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DARK SHADOWS STARTS DIMMING THE LIGHTS IN JANUARY

post #1 of 52
7/15/10 at 4:50pm
Thread Starter 
Burton and Depp six months away from darkness.

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post #2 of 52
7/15/10 at 4:57pm
Sigh. So tired of the Burton/Depp team. Yet I will still probably end up seeing this.
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post #3 of 52
7/15/10 at 5:04pm
The source material sounds sort of genuinely intriguing, but I can't say I have any enthusiasm left for the pairing of Burton and Depp. Depp's alright, I like him, but Burton has turned into self parody and I am hard pressed* can't think of a film maker whose work I'm less interested in these days

*Though I could name a few
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post #4 of 52
7/15/10 at 5:05pm
Wow, this pairing of talent and property is absolutely sho-ho-hAAAAAAAWWWww... Woo, excuse me, that yawn came out of nowhere!
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post #5 of 52
7/15/10 at 5:07pm
Although it sounds about as compelling as Count Chocula: The Movie, I'm interested enough in the set design and possible Elfman score that I'm sure I'll still check this out.
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post #6 of 52
7/15/10 at 5:08pm
Burton is slowly ruining Depp for me. I find them both so tiresome together that I'm starting to find Depp tiresome in general. Burton seems to be in a really obvious phase of his career, where all his films are completely inside-the-box "of course" choices. Nothing about this films seems intriguing to me.

I want Burton to surprise us one of these years. Make something completely stylistically different. Serious even. At least tackle something with some weight. He needs his NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN to get back on top.
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post #7 of 52
7/15/10 at 5:08pm
Seth Grahame-Smith? Color me worried.
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post #8 of 52
7/15/10 at 5:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ratty View Post
Although it sounds about as compelling as Count Chocula: The Movie, I'm interested enough in the set design and possible Elfman score that I'm sure I'll still check this out.
COUNT CHOCULA the movie sounds amazing.
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post #9 of 52
7/15/10 at 5:28pm
I'm actually psyched for this one. Surprisingly. Maybe it'll be infused with a Hammer sensibility like SLEEPY HOLLOW. I can't get enough of that gothic aesthetic, especially since modern horror (TP especially) set decorates as if every location is a rusty factory or abandoned crackhouse.
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post #10 of 52
7/15/10 at 5:32pm
The key to this will be the appropriate ratio of nubility to négligé.
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post #11 of 52
7/15/10 at 6:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sebastian OB View Post
COUNT CHOCULA the movie sounds amazing.
Jim Carrey did this as a bit years ago, I think on Arsenio.

(In a Gary Oldman Dracula voice) "I have crossed... oceans of milk to find you..."

At this point with the Burton/Depp colaborations, I'm mostly ambivalent. The only ones I really like are Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, and Sweeney Todd. If they can keep things in a grim, subdued, but gorgeous gothic horror mode, like Todd, without any eye-rolling camp faces from Depp, it could be pretty damn good. I also have no stake in Dark Shadows, so there's that.
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post #12 of 52
7/15/10 at 6:11pm
This is such a great opportunity that is being wasted.

And what happened to John August's script?
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post #13 of 52
7/15/10 at 7:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
This is such a great opportunity that is being wasted.

And what happened to John August's script?
I'm intrigued by that: I watched a few episodes of the original, but not even Frid getting his face all over Famous Monsters of Filmland (my Bible back then) got me interested enough to keep up with it (though my wife tells me she watched it pretty regularly).

Is it an unused script that you think is the wasted opportunity? Something else about the property's potential that I'm overlooking? Or more that Depp and/or Burton could find better uses for their time?
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post #14 of 52
7/15/10 at 8:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Doc Phibes View Post
I also have no stake in Dark Shadows, so there's that.
WOCKA WOCKA
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post #15 of 52
7/15/10 at 8:54pm
Curious: Has anyone seen all of the (available) Dark Shadows episodes?

