretaker Willie Loomis (Jackie Earle Haley) and David’s new nanny, Victoria Winters (Bella Heathcote). Cast (left to right): Helena Bonham Carter as Dr. Julia Hoffman; Chloe Grace Moretz as Carolyn Stoddard; Eva Green as Angelique Bouchard; Gulliver McGrath as David Collins; Bella Heathcote as Vitoria Winters; Johnny Depp as Barnabas; Ray Shirley as Mrs. Johnson; Jackie Earle Haley as Willie Loomis; Jonny Lee Miller as Roger Collins; and Michelle Pfeiffer as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard The PROS and Cons:   The plot summary for Dark Shadows may sound ambitious and busy. Well, that's because it is. It's a schizo mess of a script that bit off more than it could handle. There are numerous subplots (Isn't Victoria the governess supposed to be spending time with the troubled boy David?), even major story lines like the Barnabas-Victoria relationship tend to vanish for long stretches. Some of the over ambitiousness may be due to the script's attempts to tie in plots from the original show (Like I said earlier I never watched the TV series and I'm no expert.). Regardless, it's no excuse the shoddy writing or the laziness of some of the gags (There is an extended musical montage that contains some cringe-worthy moments.), all of this tends to dull the expectations for writer Seth Grahame-Smith's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter or his ability to pen the recently announced Beetlejuice 2.   “Dark Shadows” is the latest of eight collaboration efforts between director Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. The magic is fading if not quite gone altogether. It's not that the idea of resurrecting the cult-fave TV soap (that ran from 1966 to 1971) to the silver screen is such a bad idea, it's just that the execution is, well, kind of blah. The previews that we have seen recently create the anticipation of  a satirical goof, but, as it turns out, those trailers are better than the movie itself. The film isn't the least bit scary, it lacks suspense and is not at all funny. Mr. Depp plays Barnabas Collins, master of Collinswood Mansion in the quaint little seaside fishing village of Collinsport, Maine. His return to Collinswood comes 196 years after being transformed into a vampire and buried alive by the vengeful witch Angelique (Eva Green) back in the halcyon days of 1795. The current Collinswood clan is a loose amalgam of misfits, circa 1972, headed by matriarch Elizabeth (Michelle Pfeiffer) and includes a resident child psychiatrist (Helena Bonham Carter) with garish red hair and the pallid skin that is so commonplace in all of Burton films. With his fangs and eye shadow,Barnabas fits right in. The film is best when it focuses on Barnabas’ culture shocks in this brave new world. He seems to be having fun with his character’s bewildered reaction to this incomprehensible new world of the '70s but I was left feeling like he was trying too hard...camping it up a bit too much. There really isn't the sense of fun like Burton created in his films like “Beetlejuice”, nor is there any of the gloomy-doomy spectacle of a film like “Batman”. Barnabas and his nemesis Angelique do the heavy lifting, the rest of the capable cast is sorely underutilized, largely playing straight men to the protagonist-antagonist duo. Christopher Lee, film icon of the macabre, for example is utterly wasted. I highly doubt that fans of the original TV show will eat up this spoof-like adaptation. This is more of a goofy, comedic approach than Depp and Burton's horror-comedy collaboration on Sleepy Hollow, this tone undermines the moments when the story attempts to play it serious. Although Burton will most likely catch the most flack for Dark Shadow's failings, it's probably more due to the script. The colorful, '70s soft-focus look works, and is a far cry from the visual overdose of Alice in Wonderland. Ignoring the failed attempts at suspense and drama and despite some flat jokes, there is a modicum of enjoyment but it leaves me wondering why we expect so much from these Depp-Burton projects.	.