Dark Shadows (2012)

An imprisoned vampire, Barnabas Collins, is set free and returns to his ancestral home, where his dysfunctional descendants are in need of his protection.

Director:

Tim Burton

Writers:

Seth Grahame-Smith (screenplay), John August (story)

Stars:

Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green

2 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Johnny Depp	...	Barnabas Collins
Michelle Pfeiffer	...	Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
Helena Bonham Carter	...	Dr. Julia Hoffman
Eva Green	...	Angelique Bouchard
Jackie Earle Haley	...	Willie Loomis
Jonny Lee Miller	...	Roger Collins
Bella Heathcote	...	Victoria Winters / Josette DuPres
Chloë Grace Moretz	...	Carolyn Stoddard
Gulliver McGrath	...	David Collins (as Gully McGrath)
Ray Shirley	...	Mrs. Johnson
Christopher Lee	...	Clarney
Alice Cooper	...	Alice Cooper
Ivan Kaye	...	Joshua Collins
Susanna Cappellaro	...	Naomi Collins
Josephine Butler	...	David's Mother

Storyline

In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet-or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy...until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique 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 to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets. Matriarch Elizabeth ...

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Plot Keywords:

cartoon on tv | female stockinged feet | female stockinged soles | foot closeup | camera shot of feet | 

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Taglines:

Strange Is Relative

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for comic horror violence, sexual content, some drug use, language and smoking

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 May 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dark Shadows

Filming Locations:

Black Park, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$29,685,274 (USA) (11 May 2012)

Gross:

$79,711,678 (USA) (10 August 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures, Infinitum Nihil

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Johnny Depp, the filming of the sex scene resulted in a lot of trashed hotel rooms.

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Goofs

The song "Crocodile Rock" is heard. The year is 1972, possibly fall. Yet this song wasn't released in the United States until November of 1972, making it unlikely it would be in a jukebox in a backwater town like the one presented.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Barnabas Collins: [narrates] It is said that blood is thicker than water. It is what defines us, binds us... curses us.

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Crazy Credits

There is a dedication in the closing credits: "To the memory of Dan Curtis".

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Connections

Referenced in Inside Amy Schumer: Tyler Perry's Episode (2014)

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Soundtracks

Nights in White Satin
Written by Justin Hayward
Performed by The Moody Blues
Courtesy of Universal International Music B.V.
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Dark Shadows (2012)

I saw every Tim Burton film since Mars Attacks! at the cinema. Until this came along. I had had enough of Burton's subpar efforts over the years and Alice In Wonderland was his last chance as far as I was concerned. Finally saw this and I'm glad I waited. This is simply awful. Based on a soap opera, Burton doesn't seem to know what to do. It changes tone dramatically from obvious humour involving Depp's character waking up after 200 years of being buried and being confused by things such as television. To grisly kills where he takes out innocent victims. There are a whole cast of characters, each one is given their own story, but none of them are given enough time to develop. Miller, Carter, Heathcote are all wasted as are their stories. I didn't even get the point of Miller, which is a shame because he was great with what he had. Entire scenes have no place in the film, or are needlessly long and repetitive. The main plot seems to have Eva Green asking Depp to be hers and him rejecting her, over and over and over again. It really does feel like snippets from a soap opera condensed down. This is really just a clip show. By the end it starts pulling things out of its backside. Couldn't care for anybody in this film and think the original property should have just been left alone.