Dark Shadows

Directed by: Tim Burton

Memorable quotes:

Angélique: "Je t'aime. Let me hear you say 'I love you Angélique, I want you'.
Barnabas: Angélique, I'm sorry my dear, but you'd be hearing a lie."

Blond hippie chick: "So, where are you from Veronica?
Angélique; New York, and it's Victoria.
Blond hippie chick: 'And it's Victoria', I love this chick men!"

Victoria: "Hello, I'm Victoria Winters.
Willie Loomis: Congratulations."

Victoria: "Still, not every family has a house like this, or a whole town named after them.
Willie Loomis: Come again?
Victoria: Collins... Collinsport.
Willie Loomis: Never got that."

Dr Julia Hoffman: You're a liar. I can tell you know, just from a person's face. Your says: I might look sweet and innocent, but I have secrets.

Dr Julia Hoffman: "Who the hell is this?
Elizabeth Collins: Dr Hoffman, this is our distant relative Barnabas Collins. The third! Barnabas Collins the third, who's going to stay with us from England. Barnabas: Dr Julia Hoffman.
Barnabas: My god, a woman doctor. What an age this is!
Dr Julia Hoffman: Is he for real?"

Barnabas Collins: "Have you any idea what you put me through? You killed the woman I loved, and cursed me to be this hideous creature.
Angélique: Barnabas, get over it.
Barnabas: In a box for 200 years!
Angélique: Don't exaggerate, it was only 196."



 Plot:  In 1772, Barnabas Collins seems to have everything a man can desire: he is nice looking, rich, important, and in love with the gorgeous Josette DuPres. Yet, a jealous servant he used to have a fling with decides to get revenge and kill his parents along with his loved one. She also curses him, which results in him turning into a vampire and being trapped in a box for centuries. He is finally freed in 1972, and realizes the world is now nothing like the one he once knew...


Review:

Dark Shadows was a bit of a disappointment for me. I was really looking forward to watch it, and finally went to the movie theater yesterday. I especially wanted to see it for the great cast that was nicely put together. Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green, Helena Bonham Carter, and of course Tim Burton's muse Johnny Depp, were all staring in Dark Shadows, and I was somehow naive enough to think that this alone would guarantee me to spend a good time watching a good film.
Now, Eva Green is probably the best thing about this movie. She is absolutely fantastic in the role of this mesmerizing, yet cold and cruel witch. I also appreciated the irony of her character's name, that is to say "Angélique", which has the word "Angel" in it. Yet, her character is a witch, and I thought that was a smart choice.
The rest of the movie wasn't that great. I must say that I never watched the original television series by Dan Carter the movie was based on, so I don't know whether or not this is partly why I didn't enjoy Dark Shadows that much.
To be fair, the movie was still entertaining, and some of the dialogues were really fun. I loved seeing Barnabas adapt to the 70's! But I felt like I had already seen everything that was funny or remotely interesting, just by watching the trailer. It literally contains most of what I liked in the movie. As a consequence, I found myself hoping the movie would end soon and watching the time.
I'm not a huge fan of Tim Burton to begin with, but I've nevertheless seen a few of his previous work, and I didn't feel like Dark Shadows had the vibe as the others at all.
I would of course recommend it to any Tim Burton fans, as I'm sure they will appreciate being able to compare his last work with his previous ones. If you're not a Tim Burton's fan though, I think you should just be warned that what you see in the trailer is pretty much everything there is to see.

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