Dark Shadows

Lets be frank. If you had a dime for every time Hollywood took something dusty and old, and tried to turn it into something shiny and new, you could retire.

In fact, most of these attempts barely work. But (having seen this one front to back three times since its first release) I believe this is an exception and moreover I believe that viewers have become so jaded to these attempts that they instinctively rebelled against the film (hence the low rating) without even giving it a chance.

The script by Seth Grahame-Smith is witty and clever and engaging. And wonderfully demented. The cast is to die for. Eva Green and Johnny Depp are at the peak of their craft, delivering with a straight face bits of dialog that lesser actors would choke on. The supporting cast (almost all A-list with a young Chloë Grace Moretz) is rock solid.

Overall a delightfully deranged yet still entertaining exercise in being silly -- which is exactly what Hollywood aims for in these odd exercises.

The IMDb rating is much too low. Give it another chance.