Dark with a touch of light.
10/10
Author: samilou90
23 October 2012

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

All right, This is my first review, so if it's jumbled. Sorry. I marked Spoiler because I don't want to be blacklisted. Any-way, I'm extremely bias because i'm a huge fan of Johnny Depp and Tim Burton and of course the wonderful Helena Bonham Carter. I swear this trio is the triple threat of Hollywood. In my own opinion of course.

Okay so The movie. Honestly, I thought it was great. I mean Johnny Depp was impeccable. He plays Mr. Collins, with such depth, and makes the vampire such a charismatic character. I will say that the movie was not as funny as the previews showed. It did have some humor moments though. Tim Burton, is great with putting his dark and twisty with a dash of light into his movies though. I loved the Collins mansion, it was beautiful.

The Plot & story line is too known, a bad love and so she damned the whole family. After centuries still holding a grudge. I mean its just predictable. I thought the writing was pretty good, again speaking of a completely bias opinion because of how much I love all three of these fantastic actors / actresses.

They shouldn't get all the credit though because Chloe Mortez and Michelle Pfeiffer are damn good too. I didn't see the whole werewolf thing coming, and she did pretty damn good too. I never saw the TV show .. so I can't compare the two. I do hope there is a 2nd movie though. I really enjoyed this film.

à gauche :Jonny Lee Miller (dont je me serai bien passé)

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Terrific entertainment
10/10
Author: grahamsp from United Kingdom
29 June 2013

Sit back, relax and enjoy is what I say. Too many people have dissected this film and compared it to the series. Now I know diddly squat about the books or the series so just watched it. Tim Burton puts his own unique stamp on things so visually it is stunning with excellent use of light creating a mood and atmosphere. The film moves along at a nice pace with excellent performances from, Green, Depp and Pfeiffer who keep the dry sense of humour coming thick and fast. The storyline is slick and doesn't hang around so this makes for an enjoyable 2 hours. A lot of people have crabbed this film but just take it for what it is and enjoy it. 10 out of 10 for me.

Dark Shadows
10/10
Author: cultfilmfan from Canada
14 May 2012

Dark Shadows is based on the television series of the same name by Dan Curtis. For those who have never seen,or heard of the Dark Shadows television series,it was a Gothic soap opera that ran from 1966 to 1971. It was followed by the films House of Dark Shadows as well as Night of Dark Shadows and was remade into a television series again in 1991 and a television movie in 2005. Now we have this new theatrical movie version based on the television series which is directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp among it's quite impressive cast. Before seeing this 2012 movie version of Dark Shadows, I had never previously seen the different television shows, or movies that it was based on.

I remember seeing the original series from the late 60's on in reruns on some specialty station on television, but I never saw more than a few minutes of it, so I walked into this new movie version not knowing too much about the plot, or back story from the previous films or television series. Also because I have never seen the originals I can not compare this new version to them either. From what I gather the original was done in more of a slow paced style and played out more melodramatically like soap operas usually do. This film version does do a bit of that, but I think unlike the series and movies, this version also incorporates humour into the story as well. This new version of Dark Shadows did not really get good reviews at all.

I remember reading numerous bad reviews from critics and even average movie goers who were posting their blogs,or reviews of it online, and did not seem to like it.I fall into another category then because I absolutely loved the film. The fact that it was a Gothic horror costume drama that takes place in the early 1970's mixing the music, dress and culture of that era plus the more macabre events going on as well as some pretty humorous scenes as well, I found myself really enjoying it. For one thing, I really liked the atmosphere and look of the film. With it's great cinematography and visuals the film looked very good and quite appropriate to showing a castle from hundreds of years ago, plus the way they put in elements of the 70's I felt worked very well and added more fascination and humour to the film as well.

The performances from the entire cast were very good. After, I had thought about the film some more, I think I appreciated the performances even more because the actors had to be over the top and melodramatic when delivering their lines, but also do it in such a way as to be believable and realistic. It wasn't the type of melodramatic performances from say Hollywood movies of the 1940's, or 50's that I usually have a problem with. Often, I find that those performances from the older films do not hold up that well compared to today's movies and acting because they often feel dated and the performances lack emotion, or any shred of believability, or realism. It often felt very forced and over done whereas the acting in Dark Shadows does not and I would have to say that the performers do quite a good job and it is a very talented cast.

