This may be the best example of a trailer that crammed the movie's ONLY decent 2 minutes into a promising preview. The other 111 minutes are deadly dull. In this vague nod to the TV series, Johnny Depp stars as Barnabas Collins, who returns to his home in the 70s after being buried for 200 years. The potential for fish-out-of-water humor is wrung out in a handful of gags (all in the trailer) and the rest of the proceedings are incredibly tedious and listless. The only thing worth watching is the art direction. Otherwise, this is undoubtedly Tim Burton's worst film ever.… Expand

What a piece of crud. This movie sucked (pardon the pun) almost as much as the Twilight films. Someone please make Burton and Depp from making movies together. A TV show with over 1,000 episodes that ran for years cannot be made into a condensed two hour movie. Don't waist your time. Go see Avengers again, like many people did.

The visual are top notch but Tim Burton never finds a consistent rhythm, mixing campy jokes and gothic spookiness. Dark Shadows suffering imbalance and ridiculous script and all A-list star here couldn't help much. Despite its intriguing trailer, Dark Shadows turn to be dead and boring entertainment.

Stole 2 hours from my life, a huge letdown. Started semi-promising but towards the end I found myself scratching the arm of my chair, I was bored, couldn't wait the movie to end. The final "battle" was absolutely chaotic and shallow. Burton seems to get to the end of dark, humorous,charcters with an English accent and elegance to put Depp in...

I don't usually like Tim Burton's movies and Dark Shadows is in between. I liked it but then i didn't like it. Overall it was an ok film, and nothing more. Johnney Depp was his usual strange but comedic self in another one of his collaborations with Tim Burton, but he didn't even feel like the main character throughout. This movie was so clustered and packed with different plots and narrators. One of the main storylines which was between Barnabus and Victoria was only granted about one or two scenes and both were very brief at that. I found myself laughing quite a few times which is about the only positive i can think of from this film other than Depps performance. The ending to the film was just plain strange. It moved from one new story, to and old story, to another new story, and then back to the old one. This film was just filled with too many storylines and different narrations. Theres only two reasons why i would recomend this movie and thats if you're a Depp fan or a Tim Burton fan. If not, do not bother with this movie, even if you were a fan of the original tv series. 4/10… Expand

The trailers made this movie look like it was going to be funny and entertaining, I'm a huge Helena Bonham Carter, Johnny Depp, and Tim Burton fan, but this movie was bad. There were funny parts but overall a bad film. There was no character development and the story was all over the place. There were way too many flaws in the story for me to be able to like it.

It has many things in common with Tim Burton's earliest films (the supernatural protagonist staying with the dysfunctional family is one of them) but it felt more like an over-budgeted rehash of his early formula. Apart from the suitably gothic beginning and climax, the rest of the movie was as dull as dishwater. All the laughs the film has to offer are all in the trailer, and they fall flat over the course of almost two hours. Johnny Depp overacted, even by his standards and his character shifted too often from Barnabas the loveable vampire to Barnabas the murderer causing abrupt tonal shifts. The rest of the cast also overacted, and their characters were completely unlikable and never developed. Shame, since some of them are great in other movies. Dark Shadows is a wasted opportunity that squanders a great cast and crew, and is a surefire candidate for the worst movie of the year.… Expand

It's an open secret among civilians outside of Hollywood that Johnny Depp is a wildly overrated actor, and Dark Shadows stands among the most prime examples. Who told him he was funny? He is clearly his own biggest fan, as there are scenes in Dark Shadows in which he stinks of overconfidence. To be fair, we didn't actually sit through the entire film, but after 40 plus minutes our only hope was to still convince the theatre to give us a refund.… Expand

No, just no. This was the only movie i have ever walked out of. The story was bland, the acting was terrible, and it was just another copy of a vampire movie, it had the same jokes as all of the other ones, and i was very dissappointed in Tim Burton. Bad is the only word I have for this movie.

Dark Shadows is yet another ladder rung into the descent of disapointment that has become Tim Burtons career. The only thing this film is good for is a possible attraction at a theme park.

"Dark Shadows" is an oft-filmed tale of shunned-love accented by revenge. This version is largely set in 1972 when director Tim Burton was a teen so the soundtrack is basically a best of 70s hits collection. All the principal actors get to dress up in period fashion with lots of flattering makeup and hairstyles which I think really thrills the actresses. But the experience itself is something you've seen many times before unless you're only 13 which, by the way, is the maturity-level of this film.… Expand

I don't know what happen with Burton, I remember Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Ed Wood, and The Nightmare Before Christmas, excellent movies, but now he do blockbusters for kids, or really terrible movies, Dark Shadows is a great example. The trailers are really funny, but when you watch the movie, you can watch the bad development, the terrible performances (really? Deep again?) and all the problems that Dark Shadows have. Funny in some moments, but the biggest part of the movie is terrible.… Expand

I expect Dark Shadows to be a funny loosely based comedy and what i got was a movie that lacks everything creative. very dull which isn't characteristic of tim burton. Visually okay, acting below par.

The movie is NOT a comedy. All the "funny" parts are in the trailer. I'm not even sure what genre it belongs in as it isn't scary either. Just kind of a dumb high budget B film you'd expect to see straight to dvd these days.

Sorry to say this movie stank! For the first time this year I feel cheated out of the ticket price. It's a funny thing, as I usually love Depp/Burton movies. Sorry nothing to spoil really, as all the good scenes were already put in the trailers. Watching this movie was like watching a ceiling fan, for two hours! Whollmoley what were they thinking. I will probably rent it for $1 at redbox just to see how it ended. Yes this is the first movie I walked out on in years.… Expand

Besides the fact that the movie deserved to be rated R, the movie overall was just not very appealing to anyone. I laughed at some points, but not too much. The acting was great by Depp, but this movie is not exactly worth seeing.

