Often hilarious, beautifully gothic and so entertaining

Rating: 9/10 (4 April 2020)

Dark Shadows is another very underrated Tim flick! Based on an obscure 70s TV show of the same name, the story starts in 1760, the Collins' family business in fish mongering is booming. Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) is the heir of the family, deeply in love with Josette (Bella Heathcote). He therefore breaks the heart of a young witch named Angelique (Eva Green) who then curses him to be a vampire and live forever trapped in a coffin, locked away with his own dark thoughts. Fast forward to 1972, Barnabas is discovered and finally released from his tomb where he can meet his family of today and help the family business thrive again. Depp has a lot of fun in the role of Barnabas; it's an amazing opportunity to explore the classic vampire tropes and he does it brilliantly! The romantic dialogue, the hypnotic effect on people and of course the bloody meal times are all here and it's refreshing to see a more traditional approach to vampirism projected again. The entire cast have an absolute ball; it's great to see Michelle Pfieffer back in the Burton universe, Chloe Grace Moretz continues her fantastic career in another wonderful role that really taps into the troubled teenager feeling well! I think its Eva Green's best role to date also; she captures the spirit of the classic Burton femme fatale perfectly, in the spirit of Catwoman and the Martian lady beforehand, with added witchcraft! She is at the forefront of perhaps the most impressive sequence towards the end of the film, where she gets to work her supernatural trickery to its creepiest effect on the Collins' family. The laughs are mainly brought from the dynamic of a 17th century man suddenly slap bang in the middle of the late 1900s and his confusion at the concept of television ('tiny songstress!'), extreme old-fashioned approach to marriage and his obsession with lava lamps! It really works and it's the performances that make the lines shine brightly. A rewatchable horror-comedy treat!