Not the Painfully Bad Film I Was Led to Believe
I avoided watching this film for a long time because it got terrible reviews, and because I heard it was a comedic take on the material, and while not exactly a fan of the original Dark Shadows, I was an admirer of it - and the 1991 revival of the series, and I've become pretty jaded over all the bad nostalgic remakes of classic TV (The Brady Bunch, The Dukes of Hazzard, etc.). And even though I'm a bit of a sucker for Burton/Depp collaborations - and freely admit the original Dark Shadows was a bit (O.K. a lot) soap opera-ey for my tastes - I still couldn't bear to see them trash it in a corny send-up.
So imagine my surprise upon finally giving it a chance that it was not the slap-sticky Dragnet / Starsky & Hutch hatchet job I was expecting, but rather a whimsical take on the classic vampire tale. Count me at odds with most critics and audiences on this one. I was thoroughly entertained by the story that begins as a fish-out-of-water tale as Barnabas is resurrected after 200 years in the early 1970s. Yes there are some jokes that fall a little flat, but again, it's not meant as a straight up comedy but more a whimsical drama. And the nostalgia is omnipresent (how could it not be) but also not heavy handed in a 'That 70s Show' sort of way. Music by the likes of T-Rex and Led Zeppelin is pretty well integrated, and references to the likes of Scooby Doo and The Horror of Dracula. Perhaps the most obtrusive is a guest appearance by Alice Cooper, but it's a period-appropriate conceit that doesn't detract from the storyline and just adds to the fun (Barnabas refers to him as 'that Cooper woman'). Later, as the action picks up, the film moves more into black comedy territory, ala Beetlejuice or Death Becomes Her.
Amazingly, Johnny Depp has again created a Gothy character that manages to have voice and mannerisms that are unique and distinct from all the other Gothy character types he's portrayed for Tim Burton's lens - there's no mistaking Barnabas Collins for Edward Scissorhands or Willy Wonka.
Still, it's hardly the best Burton/Depp collaboration, so if you're not fond of the other films they've made together, you'll probably want to skip it, but if like me you've enjoyed the rest of their oeuvre, you might want to ignore the critics and give it a chance.