Review: Dark Shadows

Dark Shadows looks exactly like you'd expect a Tim Burton film too and Johnny Depp delivers the type of performance you'd expect from him as Barnabas Collins, a vampire from 1752 set free after 200+ years. Those aren't necessarily bad things, but where the film falls down is in its predictable plot and a running time too long that mean the jokes start to wear thin well before the end.

Burton's unique visual style means the Seventies setting doesn't really feature too much - aside from using a few records from the era as a soundtrack you'd struggle to tell the difference if Barnabas was set free in the present day - and for the first hour the film flies by as Barnabas struggles to adapt to the changes to his body and new-found blood lust, but with the changes in society after two hundred years buried below the ground.

Depp carries the film, but too many supporting characters are introduced and don't have enough chance to shine - Helena Bonham Carter is seemingly cast just because she's married to Burton, her role as character as psychiatrist Dr. Julia Hoffman ends up taking away screen time from characters who come to the fore at the end, resulting in the end falling flat as Barnabas battles to save characters you don't really care about.

Dark Shadows isn't a bad film, the problem with it is that it's an entirely predictable one.