The story to the film I found very compelling and fascinating. It required elements of the macabre and Gothic horror which I found to be fascinating and intriguing and I found that most of the humour that went along with it worked really well also. There were quite a few times when there was a certain line, or moment in the film that put a smile on my face mostly because of the good delivery and performances of the actors. The film managed to be dark and creepy, but never actually scaring, or disturbing us, or going over the top with violence, or gore. The film is fairly over the top in it's storytelling style, but it never took the easy way out by using expensive special effects and lots of gore. Instead it focuses on a well put together story that drew me in and captured my interest to the end.

I was enjoying this film so much and found it so entertaining that afterwards I thought to myself about what critics did not like about it. Perhaps they just did not get it. I found everything worked together so well and was put on by a marvelously talented cast and crew that I never did find much faults, or criticisms about the film. Instead, I found it entertaining from start to finish and it really fascinated me with it's original and fascinating storytelling and it's unique delivering of how it went about telling us this story. I loved the acting, music, scenery and pretty much everything about the film. I know I am going to receive a lot of flack about this, but I would have to say that I loved Dark Shadows. Every minute of it and I am not ashamed to admit that. This film as it seems is certainly not for everyone, but I for one adored it because of it's sheer entertainment and fun.

Dark Shadows.... my new Lost Boys
10/10
Author: sawoods1971 from SUSSEX ENGLAND
23 June 2013

As per usual I have not listened to the "critics" they do not have the same taste as I do. I absolutely LOVE this film! I love the quiet unobtrusive humour...( catch some of the expressions from Barnabas to see what I mean) Tim Burton does not DOOO sequels apparently,,, critics keep saying it's because of poor box office. well I like the film very much but I cannot go to cinema for 3 reasons..... first I am a single mum with NO BABYSITTER,Second I live in a village 10 miles from nearest town and last bus to nearest town is half 6..... return same time!!!! Thirdly I CANNOT AFFORD CINEMA anymore... far too expensive , such a shame Sarah

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An original DS fan who loved the Dark Shadows movie!
10/10
Author: debbiejay from United States
14 May 2012

Yes, I was one of those running home from school to watch Dark Shadows each day! I bought the DVD collection and have my husband hooked on it now. I  was almost afraid to see this movie after reading all of the early comments after seeing the trailers,but there was no way I would have missed it. What great  fun! Except for a few character changes that I was not happy with, such as Julia Hoffman and Roger Collins, it was a wonderful and entertaining two hours!

No one will ever replace the original but this was an excellent twist. I actually hated the House of Dark Shadows movie because it turned my favorite  characters and the great story lines of the series into a mindless bloodbath. The Ben Cross revival mini series was lame compared to the original. This  time, Burton and Depp took a different approach and added some comedy to balance the drama. Reminded me a bit of another favorite old movie of mine  ... Love at First Bite. Add Alice Cooper to the mix and it was impossible for me not to love it! Hope there will be sequels! Orlando Bloom would make a  great Quentin Collins!

I wasn't disappointed, but I didn't see the trailer.
10/10
Author: kailomonkey from Britain
19 May 2012

Really enjoyed this film. I am not name savvy enough to have known Tim Burton's film history (though I of course recognised the name) nor the series it was supposed to be a spoof of, so perhaps I benefited from not having expectations for this movie.

I love Chloe Moretz though she isn't central to the story, and Bella Heathcotte who plays 2 characters. Helena Carter is cool, though she'll always be the girlfriend from fight club for me. Johnny Depp had some straight comedy but most of the comedy elements were in the type-cast characters and situations which could easily be missed, more of a black comedy rather than for laughs. Yet it was mostly not all that dark for a black comedy, though some elements occasionally reminded me this was a 12A as some was some nightmare fuel.

I didn't come out thinking "that was amazing I must tell everyone about the best film I've seen all year..." admittedly, but I did slowly release the news of what I had seen and gathered people's opinions. By a day later I realised after choosing through film briefs and posters for which should be on my wall, that this was the only one that stood out.

That could be partly down to a lack of particularly inspiring films out at the moment, but this film's mix of iconic characters, cliché twists, satirical comedy and unobvious direction has made me quite fond of it suddenly.

If you have huge expectations it seems (by the ratings here) that you'll likely be disappointed. I went in knowing a few people who were in it and having the idea that it was a vampire comedy, but a weird one... And found it neither to be purely comedy nor purely weird, and wasn't disappointed. I feel sorry for people who saw a trailer that made it look like a pure comedy. That happened to me for Attack The Block and although the film was still OK, it does make you despise the people who market these things falsely.