Good Fun for Vampire Fans and Dark Shadows Fans Alike

Rating: 7/10 (16 May 2012)

After seeing this film, I'm bemused about the number of negative reviews it has received. They had me worried, but I'm glad that I didn't let them trouble me enough to keep me away from the film.
I was a devoted fan of the 1991 Dark Shadows remake, and that led me to watch portions of the original series as well. Both shows, in my opinion, are charming, though often for different reasons. The remake brings a great deal of emotion and humanity to the characters, despite their over-the-top situations. I always find Ben Cross' Barnabas deeply moving, in his anguish at what he has become and his struggles to return to something better. I love the interaction of Barnabas and Willie in the 1991 version -- Willie is terrified of Barnabas and yet fond of him and worried for him, too. As for the original series, it's been a long time since I watched it, but I remember being charmed by the actors gamely going on with the show in the face of the amazingly low budget and production values. And Jonathan Frid's Barnabas is a fascinating character, in his mixture of dignity, menace, urbanity and regret.
As a Dark Shadows fan, then, I certainly had my misgivings before going to see this version. To my relief, I found this film eminently watchable, a fun evocation of the vampire myth and an affectionate new take on the Dark Shadows universe.
Some of the negative reviews have expressed discomfort with Barnabas' killings in this film. But after all, he IS a vampire, and the vampires in this mythos are not the version who are able to live on animal blood or on only small amounts of human blood. And why should one insist on having a protagonist who is only a nice guy? The concept of the anti-hero is perhaps too complex for some viewers' tastes, but personally, I am happier with a protagonist who is deeply flawed (and perhaps in some ways abhorrent), than with one who is simply nice. Would I want to marry a murderous vampire? No. Do I want to watch films about them? Decidedly yes.
I wonder if many of the negative reviewers for this movie actually enjoy vampire films. For me, I have a hard time seeing how anyone who likes the genre would not like this film. It's delightful watching how Barnabas in this version struggles to find a comfortable way to sleep (perhaps reminiscent of the fact that the coffin Jonathan Frid had to use in the original TV series was too short for him), and the affectionate nods to classic films of the genre had me laughing out loud at times, for instance the Nosferatu-style rising from the coffin. Another laugh-out-loud moment due to its resonance with so many films of the genre is Willie's gasped-out line which is something like, "Fire! Murder! Angry mob! Run!" A few plot inconsistencies bothered me a bit, leading to a "7" rating rather than an "8." I thought that they did not think through well enough whether Barnabas is fatally troubled by sunlight or not -- he is bothered enough by it to burst into flames at one point, but at other times, he's walking around in daylight with no more protection than dark glasses, an umbrella and a hat. I also felt that the nature of Angelique as a witch/immortal something-or-other should have been more fully explained; I wasn't quite certain what kind of being the film-makers actually intended we should think she was. The broken glass effect as she becomes more and more damaged was visually interesting, but needed more explanation. However, questions like this were far from leading me to dislike the film.
I would say to anyone who enjoys the vampire film genre as a whole, and to any fan of either previous incarnation of Dark Shadows, to not be worried by any reviews this film has received. Take the chance, go see it, and decide for yourself.