Or own them?!
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post #16 of 52
7/15/10 at 10:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeb View Post
Something else about the property's potential that I'm overlooking?
Yeah. I don't want to get too into it because I'll sound like a crazy person, but they're grazing the series, and the take on it I'm thinking of would make you love Tim Burton again. Instead they're just doing the same old "reincarnated bride of the vampire" bullshit, which they redid as a feature film in 1970, and as another tv series in 1991, and as an unreleased WB pilot in 2004.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Agent Z View Post
Curious: Has anyone seen all of the (available) Dark Shadows episodes?
They're all available. It's the only soap opera released in its entirety on home video, and yeah, I've seen about 75% of the show over the past 35 years. They're torturously dull, but there's a really compelling angle that's not being exploited here. Killing me.
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post #17 of 52
7/15/10 at 10:56pm
Do you hear that?

Listen.

No?

Strain harder.

Harder.

Haaaardeeer...

There - that's the sound of me well past caring.

Someone repost that Funny Or Die Burton parody stat.
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post #18 of 52
7/15/10 at 11:37pm
Who's pussy do you have to lick for a decent Salem's Lot adaptation? The Passing? They Thirst?

I'll take a Forever Knight re-imagining over this any day of the- hey look it's Angel. This movie is going to be boring.
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post #19 of 52
7/15/10 at 11:53pm
To be fair, it was Johnny Depp who actually put Tim Burton on the project. This is Depp's lifelong dream project and personally, Burton knows how to do this kind of project better than anyone else. Look no further than Sweeney Todd.
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post #20 of 52
7/15/10 at 11:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
They're all available. It's the only soap opera released in its entirety on home video, and yeah, I've seen about 75% of the show over the past 35 years. They're torturously dull, but there's a really compelling angle that's not being exploited here. Killing me.
Ahhh, that's pretty cool to know. I Doctor Who-assumed that some of them had to be missing, through lost or damaged archives.

I can only imagine the cost of actually owning the sets*. I watched some on Netflix back in the day when I was a member. I will probably have to go that route again. Sooner than later.



ETA: A quick, quick search on Amazon has, at a minimum of 26 dvd sets, at $25.49 each = $662.74
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post #21 of 52
7/16/10 at 12:25am
Uh, those sets were 45 bucks not that long ago...

And technically, one episode is missing, but they have the audio. It's on the DVD sets with stills taking place of the video.

Edit: If you want to dip your toe in, these two sets boil down the two most popular storylines from the show (clips on the amazon pages):

http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Shadows-V...250868&sr=8-10

http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Shadows-C...d_bxgy_d_img_b
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post #22 of 52
7/16/10 at 2:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Agent Z View Post
Curious: Has anyone seen all of the (available) Dark Shadows episodes?

Or own them?!
My mom. With whom I'll probably go to see this. So you and her Phil.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
Uh, those sets were 45 bucks not that long ago...
Yeah, she bought several for ~$45, until I told her they may be up on eBay. But she's got them all.
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post #23 of 52
7/16/10 at 2:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by User_32 View Post
Burton knows how to do this kind of project better than anyone else. Look no further than Sweeney Todd.
That's exactly the problem. He knows exactly what he's going to do with it and so do we. That's kind of boring, isn't it?
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post #24 of 52
7/16/10 at 3:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bushipunk View Post
That's exactly the problem. He knows exactly what he's going to do with it and so do we. That's kind of boring, isn't it?
That depends. If I was alive during Universal or Hammer's theatrical monster runs, I'd be looking forward to the next entry (as a fan of the Gothic-horror style). But I also want Burton to return to the more surreal stuff as seen in PEE WEE'S and BEETLEJUICE.

