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« on: October 11, 2021, 03:32:43 PM »
I enjoyed the film. I saw it eight times in the theater. But I knew what I was getting from the beginning. It's far less a Dark Shadows movie than it is a Tim Burton movie. By that, I mean that it looks gorgeous and is largely well cast but there isn't much of a story. After Barnabas is released from his coffin, the scenes just go from one to another until the big special effects finale. There's a lot of wasted screen time. It's established early on that Barnabas is a fish out of water in 1972 but by the time we get to the "tiny songstress" bit, the point has been made. It was very nice of Burton to give Christopher Lee a part but that bit could easily have been removed without hurting the film.
I never quite understood why so many people seem to hate the movie so much. Because it wasn't like the series? Well, it was never going to be like the series. It was not made for hard-core fans. DS fans are undeniably loyal but are not particularly well organized. The movie was targeted at an audience that was not overly familiar with DS. That audience seemed to enjoy it.
A lot of fans make a big deal about the small parts for the original series actors. I thought that it was great that he used them at all. After all, Burton didn't want Adam West anywhere near his Batman movies. Did Burton make significant changes to DS lore? Sure. But that's not unusual for him. He is not noted for being faithful to source material. Again, see Batman. Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a far more respected piece than Dark Shadows and look at the changes that Burton made to that