Not the disaster it could have been

Rating: 7/10 (14 May 2012)

Redo of the classic TV soap opera that ran from 1966 to 1971. In the 1700s Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) is cursed in becoming a vampire by the evil witch Angelique (Eva Green). He's then chained into a coffin and buried. Almsot 200 years later (in 1972) his coffin is dug up and he is released. He finds the Collins family lives in a crumbling estate and is HEAVILY dysfunctional. He decides to bring the family and mansion back to life...but (somehow) Angelique is still around and will do anything to stop him.
I was expecting the worst from this film. I have fond memories of running home from grammar school to catch this on TV (it played at 3:30) and having it scare me silly. There was even a theatrical 1970 film called "House of Dark Shadows" which REALLY poured on the blood and violence...and got by with a PG rating! "Night of Dark Shadows" is best left forgotten. It seems director Tim Burton and star Depp are Dark Shadows fans and were going to turn this into a comedy. Well there IS humor in it but there's also violence and a very creepy atmosphere. The film LOOKS great--but all Tim Burton films do. They caught the early 1970s fads and fashions beautifully. Love the music (opens right up with "Nights in White Satin") and Danny Elfman cleverly works in music from the original series into his score. They also have a wonderful cast--Depp is just great as Barnabas; Michelle Pfeiffer is given little to do but looks great as Elizabeth Collins; Eva Green is a very sexy (and deadly) Angelique; Christopher Lee and Alice Cooper (!!!) have small parts and Helena Bonham Carter is hysterical as Dr. Julia Hoffman. Also original cast members Jonathan Frid, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Lara Parker and David Selby have an amusing cameo at a party. So it looks great but really drops the ball with plot.
The plot is taken from the series (Angelique loving and cursing Barnabas) but leaves WAY too many things unexplained. Angelique is STILL around after 200 years? How and why? How do the Collins family live with their factory closed down for years? What's with all the jewelry and paintings hidden under the fireplace? Too many questions. Also the last half hour goes barreling out of control. It's non-stop CGI with some truly bizarre plot twists. SPOILER!!! Carolyn is revealed to be a werewolf! Really???? I mean WTF? It comes out of nowhere and is not needed. And, all of the sudden, David's dead mother pops up to take revenge??? Why wait all this time? It's like the writers gave up and threw everything they could dream up on the screen and hoped it would work. END SPOILER. BTW--they leave room for a SEQUEL! Still I was never bored and it DID work. So--it could have been worse. I give it a 7.