Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
2/4
Great Ingredients, Disappointing Results
MovieMike - wrote on 01/25/2017
Before there was ‘Twilight’; before there was Buffy; and before there was Anne Rice; there was Barnabas. Dreamed up (literally) by creator, Dan Curtis, the original dark, gothic serial cum soap-opera had a television run of about 6 years back in the late 60's. I guess I wasn't the only teenager running home after school to see what dreadful events were befalling the residents of Collinwood. Despite the failure of a 1991 reboot, Director, Tim Burton, had decided he would like to do a feature film that played off the original cast and story. Enter his favorite choice for leading man, Johnny Depp (himself an avowed ‘Dark Shadows’ fan) and you have the initial ingredients for this movie.
I was hoping Mr. Burton's effort would reflect some of the gothic horror of the original …
Rating of
2.5/4
"Dark Shadows" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 09/13/2015
An 18th century aristocrat is cursed by a spurned lover and awakens as a vampire in the 1970s. Tim Burton returns to his familiar formula with his usual ensemble collaborators in a film that draws very much from the teen Goth playbook. Based upon a TV series I have personally never heard of, Dark Shadows is a reasonably entertaining time jump comedy with many of the usual stranger in a strange land gags shamefully plundered. As is always the case with Burton's films, it is a treat to look at and the tone is suitably playful and irreverent. The script, although always mildly entertaining, is never really laugh out loud funny and relies too much on cliche and jokes that feel a little tired to anyone familiar with this style of film. The romantic element also doesn't really work and …
Rating of
2.5/4
What a disapointment....
mdtinney - wrote on 04/20/2013
With a perfect cast, perfect characters, and perfect and exciting trailer what could have gone wrong? Well sadly, everything. Dark shadows is very hard to follow. Half the time, you don't even know what's going on . I don't think the characters do either. It is full of filler/fluff and way to much is going on at the same time.It is a train wreck. The set up and intro was great, but after that it went downhill. But the acting was great, the humor was great and that's what kept me going through out the movie. I think Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and Tim Burton in collaoration are always outstanding.... But this let me down.. Only reason it gets 2 1/2 stars. This just shows you what happens when you try and take a TV series and turn into a 2 hour movie.
Rating of
2/4
Review: Dark Shadows
MikePA - wrote on 09/23/2012
Tim Burton's Dark Shadows is a good-looking mess. Like a lot of Burton's films, there is a strict focus on visuals and production design over plot and characters, but in many of them you can still get a little bit of heart out of it through its main character. Dark Shadows is devoid of heart. And interesting characters. And enjoyment. All Dark Shadows tires to deliver successfully is comedy, eye-popping visuals, and another interesting performance by Johnny Depp. Honestly, I didn't laugh much, my eyes didn't pop much, and I've seen Depp in better movies. Therefore, Dark Shadows was a dud for me.
The film employs a bunch of talented actors who everybody loves to see - including Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Jackie Earle Haley, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Michelle Pfeiffer - but are …
Rating of
2/4
Don't Mess with a Woman's Heart!
MovieAddict - wrote on 09/22/2012
Filled with the typical Burton-isms you'd expect, ghosts, curses, fog, ships, gothic architecture, Johnny Depp and jilted lovers. The film essentially focuses on Eva Green's Angelique Bouchard and her attempts to manipulate and force her way into the heart of aristocratic playboy Barnabas Collins, the scion of the Collins family who had crossed from Liverpool to the New World in the 18th Century, and through their fishing business amassed fame and fortune. But Barnabas' romantic indiscretion with her proves disastrous when he finds his own true love, Josette DuPres. Bad move, since the servant girl is also a witch. Angelique in an act of jealousy puts a spell on her rival, forcing her to jump from 'Widow's Peak' and then proceeds to kill his parents. Baranbas meanwhile is cursed to live …
Rating of
2/4
Dark Shadows review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 06/15/2012
Barnabas (Johnny Depp) is accidentally freed after being cursed/trapped for 200 years by Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). He meets the Collins consisting of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfieffer), the family matriarch; her brother Roger (Jonny Lee Miller); her 15-year-old daughter Carolyn (Chloë Grace Moretz); Roger's 10-year-old son David (Gulliver McGrath); Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter), David's psychiatrist; Willie Loomis (Jackie Earle Haley) and Victoria Winters (Heathcote). Plot was everywhere and dialogue was mostly uninteresting. This reviewer was really looking forward to the talents of Pfiffer and Carter being included in a picture produced/acted by Depp and directed by Burton. Humor was flat and direction was not clear-cut despite the fantastic characters …
Rating of
2.5/4
Movie Review of Dark Shadows
trophywife - wrote on 05/18/2012
If you haven’t noticed, there’s sort of a big vampire craze going on right now in the entertainment industry, so you can’t really blame Tim Burton and Johnny Depp for their attempt at joining in the fun. If you are hung up on your undead being of the sparkly and smoldering variety, however, you’ll have to stick with Young Adult fiction-----these characters are darker and a little less likely to end up on a poster on your tween daughter’s bedroom door.
THE GOOD: The story begins in the 1700’s, with the Collins family leaving Liverpool, England for America, and settling in what will soon become Collinsport, Maine. Joshua Collins (Ivan Kaye) establishes a thriving seaport town, and soon uses his family fortune to build a mansion for his wife and young son, Barnabas. When a …
Rating of
2/4
Dark Shadows Has No Bite
Chris Kavan - wrote on 05/13/2012
While I appreciated the long, storied career that Tim Burton and Johnny Depp have had - after Dark Shadows, I think it's time to give that relationship a rest. From history, I knew this would be a somewhat dark comedy full of strange and wondrous characters (and I wasn't disappointed) but outside of those character, the story just doesn't have much charm and the humor is far too muted to make much of an impact.
Visually, the film is vintage Burton - that run-down Gothic look with a crumbling mansion full of secret passages and meticulous detail. Likewise, his character design still stands out. Depp is still having fun playing the ever-pale Barnabas Collins - a rich scion who messed with the wrong witch and is cursed with vampirism (and then buried for nearly 200 years), The whole …
