Entertaining but typically odd

Rating: 8/10 (18 May 2012)

House Of Dark Shadows never made it across the Atlantic, so my view of Tim Burton's Dark Shadows, a reimagining of the long running US Gothic vampire-based soap opera of the 70s is, of necessity, limited to the movie itself, and doesn't invite a comparison.
Johnny Depp plays Barnabas Collins, condemned to vampirehood by jealous witch Angelique (Eva Green), losing his love Josette (Bella Heathcote), and turning up in the 1970s to reclaim his place in the Collins household and business, currently under the aegis of descendant Elizabeth (Michelle Pfeiffer) and her family. Angelique is still alive and well, however, and just as malevolent as ever.
There are two main elements here. One is the power struggle and love tussle between Barnabas and Angelique, and the other is Barnabas' efforts to adjust himself to the 1970s after 200 years in a coffin. The former is a fairly serious affair: Angelique cold-bloodedly plays for keeps with silken malice (Eva Green always exudes an air of dangerousness, which serves her very well in this case), and Barnabas needs to kill people to live and is thus not an entirely sympathetic protagonist. The latter, however, is played very successfully for laughs. The question is how well do they fit together, and the answer is surprisingly well, actually. One might expect them to jar against each other, but they don't.
The performances are all good (Green is outstanding), with Depp, looking like DC Comics' character Klarion the Witch Boy (bum bum bum!), and spouting florid 19th century prolixity in a clipped English accent having great fun with a character which is only slightly less flamboyant (in a restrained way) than Jack Sparrow. Production design is, not unexpectedly, excellent although, as is commonly the case with Burton, one feels that style may have taken precedence over substance (Josette's story is overlooked for most of the movie, the startling development with teenager Carolyn (Chloe Moretz) springs out of nowhere and goes nowhere, the deus ex machina deriving from David is, again, left underexplained and, worst of all, there is an entirely unnecessary diversion involving Helena Bonfire Carter - Burton just had to shoehorn his missus in somewhere (again) despite the fact that her inclusion doesn't move the story forward one inch).
So this is quite enjoyable, but not without its flaws.