Dark Shadows

[Dark Shadow]

Speaking of the makeup, there are a few scenes where the makeup looks really good...mostly the outdoor night shots. Then there are scenes, and perhaps this is a pitfall of high definition, where you can see the dry crackling & flaking that comes with theatrical creams applied directly onto skin. This is mostly noticeable on the cheeks and around the eyes & lips.

It seems, that along with the unsteady flow of this film, there was a bizarre effort (conscious or unconscious) to overshadow character development with levity. Each time a character would demonstrate any significant depth of emotion it was either accompanied with, or quickly followed up by a bad comedic moment.

Three significant "for instances" (which may be lightly spoilery):

When Barney's spilling his guts to Liz, we get the organ fiasco overwhelming the sentiment of the moment. When Barn & Vicki are sharing their one and only brief intimate moment, we have the 70's Scope commercial gag. When David is devastated by a set of consecutive painful realizations, we immediately shift focus to the fire/water stunt.

While the subsequent trailers concentrated on the comedic highlights, the very first trailer showed the proper balance of this film. About 1/3 (or so) of the trailer is serious, dark & straight forward and the remainder is what it is. This holds true for the movie as well. The writer himself (SGS) is on the record stating that that particular trailer is a very fair representation of what the film actually is. He is 100% spot on.

[MIB41]

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...dGZuoA&cad=rja

[MegoMark71]

Well i have read through every post and agree with some and think some need to relax. I saw this tonight with my wife and her mom. I went in with no expectations. I never watched the show or even knew anything about it. With that, i was not let down at all. I can see DS if you are as big of a fan as you sound how you could be upset with it as you had high expectations. I had a similar experience with Phantom menace..lol I also can see where it was rushed at times where a character could have used more time but it was only a 2 hour movie. heck i don't know. I know i enjoyed watching it from the perspective of not ever knowing a thing about what dark shadows was about.

[ctc]

>there was a bizarre effort (conscious or unconscious) to overshadow character development with levity. Each time a character would demonstrate any significant depth of emotion it was either accompanied with, or quickly followed up by a bad comedic moment.

I've noticed something similar in most films: they stop just short of any actual feeling. I first noticed it in "Titanic," but a lot of flicks have been doing it since. Maybe they're focus grouping out anything that makes the audience feel even remotely....well, anything?

Don C.

[rche]

Watched this last night and went in with the taste of the trailers in my head. Was pleasantly surprised to find that the film was not a complete series of yucks and gags. Tho there was some comedic element to the film, the trailers were certainly not indicative of the overall feel of the film.

I did enjoy the overall storyarc and was quite entertained with some of the characters and their interactions with each other. I would also have to disagree with the earlier comment about the monster-fest climax. I rather enjoyed the surprise reveals, tho I did think it was a bit too little too late. It would have been nice to see some more of that foreshadowed earlier. Perhaps it was and I missed it. I will probably take another gander at this movie when it comes to home format and see what I may have missed.

[Dark Shadow]

Where SGS attempts to walk both sides of the line, but admits none-the-less the accuracy of the very first trailer:

http://www.theinsider.com/movies/513...ght/index.html

Reviews by fellow fans of the original show who saw the same film that I did and walked away with the same basic impression (however they are both far more eloquent and precise at expressing their experience than I could ever hope to be):

http://pennydreadful13.livejournal.com/10406.html

http://stephenmarkrainey.blogspot.co...of-shadow.html

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

I finally saw this one and I gotta say overall I liked it. It's not a great film, but it was entertaining and there were more than a few really good bits.

As a continuance/reinterpretation/redo of the original series it's passable. The orginal Dark Shadows is one of thoe things that is, at it's core quite threadbare. Not that this is neccessarily BAD; but it means that a great deal of what made it what it was happened through the people involved. Notably the actors. Any kind of a redo is gonna feel awkward because you'll either have actors who seem like they're mimicking the characters, or versions so removed they feel like a different character. In this one it's easy to recognize who everyone's SUPPOSED to be, but it never quite feels right.

However, as a general horror film it's fantastic! It's nice to see monsters that ARE monsters. They do bad things, they see the world differently from humans.... even though most of them still feel some connection to humanity, or at the least a need to ape them/blend in. If a vampire had awoken after 200 years in toropr in the 1970's this is EXACTLY how it would have gone. It's weird, there are some funny bits, but it all feels right. (Well.... most of it.) I think that's one of the problems billing it as Dark Shadows, since Barnabas in the show was never flummoxed by things like Barnabas in the movie.

Ultimately I think it was hurt by the connection to the orignal. Had they juggled it a bit and done a brand new character with a new story I think it would have gone over much better.

Don C.