Dark Shadows, the latest from Tim Burton, is an homage to a kooky US sitcom from the 1960s. Not being familiar with the original show I couldn't tell you how close the film is but the ingredients seem to be classic Burton - dysfunctional family, lost love, dark humour, vampy characters. Long-time Burton cohorts Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter are, predictably, in evidence. Depp plays Barnabas Collins, cursed with vampirism by a witch (Eva Green) in the 18th century after spurning her advances, and then buried underground for 200 years. He finally emerges in the swinging 60s to find that his ancestral home is crumbling and his descendants struggling to maintain the family business. Helena Bonham Carter plays a psychologist, Dr Hoffman, employed by the family to counsel young David Collins (Gulliver McGrath) after the death of his mother.
I enjoyed Dark Shadows a lot but it didn't stand out as an instant classic. Perhaps it's just because there were obviously a lot of references I wasn't getting, but this didn't seem to detract from it at the time. The cast are all suitably OTT - Eva Green in particular is a delight, in panto villain mode as the wicked Angelique. Also Jackie Earle Haley is hilarious as the family's minion, continuing to do sterling work as the creep du jour. Depp, of course, is excellent as vampire Barnabas. Possibly my favourite section of the film was the montage where he tries to find a suitable place to sleep during the daylight hours: hanging upside down from his four-poster, wedged into the linen cupboard, covered in polystyrene in a cardboard box. It's suitably scary in places - the first scene where the ghost of his lost love appears spooked me rather more than I'd like to admit, and the final scene where Angelique finally meets her demise contains some excellent special effects to unsettle the audience. The whole film is a lot like going on a classic haunted house ride at a theme park - enjoyable at the time but not necessarily memorable.
As with all Burton films it's incredibly stylish; the garish 60s fashions jarring nicely with the gothic splendour of the Collins house and Barnabas himself. See it for Depp and Green on fine form and Burton's gothic eye candy.
