Just A Shadow

I clearly remember the original Dark Shadows TV series.  When it came out it was groundbreaking stuff – a gothic, horror tale set in Maine with a vampire as a good guy (most of the time) shot in seemingly always foggy black and white.  Jonathan Frid did a superb job as the tortured Barnabus Collins and I watched the show for a while until I realized I was watching a soap opera and abandoned it.  Last night was date night and my wife and I headed out into the gloomy, rainy night (perfect setting) planning on seeing the Tim Burton re-make.  We’d seen the previews and were pretty excited as it looked like an incredibly funny movie and teamed up Burton and Depp again.  I’d loved the quirky characters Depp created in Sleepy Hollow and Edward Scissorhands and was looking for more of this.  The movie did have its moments but overall it was just kind of, all right.  This was a let down because the cast was superb and they had the opportunity to poke some real fun at the 1970s which I looked forward to but most of the cast seemed to be sleepwalking through this.  The exceptions were Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Eva Green – all of whom were a lot of fun.  It almost seemed like Burton was trying to find his voice in this and never quite decided if this was going to be a comedy or a drama.  Depp, at his campy best, had all the funny bits but it wasn’t enough to bridge the huge gaps of just boring material.  The attempts at 1970s satire fell completely flat and there was an inexplicable inclusion of Alice Cooper for some reason – it must have been an idea that came up when Cooper and Burton were sharing a beer.  It should have stayed on the cutting room floor.  The original Dark Shadows was so bad it became a campy legend – this movie was just, bad. I still had fun because I had a great date.  I can't belive she's watched two vampire movies with me in the last week.  That raises the total of vampire movies we've seen together to - two.

Dueling Barnabii - Frid was Scarier, Depp So Funny