I recently saw Tim Burton’s new film Dark Shadows. Not having ever heard of the soap opera from the 60s on which it is based, I can’t really comment on how it compares (though from what I’ve read, the original was pretty trashy). Johnny Depp was his usual stellar self though, and this will sounds contradictory, he seemed to play the same sort of character he’s played in the last few films he’s been in. Never matter though, he delivers a ghoulish character that is fairly easy to watch.
The supporting cast was interesting as well, with Michelle Pfeiffer playing the formidable matriarch and Eva Green seeming to relish her role as the wicked Angelique.
As far as the set, design and overall richness of the film’s detail is concerned, it was about a 4.5 out of 5 and on par with Burton’s usual mastery. Plenty to feast the eyes on. Where I thought it lacked a little was in the story, moving from one piece of the action to another with (in my opinion) little manipulation of the emotions. In the end, I actually felt more sorry for Angelique than anyone else and this was probably misguided.
What I did find interesting was how the film attempted to make a killer likeable. We’ve seen it before where the (often serial) killer is endeared to the audience, either through their pure wickedness or their spoofy nature. Depp’s Barnabos falls into this second category. He massacres a couple of large groups of people with barely more than a pause to mop up the blood from the corner of his mouth.
He later goes on to say that it is in his nature and he can’t help killing (and therefore doesn’t allow himself to feel regret about it…or at least that’s how I read him). So does the “It’s in my nature” argument wash when you’re trying to warm up to a character?
I was a little put off by this aspect of his character, fully expecting he would have been of the “Oh, no, I mustn’t” type of vampire, but in the end it seemed not to bother the audience at large. Perhaps I was not enamoured because he didn’t enjoy it. If you’re going to be a cold-blooded killer, the least you can do is pretend to get some enjoyment out of it. But then you wouldn’t be cold-blooded, would you? The flip side of this is to be so affected by it that you’re almost ineffectual (think Louis from Interview with the Vampire though even then Lestat was the real star of the show).
I’m rambling now, with no real answer in sight so I’ll end here by asking: What do you think? What is it about a murderer that makes you want to invite him in? And, if you’ve seen Dark Shadows, does Barnabos quite cut it as a vampire or is he too much of a parody of this gruesome ghoul, and his nocturnal snacking something that can be easily glossed over as you try to decide between the witch and the vampire?
Nevertheless, despite my small concerns, I’d still see the sequel. Helena Bonham Carter rocks my world.
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