Dark Shadows - 2012

Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, Infinitum Nihil

Directed by Tim Burton

Cast:

Barnabas Collins – Johnny Depp

Elizabeth Collins Stoddard – Michelle Pfeiffer

Dr. Julia Hoffman – Helena Bonham Carter

Angelique Bouchard – Eva Green

Willie Loomis – Jackie Earle Haley

Roger Collins – Jonny Lee Miller

Victoria Winters / Josette DuPres – Bella Heatcote

Carolyn Stoddard – Chloe Grace Moretz

David Collins – Gulliver McGrath

Alice Cooper – Alice Cooper

Story: Joshua and Naomi Collins came to the New World with their son and heir, Barnabas, in 1720 and established a fishing industry in New England. The industry flourished and the family became wealthy, naming the town Collinsport, and building a vast manor on the hill overlooking the town which they named Collinswood. All was well until Barnabas rejected the advances of one of the maids, Angelique, who was a practitioner of the black arts. Angelique murdered Joshua and Naomi, caused Josette, Barnabas' betrothed, to hurl herself from a cliff to the sea, and turned Barnabas into a vampire. To further torture him, Angelique turned the townspeople against Barnabas, causing them to riot and imprison him in an iron coffin and bury him in the woods. 190 years later, Barnabas' coffin is unearthed by a crew excavating for a new McDonalds restaurant, and Barnabas is freed. He is lost in this new world, and returns to Collinswood, only to find his family home in ruin and his descendants mere shadows of their former selves. Barnabas sets himself to restoring the family prominence, only to encounter Angelique, who has kept herself alive through the centuries using black magic. Secret after secret is revealed as the two square off in a battle for the former Glory of the Collins.

Review: Formula for a great movie? Tim Burton+Johnny Depp+Helena Bonham Carter+Michelle Pfeiffer = Terrific movie.

Now, I grant you, I was not an avid viewer of the adventures of Barnabas Collins in the 60's, although apparently every girl in my high school was. But I doubt that melodramatic soap had much relation to the film I saw, other than the names of the characters and the ever present scene of the waves crashing upon rocks on the New England shoreline.

Small matter. The film I watched was funny, spooky in a predictable sort of way, and the story was fresh. Depp once again creates a strange and unusual persona as Barnabas Collins, at once both the vicious, blood thirsty vampire and the refined gentleman of the 16th century. There are so many elements combined, the jeweled necklace reminiscent of Bela Lugosi's Dracula, the darkened eyes, the long claws of the Nosferatu, and Depp's uncanny ability to pull all these elements together to give us a comedic and enjoyable character we cannot help but like.

Michelle Pfeiffer was an excellent choice as the current head of the family, a sturdy, refined and resilient woman determined to hold her head up despite the fallen state of the once powerful Collins family. Eva Green as Angelique is marvelous in her role as the evil yet business savvy woman whose only goal in life is the continuing destruction of the Collins family and reputation. The children, played perfectly by Chloe Grace Moretz and Gulliver McGrath, present the internal conflicts of the Collins, Carolyn who comes off as a very typical teenager, and David, who speaks frequently with his dead mother. Bella Heathcote, who portrays both Victoria in the present and Josette in the past, is also an excellent actress, and gives us just enough weird to balance the prim and proper appearance she first presents.

Of particular note is Helena Bonham Carter and her role as the doctor. The blatant comic relief she provides once again demonstrates her ability and depth as an actress, and one can easily see why Burton and Depp apparently enjoy working with this talented lady.

Overall, the film grabs your attention and keeps it throughout. The dialog is entertaining to the extreme, and the photography and cinematography is exceptional, as one would expect of anything from Mr. Burton.

Rated PG-13 due to the language and violence, as well as several references to sexual situations, I think this film will add nicely to any collector of the trio's work. I have one on order as soon as they are released.