Dark Shadows: Critic Reviews

"Dark Shadows" offers potent atmosphere and delirious '70s fashions and hilarious gags and some really terrific performances, none better than Pfeiffer's triumphant return to the screen as a pitch-perfect family matriarch.

[Burton] and Depp, both avowed childhood fans of the original series, seem to be in their element and having a grand old time.

Dark Shadows is a mess, and it's unclear whether its bizarre recipe of comedy, campy horror, and gothic melodrama will satisfy anyone, regardless of their familiarity with the source material.

Dark Shadows sinks its teeth half-way into its potentially meaty material but hesitates to go all the way.

The film itself takes awhile to get going as it establishes all those characters and back stories. Once there, it seems to have nowhere to go -- out of the shadows or into the light, it doesn't really matter either way.

Attention must be paid to movie allure, in a star like Depp and his current harem.

Burton's visuals are a sumptuous treat, as is Depp's unerring sense of mischief - but, after a fierce and funny start, Dark Shadows simply spins its wheels.

Bipolar film that's equal parts comedy and horror show, with neither element particularly effective.

An uncertain combination of elements that unsuccessfully tries to be half-scary, half-funny and all strange...

It turns into a bit of a mess towards the finish line, but at least it's a fun mess, and if you're looking to Tim Burton for narrative tidiness you must be thinking of another Tim Burton.

Dark Shadows should have been a return-to-form for director Tim Burton, but with a bloated budget and way too much room to play, Burton delivers yet another wasted effort.

Made for an audience of no one, Dark Shadows is a mess of campy horror, "fish out of coffin" comedy, and gothic melodrama.

Dark Shadows is never short on stunning backdrops and impressive cinematographic techniques. It looks a treat. But with Dark Shadows, like Depp himself, you can only put so much make-up on an ageing face and sell it as fresh.

...following Graeme-Smith's lead, Burton has made, quite possibly, the worst film of his 30-year career.

Not a colossal failure but an indicator that Burton and Depp could stand to step outside their collective me + you = cinematic magic mindsets.

It's just sort of a star vehicle for Johnny Depp, with everyone and everything else a secondary consideration at best.

It had so much potential, but given the result, it should have stayed in the shadows.

Dark Shadows really is just a mixed bag of chuckles and drama that never really gets the balance quite right.

While "Dark Shadows" has many wonderful elements, it is set up to become a new franchise for Warner Bros, but it just doesn't quite have that eternal bite.

Captures the grand sweep and often ridiculous theatricality of both soap operas and gothic romance.

There's much more bloody potential here for dark comedy (and shaded emotions) than we're lightly spattered with . . . offers no zany flourishes, dashing touches or striking shots.

Dark Shadows makes almost no attempt to reward cinema audiences.

In yet another over-designed cinematic letdown, director Tim Burton (Alice in Wonderland; Sweeney Todd) weaves a choppy comic tale of resurrected ghouls set in the early 1970s.

Burton can still deliver a great visual hook and whimsical comedy. But he seems caught between his new laziness and his old genuine excitement about filmmaking.

Isn't sure if it is supposed to be a campy homage, a vampire black comedy, or a family friendly horror pic...doesn't come close to the duo's wondrous collaborations.