Hopefully, Burton won't feel the need to paint Depp up like some vampire mime.
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post #25 of 52
7/16/10 at 3:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bushipunk View Post
That's exactly the problem. He knows exactly what he's going to do with it and so do we. That's kind of boring, isn't it?
Is that true though? Yeah we know exactly what it's going to *look* like, but this isn't quite like the Addams Family/Alice In Wonderland situation where it feels like we've seen the entire movie already before a frame's been shot. I appreciate that Tim Burton is geek public enemy number 2 these days (after a certain Mr. Lucas) and we've all long since burned out on his shtick, and he badly needs to shake things up and do something fresh and new. But if he's going to do another gothic fantasy this at least sounds a bit more interesting than the other projects he's had on his plate recently, especially what with it being some kind of passion project for Depp.
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post #26 of 52
7/16/10 at 3:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul C View Post
But if he's going to do another gothic fantasy this at least sounds a bit more interesting than the other projects he's had on his plate recently, especially what with it being some kind of passion project for Depp.
This is the only thing that gives me any kind of hope for this. If he's got to do one, I'd rather see Burton's Dark Shadows than Burton's Addams Family. Even more so if Depp's enthusiastic for it.
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post #27 of 52
7/17/10 at 5:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
Edit: If you want to dip your toe in, these two sets boil down the two most popular storylines from the show (clips on the amazon pages):

http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Shadows-V...250868&sr=8-10

http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Shadows-C...d_bxgy_d_img_b
Noted, and Thank You! The completist in me will probably go in for the long haul and watch it in its entirety, but it's nice to have that option too, just in case.
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post #28 of 52
7/17/10 at 3:33pm
It's roughly 450 hours of content, with about ten percent of that recap at the top of an episode from a previous episode. Good luck!
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post #29 of 52
7/17/10 at 3:39pm
That sounds like torture. Who has time for that crap?
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post #30 of 52
7/17/10 at 3:47pm
Yeah, hence my link to amazon's condensations, though I'm baffled at HOW they would condense the things. Most shows are just one...long...conversation. But as a kid pre-internet, a daily serial about a vampire and other monsters was spectacular. The day the title music started and an announcer said over the title sequence, "Good news! Dark Shadows is now IN COLOR!" I thought my little head was gonna burst.
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post #31 of 52
7/17/10 at 6:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Agent Z View Post
Noted, and Thank You! The completist in me will probably go in for the long haul and watch it in its entirety, but it's nice to have that option too, just in case.
Be warned, from what I gather it's a fairly substandard show until Barnabas shows up somewhere around episode 200.
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post #32 of 52
7/17/10 at 6:34pm
I love the idea of some OCD case sitting through 200 episodes of shitty soap opera just to get to the part with the silly vampire.

Oh, and if crazy supernatural soap opera is your thing, I recommend PASSIONS.
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post #33 of 52
7/17/10 at 8:17pm
There's more gold in there than you'd think - some really fucking insane actors doing really off the wall stuff. There are a few scenes where, legend has it, some of the young actors onscreen are on LSD during taping.

And they released the DVD sets starting with the first appearance of the vampire; you have to go after the six volume DARK SHADOWS: THE BEGINNING releases to get the 200 pre-Barnabas Collins episodes.

And PASSIONS ripped off Dark Shadows!
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post #34 of 52
7/17/10 at 9:03pm
How do you feel about DARK SHADOWS: THE REVIVAL? I have it at my store. Should I watch it?
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post #35 of 52
7/17/10 at 9:09pm
It's a little too beholden to the original arcs it's recreating, but it's only 13 or 14 episodes long and has Joseph Gordon Levitt as an adorable little ragamuffin. I haven't seen it since 1991. Chiller reruns it a bunch.
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post #36 of 52
7/17/10 at 9:37pm
I watched a few. Joanna Going's nice to look at and Ben Cross (Barnabus) always brings the goods. Should dig out the dvds again sometime.
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post #37 of 52
7/17/10 at 9:39pm
Cool, I grabbed 'em.
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post #38 of 52
7/17/10 at 10:09pm
The revival is also on Instant.
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post #39 of 52
7/18/10 at 5:16am
Okay, 450 hours has me rethinking, yes.

Thanks for the feedback/perspective guys.
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post #40 of 52
7/18/10 at 5:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sebastian OB View Post
Oh, and if crazy supernatural soap opera is your thing, I recommend PASSIONS.
Quoted because I lost a summer of my life to Passions. Poor Timmy.

I've caught a fair few episodes of Dark Shadows. Fun in small bursts.

