Dark Shadows
2012 · Directed by Tim Burton
Original language: English
- comedy
- fantasy
The story
Vampire Barnabas Collins 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 and family have fallen into ruin.
What it’s like
Saturated, theatrical colour sits against bleached 1970s daylight in Tim Burton's gothic comedy: candy-pink and mustard interiors, a fog-heavy Maine coastline, and a crumbling manor lit by candles, torches and flickering lamps. Burton's compositions are symmetrical and staged like a storybook, with the camera drifting through cramped rooms and sweeping over the cliffs, while Danny Elfman's bouncy, mock-sinister score keeps the mood playful even when things turn eerie. The tone is campy and wry, a fish-out-of-water comedy with a gothic undertow: sly jokes about disco, wine-soaked dinners and bickering relatives, plus a loose, madcap rhythm that rushes from set piece to set piece. Violence is cartoonish and mostly bloodless, with brief fights, slapstick deaths and a few jump-scare moments, so it reads as spooky rather than frightening. Sexual content is suggestive but light, with romantic banter and flirtation rather than explicit scenes. It suits a Halloween evening, a comfort rewatch, or a lazy weekend with friends, and it is for people who enjoy quirky, theatrical comedy and Burton's ornate, slightly melancholy style.
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