Unless you are a fan of Johnny Depp and/or Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green, Helena Bonham Carter and/or Tim Burton you will have a hard time sitting through this almost 2 hour film of â

Its good seeing something refreshingly campy for the summer, too bad this wasn't good camp. Dark Shadows straddles somewhere between good and bad. It boasts some fine performance and visual style, but is ultimately undone by it uneven script and bipolar direction. Considering the supernatural nature of the film the screenwriter kept things too simple for its own good, constructed under-cooked characters for the screen, and created many devices to fill his laziness in telling a good story. The characters were underdeveloped, and had sparse appearances throughout the movie, due to this we were unable care for many of them, and their revelations, by the films … Expand

This seemed cobbled together from the worst cliches of plot, characterization, and art direction. Nothing original from the first frame to the last. And the ending suggesting a sequel to come is the scariest thing in the movie.

It's very cheesy, with almost zero likable characters (like most hollywood films lately). During the first half maybe, I thought I could get into it as it started to take on a comedic style and worked pretty well. The second half however was a downhill tumble into some of the most retarded crap I've ever seen.

Not what I was hoping for, at all.
The first half of the movie is very slow paced (maybe a litte too slow) and makes you think the second half will have some more action and stuff going on. This didn't seem to be the case and I seriously caught myself with my eyes closed at a moment.. NOT good. There was finally something happening in the last ten minutes, but to me it just came off as bad script writing as it didn't make any sense.
I expected way more from Tim Burton.… Expand

For lovers of Johnny Depp and Tim Burton movies, I'd suggest you stay far away from this movie. It's childish humor and terrible story line will leave you feeling so very disappointed. I suggest going back and watching some good old Sweeney Todd.

You know that feeling you get when you are watching the trailer to a movie and feeling that all the funny parts were most likely just seen? That was Dark Shadows for me. I knew all the laughs that could be had in the movie arrived in that 2 min sneak but I could not resist Depp and Burton. I have definitely seen worst, don't get me wrong, but i felt myself growing bored and considering how uncomfortable my seat was as it droned on. Save it for a home rental.… Expand

Tim Burton's Dark Shadows is just another partnership between Burton, Johnie Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. Nothing else. The big problem is Seth Grahame-Smith's screenplay. With its weak humor, the film doesn't know which character to follow. Another problem are the subplots, that are poorly resolved. Johnie Depp is okay as a vampire, Jackie Earle Haley and Helena Bonham Carter are good, but Eva Green delivers an over the top performance as an evil witch. At the end, Dark Shadows is a boring, poorly written film.… Expand

I can't find the Old Burton in this movie. Maybe he is changing his style, I don't know, but I don't like it. I have to admit the mixed all styles: vampire, retro, gothic it's well done...but no more. I am really tired to see Depp doing the same "Jack faces" over and over again. If Burton are producing and directing "kids stuff" is time he public that new, 'cos this movie.... isn't Burtons style.

What happened to TIm Burton? He used to be such a great film maker. My guess is that he had a spurt of creativity in his teen years and was happy to muck around in the same stomping grounds for the rest of his life. Hollywood and the general public felt differently though. After rehashing Beetlejuice and Nightmare before Christmas to make Corpse's Bride, someone probably told Mr. Burton that people were getting tired of the same thing in slightly different packaging. It's at this point that Mr. Burton fell into the same trap that currently plagues Hollywood. The remake. Planet of the Apes was drab and had none of the Tim Burton Magic. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was just dreadful. And now we have Dark Shadows. Tim Burton doesn't seem to be able to point this piece in any direction. There's just far too much ground covered in too short a time. I had no feelings throughout the entire movie for Victoria, who's supposed to be the main love interest. They could've pulled a Sixth Sense, she's been dead the whole time, and no one would've blinked or cared. And why must all Tim Burton movies star Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter? They're both good actors, but please get some other people in there. Did they sign some sort of life long contract? If they had removed the whole vampire being confused by modern day shtick, they may have been able to tell a decent story. Or go the other direction and go for pure comedy. This movie is muddled and confused. If you're aching for some Burton/Depp magic, go watch Edward Scissorhands for the hundredth time.… Expand

For the first time in history, I fell asleep during an act in the movie. Not sure if it was the movie's fault or not, but it happened. Well yeah, the movie did have something to do with it in some ways. This is a pretty bizarre movie, but unfortunately, in a rather dismal way as its unconventionality just dosen't hit home compared to other unconventional mainstream films. The movie was mediocre amd utterly forgettable, and the fact that the source material was based on a soap opera was pretty evident, as the script just dosen't work well to translate the soap opera elements to the screen.… Expand

It is neither a horror flick nor a campy comedy. Besides a couple of fun special effects and some jokes about the 70s, the pace is slow, there is no character development, the plot is ludicrous and goes nowhere, and there are no thrills. The old TV soap opera at least was fun and the 90s TV series had bite. In this remake, even Alice Cooper's performance is lackluster. I wasted 2 hours plus the $1.30 I paid to Redbox.… Expand

Another movie that Tim Burton chose to go with his style over the substance of a good movie. I understand that these talented actors had to act a certain way for this movie, but the acting made this movie even more boring.

Oh Johnny, The Tourist was better then this. Tim, Alice and Wonderland was a masterpiece. What the F%#K was this. Unfunny the only funny moments were probably in the trailer or the first 8 minutes. Please this won an award for best comedy. The audience and I laughed more at "Madeas Whitness Protection". God, that should've won instead this, eh still a better plot then Avatar. I actually enjoyed Twilight more.… Expand