Dark Shadows

So I hadn't heard much about this movie until I saw a trailer a couple weeks ago with Johnny Depp and Chloe Grace Moretz in it and I decided I needed to see this movie. Oh, and my best friend got engaged at this movie - well before this movie. I went and sat through the entire movie and nobody proposed! The movie has already surpassed it's $150 million budget by racking in about $191 million worldwide in about three weeks so far.

The movie is based on a dysfunctional family headed by a centuries-old vampire and was apparently based on a tv show that I've never heard of before. Chloe Grace Moretz and Michelle Pfeiffer play part of the cursed Collins family. Helena Bonham Carter and Jackie Earle Haley also play characters in the movie and there's even a cameo from Alice Cooper himself.

From the trailer I had seen, I was expecting a completely satirical parody of the vampire genre - thankfully, this was not the case. While the script was dripping with satire, it was believable and comedic without being overbearing. It was the always fun dysfunctional eccentric family comedy on vampire steroids. While the ending was a little untidy - the rest of the plot was pretty great with only a couple of jumpy lags here and there. The dialogue was quite clever and each character's dialogue fit their personality. There were lots of great one-liners.

The soundtrack was amazing - but it was set in the 70's so that's only natural. The effects, cinematography, and set design (especially the set design) was great. It had hints of Tim Burton without being overbearing. The set that the built for Collinswood was amazing. Apparently they built a model that was 1/3 of the actual size to accommodate filming. How cool is that?

Johnny Depp was great as always. Say what you will, but he's a superb character actor. He was reserved enough to be believable without being overly eccentric. Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter were in their element. Chloe Grace Moretz was extremely funny and awesome.

In the end, I thought this was a great movie. It was two hours of fun packed into one movie. Who doesn't love the eccentric dysfunctional family movie? Now imagine vampires, witches, and werewolves thrown in there? Of course you want to see that. "This is Barnabas Collins and I'm pretty sure he just called me a hooker".