Dark Shadows
Directed by: Tim Burton

Tim Burton's take on the cult gothic soap follows a centuries old vampire as he returns to his now crumbling estate to meet his modern descendents. But what he finds is a house full of secrets and shadows.

As a fan of the original Dark Shadows TV series and as a hardcore fan of the 80's Dark Shadows Revival, I honestly did not think I would like this movie one bit. Especially when I saw the previews and it looked to me as if this was going to be a comedy. But, it was not a comedy. And, I did enjoy it.

The only comedic parts were in the preview. I have no idea why they presented this as a comedy - it was not one. It misleads those who don't know Dark Shadows and annoys those who do, sometimes to the point of them not wanting to see it because they assume it's been destroyed and turned into a mockery of what it once was. Ironic, considering this started out as a cheesy soap opera, but sadly true. Luckily, I never was to say I dislike something if I have not seen it, so, I decided to rent it. In the end, I'm glad I did.

While different than the series in many ways (and similar in a few) the movie was enjoyable. I think I might have enjoyed it more had I not been a fan of both of the TV series (which gives the viewer very high expectations), but even coming in with knowledge of the show, it was a good movie.

I wish they would have perused the relationship between Barnabus and Josette/Victoria more. Instead, it focused on Angelique (alive and not ghostly in this film) trying to take down the entire Collins family and their fortune. While it made for an entertaining plot, the main theme throughout the show was the love of Barnabus for Josette and his meeting her reincarnation - Victoria Winters. This was in the film, but only in passing. There wasn't much screen time between the two and the story of where Victoria came from was odd and out of nowhere (and completely unnecessary).

The ending was a surprise because it was something that had never come up in the series, and is what made me think that they needed to show the relationship part of the story much more. Had they not had this ending, then it would have been possible to skip the relationship part and perhaps put that into a sequel.

The movie wasn't perfect, but it was definitely better than expected. If you have never seen Dark Shadows, I do recommend this, but I would also recommend watching the entire revival series of the show from the 80's either before or after seeing the film. It was only on for part of one season, so there aren't that many episodes. Trying to watch the original would be insanely time consuming (though very rewarding if you have that kind of time on your hands). I would also recommend this to fans of the series, as long as you go into it realizing it will be different (and annoying in a few parts) - but different doesn't always make for a bad film.

My rating: Four out of five snails.