Dark Shadows ( 2011 or 2012?)

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

I agree with Mouth on this Burton has bastardized the show Dark Shadows ISN'T a comedy nor should it ever be treated as such.

I will check the film out on home video but that's about it.

[MekaGojira3k]

[Barnzilla]

[kiryugoji04]

[MouthForWar]

[Dr Kain]

Good thing I have never seen the original.

[MouthForWar]

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

[MekaGojira3k]

[jellydonut25]

[MekaGojira3k]

[Barnzilla]

[jellydonut25]

[MouthForWar]

[jellydonut25]

[Green Dragon]

The simplicity of the original series is comparable to those stories we've heard and pictures we've seen of kids sitting in front of a radio in the 40's and tuning in to the latest serial show.

The stripped down soap opera format, the nature of "live video" (not broadcast live, but they never stopped rolling even when mistakes and bloopers occurred), all contributed to that "theater of the mind" kind of entertainment, where as young viewers we were reeled in and hooked. SO many of us have the same nostalgic stories of watching the show after school.

All the mistakes, the low budgets, etc, in their time were forgivable and very easy to overlook. Looking back on the HOURS of blooper DVDs available today is a lot of fun, but it's amazing to see how the actors always remained professional in spite of how outrageous some of those situations were, especially the malfunctioning props.

What's impressive is what the show was able to achieve with its limitations...the sets and how little we saw, but they always evoked a feeling of place and got our minds and imaginations going to fill in the blanks, that eerie sound stage lighting so typical of soap operas that made everything seem like it was always nighttime...the MUSIC, and the repeated establishing shots of Collinwood and environs...

When looking back on it now, there's something that just cannot be recaptured, and is lost to nostalgia and memory. All well and fine.... the 90's series took a few years of episodes and condensed them into a few episodes, and is worth a look, but it isn't without its flaws....I think the greatest thing the 90's revival series did, though, was casting Barbara Steele as Dr. Julia Hoffman. It also had Ben Cross [Sarek in the JJ Abrams version of Star Trek] as Barnabas, Jean Simmons as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, Roy Thinnes as Roger Collins and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as David Collins, with the rest of the cast being just adequate at best and not overly memorable. It also had one of the worst miniatures ever (of Collinwood mansion) in the opening and closing credits ...I guess the miniature itself was okay, but the way it was photographed was SOOOO bad.

Re: this version....After the initial disappointment, and seeing a few more scenes in the TV spots.... well, the marketing vs. the movie will be an interesting thing to compare.

End of the day, it's just another adaptation in a series of loose adaptations where characters have always been condensed and shuffled around.... and some of the details DO look like a loving tribute....lame humor aside.

And, I just pre-ordered that humongous boxed set for the entire series yesterday from Amazon.com.

[Thomas]

On the radio show This American Life there is an episode about conventions and one segment is about attending a Dark Shadows convention in New York (I think it's in New York). It was a good segment. Listen to it here:

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

[Green Dragon]

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

[Green Dragon]

[MekaGojira3k]

[DannyBeane]

[jellydonut25]

Maybe I just realized this, and maybe that's bad of me but...yet ANOTHER overly stylistic Tim Burton film scored by Danny Elfman, starring Johnny Depp and Helen Bonham Carter

haven't we had MORE than enough of this to last us a lifetime? I doubt my kids will ever come up to me, wondering why Tim Burton couldn't make more movies exactly like this...

[DannyBeane]