Tim Burton and Johnny Depp sometimes go together like peanut butter and jelly. They compliment each other and taste delicious like in Ed Wood or Sleepy Hollow even. But other times… not so much. Dark Shadows is one of those “other times”. The story begins with a flash back to the 1700’s where Barnabus Collins rejects the servant girl Angelique who wants for his love and affection. She curses Barnabus with vampirism and hypnotizes his true love Josette to fall to her death on widows peak. Upon discovering that Barnabus is a Vampire, the townspeople chain him in a coffin and bury him deep in the woods. Fast Forward to 1972 when workmen stumble upon his grave and wake him from his long slumber.

Dark Shadows is a retelling of the TV soap from the some 40 years ago that I have never seen so I didn’t go into it expecting some familiar story. The first act of the film is a basic “fish out of water” premise. Barnabus returns to his stately Collinwood mansion to find the remnants of the Collins family surviving with a dwindling family fortune in the dusty decaying mansion. Michelle Pfieffer appears to be the only member trying to hold the family together. Her daughter, played by Cloe Moretz is a typical 70’s teenager and her brother and his son are dealing with death of his mother. There’s some good stuff to be had in the first half of the film, good 70’s music, some decent comedy bits which you’ve already seen in the previews, and some Burton-esque visuals that will feel familiar.