Movie review - Dark Shadows

Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) is cursed by his servant and witch, Angelique (Eva Green), after he spurs her love and instead falls for Josette (Bella Heathcote). Imprisoned by a raging mob, Collins is awakened 200 years later in 1972 just as the Collins family fortunes are waning and they are joined by a new governess who looks like Josette reincarnated. But Angelique is still hanging around...


DS is based on a daytime soap of which I've never heard of. To be honest, I'm not sure if my lack of knowledge means I didn't enjoy the movie completely (if anything, reading the reviews on imdb indicates that being a fan of the series would have made me hate the film), but I walked out feeling underwhelmed. After a promising start explaining Barnabas' backstory, once it moves to the 70s, I felt the movie got a bit confused as to whether it was meant to be a horror, a comedy, a fish-out-of-water, a romance, or a nostalgia piece, and end up being none. Time is devoted to all these different storylines of various characters' interactions with Banabas that it ends up concentrating really on none. Ele, Ruben, and I all walked out feeling unsatisfied and noted that despite a running time of 112 minutes, the movie felt long and that it was going nowhere. 


Having said that, the performances are pretty good but the real standout is, as with Burton's other films, the production design. The sets, the costumes, the colours, everything looks gorgeous, and even as a blonde Eva Green, member of my female box of hotties, would not be kicked out for changing her hair colour. 

Yep. (Source)

Also, Michelle Pfeiffer - still lookin' good!


I just wish they'd put the same amount of attention that they paid into how it looked was given to writing the story.


Good to look at but otherwise...meh.
4-5/10