Tim Burton's Dark Shadows
May. 11th, 2012 05:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwynnegaWell, I still haven't seen The Avengers, but I have seen the new Dark Shadows film.
I had long looked forward to this film--until the first trailer came out, when I began to worry that this might be yet another charmless remake of a classic TV show. Many old-school fans were rubbed the wrong way by the jokiness of the trailers (and by some less-than-respectful comments from Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter). I had already purchased a ticket for a special screening for fans, and I wondered if it would devolve into a hate-fest, with disgruntled old-school fans booing. But the screening was at the Vista Theatre (five minutes from my apartment), so I couldn't very well not go--and I'm glad I did, so I could be won over along with, as far as I could tell, pretty much the whole audience of hardcore Dark Shadows fans.
Dark Shadows the movie is about 1000% better than I was expecting. The tone is just right--there is humor, but there is also depth. Johnny Depp's Barnabas is as complex as Jonathan Frid's, and he captures the essential pathos and fish-out-of-water discomfort (along with bloodlust, romantic yearning, and love of family) of the character. In fact most of the cast did a great job of making the characters their own. I particularly liked Chloe Moretz's hilariously sullen take on Carolyn Stoddard. And I loved that they made disaffected teen Carolyn a werewolf--in a nod to Ginger Snaps, perhaps? Helena Bonham Carter almost made me forgive her snide comments with her marvelous performance as Dr. Julia Hoffman. (She may think the acting in the original Dark Shadows was "borderline bad"--but I think she channeled Grayson Hall!)
The only weak link was Eva Green as a very one-note Angelique the witch, with none of the layers or charisma Lara Parker brought to the role. (And okay, I may be biased because Lara Parker is a friend of mine, but still!)
The script did some unexpectedly witty things with canon. The TV show had often used the characters Victoria Winters and Maggie Evans interchangeably (with waitress Maggie ending up with Vicki's governess job when Vicki left the canvas), and I had assumed the film would simply include either Vicki or Maggie and drop the other. Instead, Maggie Evans uses "Victoria Winters" as an assumed name.
To my pleasant surprise (and relief) the film feels true to the spirit of Dark Shadows, and it has quite a bit of charm in its own right.
TV Guide (Michael Logan): The Scoop on Dark Shadows From Tim Burton, Helena Bonham-Carter and The Original Cast
NPR: 'Dark Shadows': The Birth Of The Modern TV Vampire
Dark Shadows News Page: Lara Parker On The Dark Shadows Movie
I had long looked forward to this film--until the first trailer came out, when I began to worry that this might be yet another charmless remake of a classic TV show. Many old-school fans were rubbed the wrong way by the jokiness of the trailers (and by some less-than-respectful comments from Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter). I had already purchased a ticket for a special screening for fans, and I wondered if it would devolve into a hate-fest, with disgruntled old-school fans booing. But the screening was at the Vista Theatre (five minutes from my apartment), so I couldn't very well not go--and I'm glad I did, so I could be won over along with, as far as I could tell, pretty much the whole audience of hardcore Dark Shadows fans.
Dark Shadows the movie is about 1000% better than I was expecting. The tone is just right--there is humor, but there is also depth. Johnny Depp's Barnabas is as complex as Jonathan Frid's, and he captures the essential pathos and fish-out-of-water discomfort (along with bloodlust, romantic yearning, and love of family) of the character. In fact most of the cast did a great job of making the characters their own. I particularly liked Chloe Moretz's hilariously sullen take on Carolyn Stoddard. And I loved that they made disaffected teen Carolyn a werewolf--in a nod to Ginger Snaps, perhaps? Helena Bonham Carter almost made me forgive her snide comments with her marvelous performance as Dr. Julia Hoffman. (She may think the acting in the original Dark Shadows was "borderline bad"--but I think she channeled Grayson Hall!)
The only weak link was Eva Green as a very one-note Angelique the witch, with none of the layers or charisma Lara Parker brought to the role. (And okay, I may be biased because Lara Parker is a friend of mine, but still!)
The script did some unexpectedly witty things with canon. The TV show had often used the characters Victoria Winters and Maggie Evans interchangeably (with waitress Maggie ending up with Vicki's governess job when Vicki left the canvas), and I had assumed the film would simply include either Vicki or Maggie and drop the other. Instead, Maggie Evans uses "Victoria Winters" as an assumed name.
To my pleasant surprise (and relief) the film feels true to the spirit of Dark Shadows, and it has quite a bit of charm in its own right.
TV Guide (Michael Logan): The Scoop on Dark Shadows From Tim Burton, Helena Bonham-Carter and The Original Cast
NPR: 'Dark Shadows': The Birth Of The Modern TV Vampire
Dark Shadows News Page: Lara Parker On The Dark Shadows Movie
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Date: 2012-05-12 01:12 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2012-05-12 10:20 am (UTC)[hugs]
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Date: 2012-05-12 11:43 pm (UTC)::hugs::
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Date: 2012-05-14 06:22 am (UTC)Chiller had a marathon of the 12-episode "Dark Shadows" remake from 1991. We recorded it and we've been watching it. It's surprisingly good and very enjoyable. I was very young when I watched the original soap -- it went off the air when I was nine -- so I don't remember much detail. It's fun to see that the themes I remember only vaguely are right up front. In particular, the argument over whether vampirism is a medical condition or a spiritual curse is right out there -- interesting to me, since so many more recent vampire stories tend to sidestep that one.
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Date: 2012-05-14 06:03 pm (UTC)Yes, Jonathan Frid, Lara Parker, Kathryn Leigh Scott and David Selby all appear in the party scenes.
Dan Curtis (producer of the original Dark Shadows) also produced the 1991 version. I've only seen part of it, and I wasn't crazy about it--though I liked that Barbara Blackburn (the final Siobhan on Ryan's Hope!) is in it.
Vampirism does seem to be viewed as both a treatable medical condition AND a curse on Dark Shadows. Of course they couldn't let Barnabas stay "cured" for long, because it was more fun when he needed to keep biting people...
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Date: 2012-05-14 05:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-14 06:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-08-25 02:55 am (UTC)I don't know what else to say but thank you very, very much.
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Date: 2018-08-25 03:42 am (UTC)