Dark Shadows (2012)

Genre: Horror / Comedy

Directed by: Tim Burton

Starring: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter

Running time: 113 minutes

This 2012 horror/comedy film directed by Tim Burton was based on a gothic soap opera of the same name that was on TV in the late 60’s. It stars Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins, whose family moved from England to Maine to establish a fishing town and build their estate. Their maid, who is also a witch, falls in love with Barnabas, but he doesn’t reciprocate, because he is enamored with beautiful Josette. Scorned, the witch places a curse on the whole Collins family and turns Barnabas into a vampire, before locking him up in a metal tomb and burying him. Almost 200 years later, the sleeping vampire is dug up by mistake and goes on a mission to rescue his family estate, now in ruins.

Tim Burton has accustomed us to his own brand of cartoonish darkness, and he does stay true to that in Dark Shadows. The acting is pretty good here and the story is interesting enough. Johnny Depp is solid as usual, as he does seem to thrive in the Tim Burton universe. There are few odd plot twists and it is dragged out a bit too long towards the end, but this film was a good dose of fun. A few of the lines had me laughing out loud.

All things considered, Dark Shadows is a fun little movie. Nothing too fantastic or bad, just an entertaining flick while it lasts.

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