On Sunday I attended a late afternoon showing of Tim Burton's film Dark Shadows. Now, it is based on the campy soap opera of the mid 60s that kids rushed home to watch...4:00 PM on ABC. The original soap featured ghosts, vampires, werewolves, disembodied hands and heads, the Leviathans...all sorts of supernatural mayhem. And speaking of vampires, the show became the hit it was thanks to the misunderstood character, Barnabas Collins. He was the ultimate vampire (of the day)...suave, sophisticated, a gentleman. Portrayed by the late Jonathan Frid, Barnabas became a sympathetic character and his nemesis, Angelique was a superb afternoon villainess.
Jonathan Frid as "Barnabas"
Kathryn Leigh Scott as "Maggie Evans/Josette DuPres" and
Lara Parker as "Angelique"
OK...the series had two major film in the early 1970s which were faithful to the soap. House of Dark Shadows and Night of Dark Shadows. Moderately successful and loved by the fans. Skip a few decades and Tim Burton is doing the new film version starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Michelle Pfeiffer and others. The picture of the new cast looked gothically glorious. As the film was ready for release, the previews made me wonder, "What has Burton done?!" It seemed that the film was a comedy. How dare he turn an icon of my childhood into a laughing stock! Wait...after all he did directed Sweeney Todd and Alice in Wonderland, films I enjoyed a lot.
From the opening scenes, I was enthralled...hooked...fascinated by the new take. It was wonderful to see how the Collins family got their start in the new world. As in the original, Barnabas does not like the advances of Angelique- his one and only love is Josette. Ergo, Angelique curses him into the eternal youth of vampirism. He is buried alive in a Maine forest and 196 year later (1972) he is discovered by a construction crew. After quenching his thirst, he treks towards the mansion his father built, Collinwood. Part of the fun and humor in this sequence is his discovery of the world of the 70s. BTW, the soundtrack had a wonderful inclusion of songs from the period...from The Carpenters to Curtis Mayfield.
The character of Victoria Winters was a combination of two...Victoria and Maggie Evans. In the soap, Alexandra Moltke portrayed Victoria Winters and was the governess of David Collins. Kathryn Leigh Scott, "Maggie Evans" worked as a waitress at the Blue Whale. It was sad to see how the new Maggie had a sad childhood. Michelle Pfeiffer, IMHO, is just as classy as the late Joan Bennet as the matriarch of the Collins clan, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard. Lastly, in a role created by Grayson Hall, Helena Bonham Carter is delightful (well, isn't she always) as Dr. Julia Hoffman. Four members of the original TV cast made a cameo appearance at the "happening" at Collinwood. Nostalgic to see them now and what wonderful memories! Danny Elfman's music had some tinges of Robert Cobert's style of music, as well.
I thoroughly enjoyed the film, as did my friend. I was surprised to learn he was not too familiar with the original soap. But it will be fun explaining (as briefly as possible) the things DS was famous for...from vampires to werewolves to parallel time to the Old House to - well, you get the idea!