I'm casually interested in this if only for Depp's passion for the project. Burton is a means to get it done, but as always I'm wary. It's another project that seems "so Burton" like Alice in Wonderland, but I wonder if it will deliver exactly what I'm expecting or be like that particular project and somehow be much, much worse.
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post #41 of 52
7/18/10 at 1:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Coombs View Post
I've caught a fair few episodes of Dark Shadows. Fun in small bursts.
That's how I'd describe it. As long as you realize what you're getting when you hear the description "supernatural soap opera", it can be an enjoyable time.
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post #42 of 52
7/18/10 at 1:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
There's more gold in there than you'd think - some really fucking insane actors doing really off the wall stuff. There are a few scenes where, legend has it, some of the young actors onscreen are on LSD during taping.
Also, I've never seen any of the pre-Barnabas episodes, but hearing this may make me change that. Are there any specific episodes (or dvds in the DARK SHADOWS: THE BEGINNING collection) you can recommend?
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post #43 of 52
7/18/10 at 1:53pm
Sorry - I'm referring to the show overall; everyone remembers it as "vampire character comes on and saves soap", but after that happened, they just started adding werewolves, zombies, ghosts, all kinds of crazy shit. And as the show creeped toward the end of the 60s, they added younger actors who were a little more in tune with the counterculture than the stale 40-and-up actors who'd peopled the cast previously.

The pre-Barnabas stuff I've only seen clips of (rent Dark Shadows: Special Edition) for a condensation of everything that happened before Barnabas.
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post #44 of 52
7/18/10 at 6:31pm
Oh, they have a convention every year - this year's just happened in Burbank. Old Jonathan Frid (Barnabas) got honored at some handprint ceremony.
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post #45 of 52
9/21/10 at 1:48am
The first 80 episodes of Dark Shadows' Barnabas Collins storyline are on Instant! Holy cow.
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post #46 of 52
9/21/10 at 11:13am
Holy shit. Phil, I NEVER would've pegged you for a Dark Shadows fanatic.

This was my mother and aunt's (don't feel too old, Phil, I think they watched when they were older than you. Girls and soaps and all that...) favorite show apparently. My mom got me to watch some of it when I was pretty young.

I only remember it boring me to tears mostly, although I seem to remember some sort of coolness lurking underneath.
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post #47 of 52
9/21/10 at 11:42am
It's DREADFUL. But I watched reruns from the age of, like, 4-12. It's one of those nostalgia things I can't explain. I love seeing black and white videotaped scenes of old rooms full of cobwebs, actors covered in greasepaint basically doing a live TV broadcast, flubs and all included. Sets fall over, actors forget lines, FIRES BREAK OUT and they actors keep going. It's kind of astonishing. It has a weird energy unlike anything before or since.

It's something I grew up with. I don't live and breathe it, and I've never seen the entire series' run, but I love showing samples to people.
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post #48 of 52
9/21/10 at 1:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
It's DREADFUL. But I watched reruns from the age of, like, 4-12. It's one of those nostalgia things I can't explain. I love seeing black and white videotaped scenes of old rooms full of cobwebs, actors covered in greasepaint basically doing a live TV broadcast, flubs and all included. Sets fall over, actors forget lines, FIRES BREAK OUT and they actors keep going. It's kind of astonishing.
Hahahaha. I'd love to see that.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
It has a weird energy unlike anything before or since.
Even as young as I was when I watched some of it (I want so say around 7-8?) I could sense that. I definitely remember a distinctly unique and "special" quality to it. I should check some out on Netflix.
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post #49 of 52
9/21/10 at 1:52pm
You pull the wrong one and it's like a 20 minute convo about a pen. I'm not kidding. Let me trawl through what's on Instant and I'll try to point you to a "gem" or two. EDIT: Here's a condensation of Barnabas' return.)

But if you just want the bloopers, there's a disc that collects them.
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post #50 of 52
9/21/10 at 2:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
You pull the wrong one and it's like a 20 minute convo about a pen. I'm not kidding. Let me trawl through what's on Instant and I'll try to point you to a "gem" or two. EDIT: Here's a condensation of Barnabas' return.)

But if you just want the bloopers, there's a disc that collects them.
I was gonna say. I'd love to dive in but, man, with everything else I've got saved and waiting to be watched I'm afraid I'll be diving into an empty pool like that poor fucker in Massacre at Central High.
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