No magic, no fascination, just a banal story

Rating: 6/10 (22 October 2015)

TIM BURTON – JOHNNY DEPP – DARK SHADOWS – 2012
No matter how spectacular this film is and its special effects are, the film itself is a remake of at least half a dozen story lines already famous and vastly imitated on all screens. Anne Rice brought the vampires out of their closet with Lestat de Lioncourt from Auvergne, France, and that has brought to life a myriad if not a host of vampires of all types, genres and sexes (definitely more than two). Then she dared make her vampires meet with her witches, the Mayfair family from Montpellier, France, and even beyond, and that brought some new episodes of great power and that has so far not been exploited in the cinema or on television, at least at that level. And in 2012 she started a new series with werewolves, mind you, Reuben Golding and many more. But in the meantime the BBC produced a phenomenal series with vampires, werewolves and ghosts living in the same house and trying to pass for humans, Being Human shot in Bristol, GB, 2008-2013, immediately remade in Montreal. So there is really nothing new under the sun, really nothing.
Then the family curse is so trite and banal it does not bring anything new. And the dear cursed vampire will win in the end. Banal since we knew it from the start and he will win by the destruction of his main enemy and releasing a werewolf in the world, and anyway he does not really win since he is helped by a ghost and a child. Brilliant and pathetic.
The spectacular special effects do not retrieve this film that has no real plot nor density. A film for people who just want things close to maybe after all we could say some creative inspiration without being too creative because I don't want to have a headache. This time Mr. Tim Burton is making money more than a film that will last beyond the summer matinees for young teenagers, well not too young though because it might be restricted.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU