'Dark Shadows' Glows (If You Know What You're Looking At) -- By Matty Jacobson

Matty Jacobson loves any excuse to
break out a wig. And luckily, he had
a Barnabas Collins wig on hand.
Matty owns, edits and contributes
to The Skewed Review.
You can email him here.

THE SKEWED REVIEW | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 

In my eyes, Tim Burton can do no wrong.

He's hands-down my favorite director, and it's true some of his work is better than others, but he's one of the most imaginative and visionary directors of our time.

However, I feel I'm often left defending him because a lot of folks don't view his material in context. For example, Tim Burton's version of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" was another take on Roald Dahl's classic book--not a remake of the 1971 movie starring Gene Wilder.

Yet, so many people thought Burton was remaking the old film, and were quick to poo-poo it on the grounds that you shouldn't touch something as sacred as "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." Never mind that Roald Dahl hated the Wilder version, and that Dahl's wife was actually an adviser on the Burton version. And no one ever seemed to mention that the '71 version added and removed parts of the book seemingly on a whim, whereas the Burton movie followed the book almost verbatim. Even the dialogue was the same ("Do you have any idea what breakfast cereal is made of?).

So I'm a little worried that people won't see "Dark Shadows" for what it is.

"Dark Shadows" was a soap opera on ABC that aired from 1966-1971. The show, like any soap, was overly dramatic and very tongue-in-cheek at times. The only big difference from regular soaps and "Dark Shadows" was that "Dark Shadows" started featuring vampires, witches, ghosts and werewolves after the first season.

Now someone who sees Burton's film without knowing what the original series was like may not quite get it. So here's an example of the show after it went to color.




Burton's movie really stayed true to the show by also presenting it for what it is: a caricature of '70s drama based on Universal Studios-esque monsters of the '40s and '50s.

I recently read an article on Cracked.com called "4 Artists Who Should Probably Just Take a Break For  a While," by Daniel O'Brien. In the article, O'Brien writes that Tim Burton and Johnny Depp should stop working together for a while because the movies they're making together aren't that good anymore.

Well, far be it from me to critique what a Cracked contributor has to say, but I respectfully disagree. I think Depp and Burton work wonderfully as a team, and I love everything they've done together.

What makes "Dark Shadows" especially important is that Depp said he always wanted to be Barnabas Collins when he was younger, so essentially he had his childhood wish granted when he collaborated with Burton on the movie.

I thought the script was smartly written, and like the show, it got a little convoluted toward the end. If I hadn't known what the original show was all about, I might have questioned the last quarter of the film. But when compared with the campy original series, I think the movie holds true to the source material; it adds camp where it needs it most, and milks the comedy angle for all it's worth.

I'll always recommend a Burton film. But from now on, I'm going to start recommending suggested reading and/or watching to supplement the films. So before (or shortly after) you see "Dark Shadows," make sure you take some time and watch an episode or two of the '60s-'70s show. It'll help you understand why the movie is like it is.