Not The Typical Vampire Movie

Rating: 8/10 (29 September 2013)

The Dark Shadows is based around the Collins family. Son Barnabas Collins, played by Johnny Depp, takes head of the family fishing business and becomes quite the successful and charming man. His life seems almost perfect until he denies the love of his maid, Angelique Bouchard,who is played by Eva Green . She ends up becoming enraged by the constant rejection and places a curse on all of those Barnabas loves,resulting in their sudden deaths. She then turns Barnabas into a vampire so that he would have to deal with his loss and suffering for eternity. The town of Collinwood ends up finding out about Barnabas's new secret and locks him in a box in the middle of the forest. Decades later his box is dug up and he is finally set free. The rest of the movie shows his comical struggle to adjust to daily life, learn to coexist with his new family, win back his once successful business, and deal with Angelique. I find that the Dark Shadows is worth watching because it puts a humorously cynical twist on the typical vampire movie.
The first humorously cynical twist was when Barnabas was walking around his lovely old home. His niece thought he was so strange that she asked him if he were stoned. He replied "They tried stoning me, my dear. It did not work." It was funny because he was referring to the townspeople attempting to get rid of him, while his niece was talking about being under the influence. Her reaction was priceless because she had no idea what he was speaking about.
The time difference in this movie adds to the cynical humor. Such as the scene when Barnabas referred to his young niece as a woman of the night. You would assume his niece resembled such a woman but it wasn't so. His niece was just dressed as like a typical teenager would in the 70's but that simply threw him off. I found that since she resembled a common girl this joke was even more hysterical because that would have been highly inappropriate in 1752 yet completely fine in the present day. This part of the movie also shows the enormous time difference in the plot and the fact that Barnabas will encounter many things he isn't used to seeing.
Even the devouring of hippies and spiritualists added to the humorously cynical plot. He wanted a better feel for how the people behaved in the 70's. This regime was full of nothing but doped up teenagers and spiritualists. They all sat in a circle around a fire and shared stories and songs. "I am reminded of a line from Erich Segal's 'Love Story': "Love means never having to say you're sorry." However, it is with sincere regret that I must now kill all of you." Barnabas kills the ambiance of love and peace with in seconds and the doped up teenagers scream in terror. Mean while the audience sees the outlines of the teenagers trying to get away. Of course their lives end just as quickly as the ambiance that was shared.
There is no denying that the Dark Shadows is a humorously cynical work of art. The comical quotes and inappropriate humor is what makes this movie so different from other typical vampire movies. The selection of this cast was perfected to a tee since all the actors and actresses seemed like they were made to play these parts. The plot contains a variety of genres including action,love,humor, and even drama. It is also a movie that really sticks with an audience. The film contains such insane and witty scenes that you can't help but remember even the slightest details. You would also never hear the referencing of a women of the night and a normal girl in "Twilight." It will make you drop your mouth and laugh in astonishment from the beginning to the end and I highly recommend it as a one to watch type of film.