Director Tim Burton brings the cult classic series "Dark Shadows" to the big screen in a film featuring an all-star cast, led by Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter.
In
the year 1750, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set
sail from England to start a new life in America, where they build a
fishing empire in the coastal Maine town that comes to carry their name:
Collinsport. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world
at his feet. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful
and an inveterate playboy...until he makes the grave mistake of falling
in love with a beauty named Josette DuPres (Bella Heathcote) and
breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch in every
sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than
death—turning him into a vampire, and then burying him...alive.
Nearly
two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and
emerges into the very changed world of 1972, a stranger in an even
stranger time. Returning to Collinwood Manor, he finds that his
once-grand estate has fallen into ruin, and the dysfunctional remnants
of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own
dark secrets.
Family
matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) is the one
person Barnabas entrusts with the truth of his identity. But his rather
odd and anachronistic behavior immediately raises the suspicions of the
live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter), who has
no idea what kind of problems she's really digging up.
As
Barnabas sets out to restore his family name to its former glory, one
thing stands in his way: Collinsport's leading denizen, who goes by the
name Angie...and who bears a striking resemblance to a very old
acquaintance of Barnabas Collins.
Also
residing in Collinwood Manor are Elizabeth's ne'er-do-well brother,
Roger Collins, (Jonny Lee Miller); her rebellious teenage daughter
Carolyn Stoddard (Chloƫ Grace Moretz); and Roger's precocious
10-year-old son, David Collins (Gully McGrath). The longsuffering
caretaker of Collinwood is Willie Loomis (Jackie Earle Haley), and new
to the Collins' employ is David's nanny, Victoria Winters (Bella
Heathcote), who is, mysteriously, the mirror image of Barnabas' one true
love, Josette.
BLU-RAY AND DVD ELEMENTS
“Dark Shadows” Blu-ray Combo Pack contains the following special features:
·
See how the brilliant imaginations of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp
created Dark Shadows with nine behind-the-film Focus Points.
1)
BECOMING BARNABAS - It takes more than just a set of prosthetic fangs!
Get the scoop from directly from Johnny Depp on his reimagining of this
infamous and undead cult character.
2)
WELCOME TO COLLINSPORT! - Explore every strange nook and peculiar
cranny of the most spectacularly detailed city to never exist!
3)
A MELEE OF MONSTROUS PROPORTIONS - Join the fight and experience the
thrilling final battle sequence in a way that only Tim Burton and Johnny
Depp could imagine.
4)
ANGELIQUE: A WITCH SCORNED - Johnny Depp and Eva Green reveal the lurid
details of their character's centuries old lascivious and tumultuous
relationship.
5)
RELIVING A DECADE - From groovy bell bottoms to classic rock &
roll, strut through the Collinsport of the 70s and discover the
topsy-turvy world that Barnabas finds himself in after centuries in the
grave.
6)
DARK SHADOWY SECRETS - Watch out for exploding buildings and all manner
of bizarre, supernatural occurrences as Tim Burton's spectacular props
and special effects wizards bring this eccentric world to crazy life.
7)
THE COLLINSES: EVERY FAMILY HAS ITS DEMONS - Become scarily familiar
with this creepy cast of quirky characters as Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham
Carter and their co-stars reveal their unique working relationship.
8)
COOPER ROCKS COLLINSPORT! - Shock rock the night away with the master
of musical horror himself, Alice Cooper, as Johnny Depp and the cast
invite him to rock the roof off of Collinsport Manor.
9)
VAMPIRES, WITCHES AND WEREWOLVES, OH MY! - Uncover the method behind
Tim Burton's madness as he twists and tweaks his favorite classic movie
monsters for the gothic universe of Dark Shadows.
· DELETED SCENES
“Dark Shadows” Standard Definition DVD contains the following special features:
·
THE COLLINSES: EVERY FAMILY HAS ITS DEMONS - Become scarily familiar
with this creepy cast of quirky characters as Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham
Carter and their co-stars reveal their unique working relationship.
Dark Shadows available on Blu-ray Combo pack, DVD and for download 10/2!
Anyways, I watched it on Friday afternoon and I have to say that I liked this movie but it was not as good as I expected it to be. It is not exactly like the old tv show which I wasn't surprised .It was dark with a few parts you will get a few little chuckles. It wasn't one of the best movies I have seen but it was good enough to watch again in the near future.
I give this movie 3 1/2 stars out of 5
I give this movie 3 1/2 stars out of 5
*The product(s)
featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or
representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions
expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary
compensation*
Thanks for the review! As a huge Johnny Depp fan as well I was pretty upset at first that I missed this film in theaters, but now that I've been hearing a lot of mixed reviews, I'm kind of glad I waited. Usually I wouldn't give a mixed review movie a chance, but because of my loyalty to Mr. Depp I'm going to watch it anyways. I added it to the top of my Blockbuster @Home queue, so I'll get it in the mail in a couple of days to see for myself. I’ve never seen anything from the Dark Shadows series either, but I know a lot of people, including some coworkers of mine at DISH, that agree it wasn’t really on par with it. While I’m at it I might as well add a couple seasons of that to my queue as well! :)
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