Dark Shadows

As I've mentioned in previous reviews, what other field can two men work so well together, are talented artists, both practically certifiable, and make tons of money as with the case of Johnny Depp and Tim Burton? No field that I can think of. These two guys have worked on so many projects that they had to do it again, and this time with the likes of "Dark Shadows".

The year is 1752. Joshua and Naomi Collins (Ivan Kaye and Susanna Cappallaro) respectively, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. Not even an ocean could spare the Collins family from a curse that has plagued them. Two decades pass, and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has everything he's wanted from the town of Collingsport, Maine which is where his father built his fishing empire. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and a playboy... until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). Being a witch, by every definition of the word, she dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive.
Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor only to find it in a state of near ruin. The dysfunctional Collins family are not in much better shape each harboring their own dark secrets. Matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) has called upon live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter) who has her own set of problems, alcohol being one of them. Can Barnabas help his descendants and save Collingsport?

Others to round out the cast are Jackie Earle Haley as Willie Loomis, caretaker of Collinwood Manor, Jonny Lee Miller as Roger Collins, brother of Elizabeth, Bella Heathcote as Victoria Winters/Josette DuPres, Chloe Grace Moretz as Carolyn Stoddard, daughter of Elizabeth, and Gulliver McGrath as David Collins, Roger's son.

This was directed by veteran Tim Burton ("Pee-wee's Big Adventure" '85, "Beetlejuice" '88, "Batman" '89, "Edward Scissorhands" '90. "Batman Returns" '92, "Ed Wood" '94, "Mars Attacks!" '96, "Sleepy Hollow" '99, "Planet of the Apes" '01, "Big Fish" '03, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" '05, "Corpse Bride" '05, "Sweeney Todd: The Demon of Fleet Street" '07, "Alice in Wonderland" '10, and the upcoming "Frankenweenie" '12), and as with his prior work, it was delineated with perfection. It was written by Seth Grahame-Smith based on a story by John August and Grahame-Smith, which was based on the TV series created by Dan Curtis. It was written well, but I actually thought it would be a bit more of a satirical parody of the series; a little more zany possibly. I keep forgetting that when you get Burton and Depp together, the comedy tends to be a little darker than most comedies.

Whether you're a Dark Shadows fan or not, just the outright weirdness of this film will keep you riveted to your seat all the while enjoying how well Burton and Depp's chemistry spellbinds us all.

Out of 4 stars: 3.5                        Rated: PG-13                          113min.