For myself, watching the trailers and the rest of the Depp Shadows runup unfold has clarified for me that I'm no longer interested--if I ever really was interested--in any Dark Shadows remakes, period. I know people follow KLS's lead in saying DS is like Shakespeare and every actress deserves to give her take on Josette (or whoever). But to me, DS wasn't like a theatrical epic; it was like the part of my family I never met--the people who were like ME (which nobody else in my real family ever was). To that extent, I like the publicists' angle about every family having its weirdies or however they're phrasing.
If I walked into a room and saw somebody portraying my Aunt Lillian, and not only that, had the imposter who was supposed to be her running around in a crushed velvet cape with five hundred pounds of pancake makeup, it would be jarring and I wouldn't be able to "just get used to it." To me, DS is a cast of characters portrayed by Jonathan Frid, Grayson Hall, Joan Bennett et al. as they were 40 years ago.
I originally had a very lengthy reply to this, but it got deleted. So here's my second attempt at letting you know how much I valued your response:
I just want to say that I totally understand where you are coming from and appreciate it a great deal. Thank you so much for sharing this.
To me, there will only ever be one
Dark Shadows. All others, past and future, will be their own entities. They may have similar elements to the original, but none will ever be as special or as wonderful as the series that ran from 1966 through 1971.
I may like this new film or I may not. Whether I do has very little to do with the original series, though. Because it is that show which has provided me endless enjoyment, helped me through some hard times, and remains one of the only programs I will watch over and over again for the rest of my life.
I hope I can find some way to enjoy this new film. But if I don't, it doesn't affect how I feel about the original. It will always be
mine. It will always be very special to me, far more so than any film any modern filmmakers could create.
Dark Shadows was my childhood. And, as such, it is a great part of me. Nothing can replace it or hold a candle up to it.
I just hope that this new Dark Shadows provides similar enjoyment to new audiences, and that I, with my somewhat rigid fanboy mindset, can enjoy it on a different level. We shall see.