Dark Shadows (2012)

 

Dark Shadows - 2012

Our next film is 2012's "Dark Shadows".  Barnabas Collins is cursed as a vampire and separated from his true love.  He's condemned as an outcast of society and buried alive.  Centuries later his grave is uncovered and Barnabas has the chance to set certain wrongs to rights.

The film's cast includes Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Bella Heathcote, Chloe Grace Moretz, Gulliver McGrath, Christopher Lee, and Alice Cooper.

In 1760, young Barnabas Collins sails with his family from England to America.  They begin a fish cannery business in Maine.  They become extremely wealthy.  The town is named after the family: Collinsport.  And the Collins' build a huge mansion that they name Collinwood.

A servant girl named Angelique falls in love with Barnabas over the years.  When he doesn't return her love, Angelique, revealed to be a witch, puts a curse on the Collins family.  She also curses everything that Barnabas loves to die.

The curse is most unfortunate.  Barnabas is engaged to a lovely young woman named Josette.  Sadly, because of the curse, she throws herself from a cliff named "Widow's Hill".

Angelique's curse doesn't stop there, however.  Barnabas is cursed to be a vampire so that his suffering will never end and his torment will last forever.

Angelique succeeds in turning the entire town against Barnabas, and he is buried alive in a locked coffin.

We fast forward to the year 1972.  The Collins family canning business has all but disappeared.  The Collins family mansion, Collinwood, has fallen into disrepair and only a few rooms are used by descendants of the family.

One night, a construction crew stumbles upon Barnabas's long forgotten coffin.  When they open it, Barnabas emerges and kills them all, drinking their blood.  He apologizes to one of them, saying they can't imagine how thirsty he is.

Now Barnabas must navigate life in a strange century.  When he sees the glow of a McDonald's sign, he shouts out, "Show yourself, Satan!  Mock me not with your strange luminance!"

And Barnabas must now convince the residents of Collinwood that he is in fact one of them.  First up is matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard.  "Welcome to Collinwood," she says, "you'll have to imagine us on a better day."

There's also Elizabeth's moody teenage daughter, Carolyn, who seems to be harboring a secret.  When she meets Barnabas, he asks her age.  When she tells him that she's fifteen, Barnabas replies, "Fifteen and no husband.  You must put those birthing hips to good use at once lest your womb shrivel up and die."

Elizabeth's brother Roger is greedy, and wants to be free of the Collins family, especially his own son, David.

David Collins acts out, mostly because he wants some attention from his father.  He's a very likeable kid.

Dr. Julia Hoffman is David's therapist.  And she can't believe her eyes when she sees Barnabas sitting before her.  And, neither can Barnabas.  "My God, a woman doctor.  What an age this is," he marvels.  Julia looks incredulously at Elizabeth and asks, "Is he for real?"

And then there is Victoria, a new governess who's come to stay at Collinwood.  She bears a striking resemblance to Barnabas's old fiancée, Josette.  Barnabas is fascinated with her.

And it seems that the ghost of Josette has been haunting Collinwood in recent days.  In fact, she foretold Victoria of Barnabas's coming.

Before she allows him to stay, Barnabas must prove himself to Elizabeth.  She is very unnerved at the fact that he claims to be a vampire.

His knowledge of a secret room within the mansion that contains the lost Collins fortune is more than enough proof for Elizabeth.  She agrees that he can stay on the condition that the truth of his existence remains between them.

Of course, it doesn't stay that way for long.  Angelique is in town, where she runs a rival cannery business called Angel Bay Seafood.  And she is still out to make Barnabas pay for rejecting her all those centuries ago.

Now it's up to the Collins family to band together to stop Angelique when she reveals her true nature.  And Barnabas must find a way to be with his beloved long-lost Josette forever.

Cast rundown:

   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

   Chloe Grace Moretz..........................Carolyn Stoddard

   Gulliver McGrath..............................David Collins

   Christopher Lee...............................Clarney

   Alice Cooper....................................Himself

And that's it for Dark Shadows.  This film marked the two hundredth film appearance of Christopher Lee.  It also was his fifth and final collaboration with director Tim Burton.  This film was based on an old soap opera of the same name.  When she heard that a movie version was in the works, Michelle Pfeiffer called up Tim Burton and asked him for a part, something she hardly ever does.

A funny moment in the film comes when Barnabas is getting used to living in a twentieth century world.  Television is very strange to him.  When he sees Karen Carpenter performing "Top Of The World", Barnabas searches frantically behind the television set, shouting "Reveal yourself, tiny songstress!"

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