Dark Shadows (FILM REVIEW)
Dark Shadows
Film Review
by Kam Williams
Depp Does Barnabas Justice in Nostalgic Walk Down Memory Lane
Dark Shadows was a daytime soap
opera which originally aired at 4 PM on ABC-TV on weekday afternoons from 1966
to 1971. What made the program unique for the romance genre was its Gothic storyline
revolving around Barnabas Collins, a 200 year-old vampire as earnest in his search
for blood as for a reunion with his long-lost love, Josette.
The television series built a big
cult following among kids who never took the show’s fright fare seriously, but
merely enjoyed it as a mindless diversion designed to help them unwind after a
long day at school. It is with that same lighthearted spirit in mind that master
of the macabre Tim Burton apparently approached the screen version of Dark Shadows.
The
movie marks the Oscar-nominee’s (for Corpse Bride) eighth collaboration
with Johnny Depp, a string which has included Edward Scissorhands (1990), Ed
Wood (1994), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005),
Corpse Bride (2005), Sweeney Todd (2007) and Alice in Wonderland (2010). And
the two have reportedly already agreed to work together next on a remake of the
Vincent Price classic, The Abominable Dr. Phebes (1971).
Set
in 1972, Dark Shadows is a costume dramedy that offers a walk down Memory Lane courtesy
of such best-forgotten staples of the era as Lava lamps, macramé and plastic
fruit. It also features bell-bottomed Flower Children driving a Volkswagen bus while
listening to rock anthems like “Nights in White Satin,” and “Season of the
Witch.”
At
the point of departure, we meet Victoria Winters (Bella Heathcote) en route to Collinsport, Maine
to apply for a position as governess at Collinwood Manor. Meanwhile, elsewhere
in the quiet coastal village, construction workers at an excavation site unwittingly
unleash an undead monster by cutting the bolts keeping Barnabas’ (Depp) cast-iron
casket sealed tight.
Both
Barnabas and Victoria descend on the sprawling Collins estate, only to find the
mansion in a dire state of disrepair due to the decline of the family’s fortune.
The place is presently presided over by imperious matriarch, Elizabeth (Michelle Pfeiffer) who lords it over an assemblage of oddballs: her
spoiled-rotten daughter, Carolyn (Chloe Moretz); her ne’er-do-well brother,
Roger (Jonny Lee Miller); his troubled son, David (Gulliver McGrath); a live-in
shrink (Helena Bonham Carter); and a couple of creepy servants (Jackie Earle
Haley and Ray Shirley).
The
ensuing mix of slapstick violence and tongue-in-cheek humor is often amusing,
nostalgic and clever but never really rises to the level of laugh out loud
funny. This Johnny Depp vehicle benefits most from his bloodthirsty character
Barnabas’ deadpan delivery, as when he mistakenly salivates over gobs of red
goo undulating around a Lava lamp.
A
faithfully-cheesy remake of a consciously-campy TV show.
Very Good
(2.5 stars)
Rated PG-13 for sexuality, profanity, smoking, drug use and horror
violence.
Running time: 113 minutes
Distributor:
Warner Brothers
No comments:
Post a Comment