With its eerie, theremin-heavy theme song and frequent detours into the supernatural, soap opera "Dark Shadows" has maintained a devoted cult following after a five-year run on ABC from 1966-71.
Two big fans of the show happened to grow up to be director/avant-weirdo Tim Burton and his hetero life-partner Johnny Depp, who have convinced Warner Bros. to back their big-screen re-imagining. Since pretty much everything these two touch turns to gold, we're running down some of the reasons we think "Dark Shadows" will be a bright spot among next year's crop of summer blockbusters.
Release Date: May 11, 2012
Star Power: His Weirdness Sir Johnny Depp will sink his teeth into the role of charismatic 200-year-old vampire Barnabas Collins, while former Burton alumni Helena Bonham Carter, Michelle Pfeiffer and 89-year-old Christopher Lee (himself a famed former vampire, aka Dracula from the Hammer films) help populate Collinwood Manor. Eva Green plays a witch, Jackie Earle Haley a creepy caretaker, and the very kick-ass Chloë Moretz as rebellious Carolyn.
Next Factor: Bella Heathcote is no stranger to soap operas, having made a name in her native Australia as a star of the long-running "Neighbors." The coming year will be huge for the Aussie as she appears alongside Justin Timberlake in the sci-fi thrill-machine "In Time" and Brad Pitt for the crime drama "Cogan's Trade." Landing the crucial part of Victoria Winters, the governess with a mysterious past, makes Bella the biggest wild card in the outstanding "Shadows" cast, but we can't help but be hypnotized by those big ol' baby blues of hers.
Behind the Camera: With its camp-goth tone, the original "Dark Shadows" TV show was tailor-made to be Burtonized. With a screenplay by "Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter" scribe Seth Grahame-Smith, it's hard to tell if this revamp will take the source material seriously or not; but the fact that it's set in 1972, the year the series went off the air, could signal a continuation of its spirit with usual Tim Burton touches, i.e. crooked doorways, gnarled trees, truckloads of blood, etc.
Movie Math: "The Royal Tenenbaums" + "Bram Stoker's Dracula" ÷ bell bottoms = "Dark Shadows"
Backstory: Originally a suspense-themed weekday soap opera infused with the gothic flavor of novels like "Rebecca" and "Jane Eyre," the show was nearly cancelled by ABC in 1966 until desperate producer Dan Curtis began adding supernatural elements like ghosts, werewolvesand time travel. When a storyline involving Barnabas, as played by Jonathan Frid (who has a cameo in the new film), caused a sensation, the show took on cult status and lasted through 1971, also generating two feature films and a short-lived revival in the '90s. Besides Burton and Depp, other acknowledged fans of the show include Quentin Tarantino and Madonna.
In a Nutshell: In the 1700s, wealthy playboy Barnabas Collins gets on the bad side of a witch named Angelique, who curses him to live out eternity as a coffin-bound vampire. When he is awakened in 1972, he finds his dysfunctional Collins family descendants up to their necks in secrets and their fishing fleet on the edge of ruin. Will he help them or drain them dry (literally)?
The Buzz: Most fans have found Burton's strange vision and the macabre series a marriage made in heaven (or hell, depending on your religious affiliation). Unless the under-50 set happened to follow repeats of the show on the Sci-Fi Channel back in the day, most younger viewers won't have much nostalgia for a show they've never heard of. However, the combination of Burton, Depp and romantic horror is enough branding to get butts in the seats next summer, and "Shadows" could become a "Twilight" franchise for the Hot Topic kids.
Why We're Psyched: Based on early photo stills from the film and a spectacular supporting cast, we can't imagine Burton & Co. not making movie magic out of the haunted residents of fictional Collinsport, Maine. Throw in a cameo by rock god Alice Cooper and you've got a potential cult phenomenon in the making. Here's hoping Warner Bros. can raise awareness of the property by getting teens and twentysomethings to order/stream some of the 1225 original episodes currently available on Netflix.
