For some reason, I haven't written in this for awhile, although I have watched several titles. I'll go ahead and muse on the latest viewing, 2012's "Dark Shadows."
As I'm sure you know, "Dark Shadows" is based on the television soap opera airing from 1966 to 1971, and which I'm currently over half-way through watching (!!). The possibility of the show being turned into a feature film for a third time (previously by Dan Curtis in 1970 and 71) was proposed to Johnny Depp, who signed up Tim Burton to direct. Depp plays Barnabas Collins, and the supporting cast includes folks who've worked with Burton before, such as Helena Bonham Carter as Julia Hoffman and Michelle Pfeiffer as Elizabeth Stoddard.
Being a fan of the TV show, I'll admit that there were moments of this film which shone, but overall, it's a mess. It definitely reeks of "too many cooks." The prologue is very well done and looks fantastic. Once you get to the main movie, the script quickly loses focus. A good example happens right at the beginning.....most likely in order to shoehorn Maggie Evans' name into the picture (as the character is absent), the opening shot of a young lady riding the train into Collinsport has her murmuring to herself "hi, I'm Maggie Evans, and ....." She then spies a poster for a vacation in Victoria, B.C., and continues "hi, I'm Victoria Winters, and I..." There's absolutely no motive for her to change names suddenly.
As I said, being a fan of the show, there are still moments I enjoyed. Some of the music choices are surprisingly good, such as Iggy Pop's "I'm Sick of You" and Alice Cooper's "The Ballad of Dwight Fry." Although, how Carolyn would have a copy of "I'm Sick of You" in 1972....well, I'll stop. Other music insertions are simply awful, such as The Carpenters' "On Top of the World" for a Collins business re-invigoration (and comedy) montage, or Barry White's "You're the First" when Barnabas and Angelique get down to business (and, uh, comedy). And I dig Barry White. It just feels silly and wrong.
The third act is where everything just goes straight downhill, and that's where you can feel the ol' "hey, the studio has a special effects budget!! Better use it now!!"
So, the performances are pretty good, the script is pretty bad, and the direction is so-so. That's my take. Proceed with caution.
Back to the soap opera for me.....
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