Wednesday, May 16, 2012
By DAVID BJORKGREN
Managing Editor
Apparently, you can go home again, but don’t expect things to be the way they were.
That’s the lesson learned by Barnabas Collins, the central character in the Tim Burton, Johnny Depp film version of the popular 1960s supernatural gothic soap opera, “Dark Shadows.”
Sadly, it is also the lesson learned by fans of the original series.
Depp plays the role of the reluctant and infinitely well-mannered 18th century vampire, Barnabas Collins. Depp doesn’t disappoint, diving into the role with abandon, bringing energy and good intentions to this latest version of the “Dark Shadows” tale. Depp, who is also listed as one of the film’s producers, apparently was a big fan of the original series and was keenly interested in playing the role of Barnabas. His acting carries most of the film.
Both Depp and Burton seem to be interested in creating a soap opera feel to the film, part homage to the original series, part tongue in cheek. They almost pull it off.
The early part of the film, artistically shot with great gothic atmosphere, shows us how young Barnabas Collins and his parents came from England in 1750 and built up a successful fishing industry in a coastal Maine town that comes to be known as Collinsport. The family uses its wealth to build Collinwood Manor, a sprawling estate home that overlooks the town. Now a young man, Barnabas falls in love with Josette DuPres (Bella Heathcote), simultaneously breaking the heart of the resident witch, Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green), who plays it in this version more like a seductress than a creature of evil. In her rage, Angelique charms Josette into jumping to her death, turns Barnabas into a vampire and buries him alive, where he remains entombed until 1972, when workers dig him up.
At this point, not too many laughs, but no violent blood spurting scenes, either. The audience is now treated to both, as Barnabas reluctantly quenches his thirst for blood while acclimating to a 1970s world. He joins up with his dysfunctional descendants, still living at a much-deteriorated Collinwood Manor, impoverished and beaten down. Barnabas is determined to restore the family’s reputation and wealth in the town, even as he discovers that it is his old nemesis, Angelique, still alive 200 years later that led to the family’s downfall.
The film at first finds its humor naturally, as the archaic Barnabas tries to cope with his relatives and this strange world of the future. At times, Burton and Depp let those of us who experienced the 1970s in on the joke as we look back at that era through Barnabas’ eyes.
But Depp and Burton trip over their own feet by including superficial comedy bits in the storyline, which derails the soap opera plot. The characters and the situations become muddled. The end result is that some of the film’s more interesting relationships and characters lose their focus while we’re treated to a more hackneyed rivalry between Barnabas and Angelique. The film, of course, features an obligatory battle scene near its end with explosions and other climatic special effects.
I never watched the original “Dark Shadows” series when it aired, but I’ve known many of its fans. I had hoped this film would introduce me to the quirky world of that cult series. I’m guessing the filmmakers had the same idea. They almost made it. Too bad they got lost along the way. I give “Dark Shadows” six-and-a-half cursed vampires out of 10.
By ART RYAN
CORRESPONDENT
When I was a kid growing up in the mid-to-late 1970s, I used to run home after school to see reruns of the now classic cult soap opera, “Dark Shadows” which originally aired from 1966 to 1971 on ABC.
I had been a big fan of the Universal monster movies of the 1930s, especially Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, so being able to watch a TV show about a vampire everyday after school was a real treat. Nowadays, the cult hit “Dark Shadows” is often looked back upon as a campy afternoon melodrama with a gothic storyline that appealed only to a fringe crowd of vampire fans. But, I have often found that those who miscategorize the original TV show that way, were either never fans to begin with or hadn’t actually seen a single episode.
Sure, the production values were at times less than spectacular, and the actors sometimes forgot their lines, but they played their roles with conviction and in return created a spooky and at times terrifying atmosphere. Especially to an 11-year-old at the time like myself.
So you can imagine my excitement over a year ago when word got out that Johnny Depp and director, Tim Burton were teaming up again to produce a big screen version of the classic soap opera. The duo had worked together many times before and produced a collection of films good and bad, including the masterful “Ed Wood” (1994) and the popular fantasy “Edward Scissorhands” (1990). And following their collaboration on “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (2007), which artfully blended an homage to the Hammer Horror films of the 1960s with the classic Steven Sondheim musical, my expectations were very high.
But when a trailer was released a few months back it was disappointingly clear that this new “Dark Shadows” film was not to be the gothic horror story on which it was based, but a campy comedy in the style of “The Brady Bunch Movie” (1995).
So I was pleasantly surprised this past weekend as I began to watch the new “Dark Shadows” movie when at first it seemed my original impressions based on the trailers were wrong, and this was not to be an all out comedy. But sadly, by the film’s end my first impressions would prove true.
“Dark Shadows” gets off to a great start as a stylish prologue introduces us to a young Barnabas Collins sailing from Liverpool, England in the mid-18th Century to the port of Maine in the new world where he and his family build a thriving seafood business. As Barnabas becomes a man (portrayed by Depp), he is outdone by a conniving love-spurned witch named Angelique (Eva Green), who kills his beloved Josette (Bella Heathcote) and curses Barnabas turning him into a vampire. She then locks Barnabas away in a tomb for almost 200 years until he emerges again in the year 1972. Regrettably, this engaging opening sequence builds expectations that the film never quite delivers.
When Barnabas is unearthed and set free in the 20th century, the “fish-out-of-water” gags start to appear, playing on the obvious joke of an eighteenth century man adjusting to 1972 American culture. At first it all blends nicely with the weirdness of Barnabas’ 20th Century descendents now occupying the Collins mansion in Maine and still running the struggling family seafood business. Michelle Pfeiffer heads up the supporting cast as Collins family matriarch, Elizabeth Stoddard Collins. Pfeiffer tries her best to recreate the role made famous by Joan Bennett in the original soap opera, but the movie belongs to Depp’s quirky performance as the reluctant vampire.
Depp’s Barnabas is more obvious as a vampire than the late Jonathan Frid’s original portrayal. Depp, as he appeared in “Sweeney Todd,” and “Alice in Wonderland” (2010) dawns a porcelain white complexion with sullen eyes and speaks with a faux British accent. The only resemblance to Frid’s Barnabas is the trademark black razor-like bangs across his forehead. Frid and a handful of his former cast mates appear in an all too brief cameo during a party scene mid-way through the film.
Some of the humor seems appropriate at times and doesn’t distract from the gothic aspects at first, but as the film progresses the jokes increase and any real sense of horror or terror disappears. Green’s Angelique is supposed to be a threat and root of all evil for Barnabas and the Collins family, but following a ridiculous, over-the-top acrobatic love making scene between Barnabas and the witch, it’s hard to take any of it serious.
There were a few touches that made the film at times enjoyable for fans of the classic series. Danny Elfman’s score uses similar techniques reminiscent of Bob Cobert’s original spooky music for the soap opera. The film’s art direction and costume departments also try to stay true to the original look of the series. But director Burton made the mistake of trying to incorporate too many of the secondary characters from the original series into his movie. The original series creator, Dan Curtis had five days a week over six years to tell his story, but in this two-hour film characters come and go with very little explanation.
I don’t doubt that such talented filmmakers as Depp and Burton had nothing but the best intentions in wanting to update a 45-year-old soap opera that by their own admission inspired them as well. But as often seems the case these days in Hollywood, even the best intentions can give way to an excess that undermines any original inspiration. Such is the case with this version of “Dark Shadows” that perhaps tries a little too hard to please.
But in the end for this critic and fan of the original source material, it’s the filmmakers’ penchant for the absurd and often sophomoric humor that drained all the life out of this vampire movie’s bite.
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