In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet-or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy...until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive. Two centuries later, Barnabas 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 has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better...

Out of the Shadows?
Reviewed by Homicide

Dark Shadows, the daytime soap that ran from 1966-71, that caused kids to "run home from school." Spawned 2 films in the 70's & a short-lived revival in the early 90's, what a long road to get where we are today. I can somewhat remember fuzzy reruns from all throughout my life of Dark Shadows here & there, a campy show to be sure, but certainly not without it's charm & following. One of those faithful is none other than Johnny Depp himself, who's owned the rights since 2006, if for no other reason so that no one else but him could play the series lead Barnabas Collins, talk about a fanboy! So how does this, the 8th collaboration between Depp & director Tim Burton stack up, both as an adaptation & as a stand alone project? Well, first off let me say that one does not need to be a fan of the original show or need to have extensive knowledge of the source to enjoy the new film. While characters & plot points from the series most assuredly are present, everything & everyone's motivations are made perfectly clear. But, for those who are fans there's certainly plenty of winks & references there just for you. There are quite a few moments that are made all the more fun when you've seen a few episodes. On it's own we have an entertaining Rip Van Winkle scenario only involving a Vampire in the happening 70's, sort of a Caucasian take on Blackula if you will. It's definitely a good time, the camp from the original show transfers well with the comedy overshadowing the heavy drama of old. Will it get your Summer cash, hard to say, but if you're a fan of Depp/Burton collaborations or Dark Shadows, then I expect you'll certainly have a good time!