Gothic Fun

Rating: 6/10 (9 December 2012)

Dark Shadows is a tale spun from the 1966-1971 TV series with the same name. The filmmakers chose a comedic twist to deliver in 113 minutes what was once a 1,225 episode, daytime, Gothic horror soap opera.
Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) loses the love of his life, is cursed with eternal vampirism by the jealous witch, Angelique (Eva Green), and buried alive in 1752 Collinsport Maine. 200 years later in 1972, he is dug up during the construction of a McDonald's restaurant. He returns to Collinsport and finds his beloved Collinwood Mansion has fallen into ruin along with Collins Cannery, the source of his family's wealth. The present-day and still cursed Collins family is under the protective watch of descendant, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer). Her orphaned nephew sees dead people and her daughter deals with hairy teenage-hood. Barnabas amusingly blends in and takes them under his vampiric wing. His mission: to restore the respectable Collins name. Yes, he's a vampire! His ambitions are quickly buried again by Angelique when he falls in love, again, with the destined Josette, a.k.a. Victoria Winters (Bella Heathcote).
Johnny Depp fans, this is a must-see. The film is gorgeously shot and uses all of Depp's talents to build to a climax that brings all the sub- plots home. Unfortunately, only three characters are necessary in the telling and the ending falls flat on its face in a classic case of deus ex machina. Maybe the filmmakers will give us an eternal, happily-ever- after ending to make up for it?