To me, the issue of whether the movie should be humorous or not is reminiscent of the debate over who gets to use the N-word. If you're a member of the in-group, it's OK, but if an outsider does it, it's an insult.
When fans present humorous interpertations of DS at Festivals or by creating videos to share, it's a sign of endearment. We know our show isn't perfect and we use humor to illustrate its shortcomings, but deep down, we love DS anyway. The important distinction is that these representations are created by fans (who have a detailed understanding of the material and a fondness for it) for the consumption of fans (who share that understanding). I adore Richard Halpern's "Baby Dark Shadows" videos, but I would never present them to a non-fan friend as if they were "Dark Shadows." I agree with PennyDreadful that Depp and Burton did not do the fanbase any favors by making their movie a comedy. This big name Hollywood blockbuster is likely going to be the only representation of DS that a mainstream audeince will ever know. I feel deeply uncomfortable when I think of all the people around the world who will be watching Depp's buffoonish antics and thinking that this is who Barnabas Collins is and that this is what DS is really all about.
Why should I care about any of this?
Recently, I realized something curious: some of the most vocal critics/skeptics of the movie (e.g., VictoriaWinters1991, PennyDreadful, and myself) are second generation fans--people who were not around for the original broadcast and discovered the show in reruns. I would have expected the original fans to be the most resistant to the idea of a reimagining. After all, they've had the show longer than us; they started out the gate with DS and have followed its highs and lows, every step of the way. We're coming late to the party. Why should we care so much? Wondering about this caused me to examine my own reasons for why I have such a knee-jerk negative reaction to Dark Shadows the comedy.
Unlike original fans who watched the show when it was popular and a big part of the culture, and who most likely had many friends with whom they could discuss DS or act out favorite scenes, I was the only person I knew who knew anything about DS as I grew up. Nobody ever understood what I was talking about. None of my friends had heard of the show before and couldn't share it with me because they didn't have access to the Sci-Fi Channel. Until I discovered online forums like the Vantagenet board that was the previous incarnation of the DS Forums, I felt very much alone in my enjoyment of the show.
Now, DS is about to go viral. Posters are all over town, features are appearing on the news, and DS is about to become a household name again. However, the "Dark Shadows" that everyone will soon be talking about is so radically different from the DS that I love, that I'm still going to feel like an outsider. People still won't understand what I mean when I refer to DS because we will be talking about two totally different animals. That makes me feel sad, disappointed, and a little bitter about what I consider a missed opportunity for the product I love to go public. I don't know if the other second generation fans feel the same way (I know Taeylor is also a second generation fan and he's one of the movie's biggest cheerleaders, so maybe this trend only exists in my own head), but that's my stake in this business.
ProfStokes