Dark Shadows

Name: Dark Shadows
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Fantasy, Horror
Released: May 11, 2012
Duration: 113 min
Rating: 55
Cast: Bella Heathcote, Chloe Moretz, Eva Green, Helena Bonham Carter, Jackie Earle Haley

2012

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 42 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 485 Ratings

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5.9

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5.9	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 485 Ratings

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Dark Shadows

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Movie Details & Credits

Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: May 11, 2012 | PG-13

Starring: Bella Heathcote, Chloe Moretz, Eva Green, Helena Bonham Carter, Jackie Earle Haley, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer

Summary: In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas has the world at his feet—or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master ofIn the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas has the world at his feet—or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy...until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard. A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive. Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets. (Warner Bros. Pictures/Village Roadshow Pictures)… Expand

Director: Tim Burton

Genre(s): Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Fantasy, Horror, Comedy

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 113 min

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Critic Reviews

Manohla Dargis

May 10, 2012

Dark Shadows isn't among Mr. Burton's most richly realized works, but it's very enjoyable, visually sumptuous and, despite its lugubrious source material and a sporadic tremor of violence, surprisingly effervescent. Read full review

Steven Rea

May 10, 2012

Pinpointing the era - lovingly - is very much what Dark Shadows' has on its mind. While there's a tangle of romance and vengeance and all sorts of family matters to deal with, Burton's film is really about hippies in bell-bottoms, stoned out in their VW micro-buses. Read full review

Richard Corliss

May 10, 2012

Attention must be paid to movie allure, in a star like Depp and his current harem. Angelique may be the only satanist among the women here, but they're all bewitching. Read full review

Peter Rainer

May 11, 2012

The film is best when it focuses on Barnabas's culture shocks in this brave new world. Depp has fun with the character's bafflements without camping it up. What's missing overall is the sense of fun Burton once evinced in films like "Beetlejuice." Read full review

Shawn Levy

May 10, 2012

'Bloodless' is the word for the whole enterprise. Read full review

Marjorie Baumgarten

May 9, 2012

Dark Shadows seems more like a mash-up of leftover ideas from "Beetlejuice," "Edward Scissorhands," "Sleepy Hollow," and "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" – but they're ideas without the souls of characters. Read full review

Ann Hornaday

May 10, 2012

Dark Shadows doesn't know where it wants to dwell: in the eerie, subversive penumbra suggested by its title or in playful, go-for-broke camp. Read full review

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User Reviews

Mad_Hatter91

May 15, 2012

A fun movie but at the same time dramatic and a little horror. Excellent scenery, even the special effects,an amazing make up, as always, a truly stellar cast and a storyline particularly full of vampires, witches, curses and mysteries to solve.

4 of 7 users found this helpful43

sfjcg

May 29, 2012

I'm surprised that this movie hasn't gotten better reviews. I wasn't expecting much but was very entertained throughout the whole movie. I especially liked all the bright colors/visuals. It was pure entertainment.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Rikiege

Sep 24, 2012

Dark shadows: Fun for the elderly, good for those between 30 and 40 years, but not very good for those under 18. Not that I did not like but when I left the cinema did not like anyone but me. In my opinion it is entertaining but little more ... The problem with this movie is that it has notDark shadows: Fun for the elderly, good for those between 30 and 40 years, but not very good for those under 18. Not that I did not like but when I left the cinema did not like anyone but me. In my opinion it is entertaining but little more ... The problem with this movie is that it has not used the original it was.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

Spielberg00

Jun 7, 2012

Despite all the flaws and difficulties imposed upon DARK SHADOWS, it certainly did have its moments. The movie itself wasnâ

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

kristen58

May 11, 2012

It was okay. It started off good, but then there was too many plot lines and back stories, and it kind of fell apart. It was very rushed, and the characters seemed very superficial. It was like they were trying to cram years of a TV show into one 2 hour movie. I've never seen the TVIt was okay. It started off good, but then there was too many plot lines and back stories, and it kind of fell apart. It was very rushed, and the characters seemed very superficial. It was like they were trying to cram years of a TV show into one 2 hour movie. I've never seen the TV show, so I don't know if the movie was merely the same premise, or if the whole plot was straight from the TV show, but it sure seemed like I was watching a soap opera. It was extremely melodramatic and soap opera-y. Yes, it was a former soap opera, but I hopeful that the movie would just be using the same premise to create something better and deeper than that. That didn't really happen.

It seemed like the movie was written 8 hours long, and they just cut most of it out and awkwardly patched the rest together. At the beginning, we got so much of Victoria that it seemed like the movie was being told from her point of view, but then she disappears for much of the rest of the movie. It was weird, and I wasn't really feeling the relationship between her and Barnabas. That being said, it was humorous and fairly entertaining...as much as a soap opera can be.… Expand

8 of 11 users found this helpful83

Mattyice

May 23, 2012

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.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Bart

May 13, 2012

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. GoWhat 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.… Expand

1 of 5 users found this helpful14

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