In the 1700s, Barnabas Collins upsets a witch by rejecting her affections. She retaliates by turning him into a vampire and burying him in a coffin in the woods. Two hundred years later, Barnabas is set free by a construction crew and he returns to the Collins estate to restore the family name. But the witch is waiting, and she and Barnabas duel for the town of Collinsport.
ClearPlay In Action!
ClearPlay has plenty of work to do here, excising a couple of implied sex scenes and other elements of spoken and shown sensuality. Around twenty five-instances of language are muted, and a handful of violent spots are toned down, as well. With filters on full, there will be one major continuity gap, but otherwise ClearPlay doesn’t take out anything you’ll miss.
Should I Go Into the Shadows?…
Tim Burton and some excellent actors are at work here, but Dark Shadows suffers from jarring tone changes throughout the film. It’s as if Burton couldn’t decide if he wanted to film a horror movie, a slapstick vampire comedy, or a dramatic tale of supernatural love. If he would have picked one, this film might have worked, but the three elements never blend together and it was like sitting down to a meal of tater tots, filet mignon, and a microwave burrito. The visuals are fantastic and the actors do the best with what they’re given, but in the end it just didn’t add up.
Brian Fuller—ClearPlay Vampire Food
Rated PG-13 for comic horror violence, sexual content, some drug use, language and smoking; 113 min; Directed By Tim Burton
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