Thursday, May 31, 2012

Blast From the Past

In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I was one of those youngsters (practically a baby, really) who raced home from school each afternoon to catch the last twenty minutes of Dark Shadows. From Barnabas, the Collins family vampire, to Quentin the werewolf, Angelique, the witch, and assorted ghosts and warlocks, Dark Shadows was a campy gothic horror soap opera that, at times, provided unintended comic relief when a prop malfunctioned or an actor forgot his or her lines--which happened frequently.
Dark Shadows was the catalyst for my first fledgling forays into the writing realm with stories of a ghostly (and, yes, ghastly) nature.

Dark Shadows has always held a special place in my childhood memories.I introduced my kids to Dark Shadows via Netflix. They loved the corniness of the show as much as I did. So, it was with some misgivings that I decided to go see the new film starring Johnny Depp.
Don't get me wrong. I like Johnny Depp. What's not to like, right? And even though I couldn't really see Depp as Barnabas Collins, I was determined to keep an open mind. So, I took two of my kids and one of their friends to see the film this past weekend. The family friend had never seen the original Dark Shadows so that person wouldn't be influenced by expectations based on the original series.

We went. We saw. We all disliked the movie--in varying degrees and for various reasons. We wondered who the filmmakers were trying to hook. The fans of the 70s soap, we decided, wouldn't like the fact that the story strayed so far from the original--(I won't disclose any spoilers, but suffice to say much literary license was taken) and new viewers unfamiliar with the storyline and characters of the original would find little to enchant them, either in terms of story or characterization. Me? I'm still wondering how Barnabas and Victoria managed to fall in love considering they spent hardly any time together on screen.

So. There you have it. I'm glad I saw it, but wish I'd waited for the DVD release.

Have you seen Dark Shadows yet? What did you think? Thumbs up or thumbs down or so-so? What else have you seen in the theater lately?

The previews for Snow White and The Huntsman looked fantastic--especially the special effects--so I'm planning to see that movie this weekend.

Hoping I'm not disappointed.

And this has been a week at the movies with Bullet Hole Bacus!

~Kat

4 comments:

Terri Osburn said...

No desire to see Dark Shadows. Never watched the show either. Though people are constantly telling me to go see Avengers, I'll skip that one too. Not into action or superheroes.

I did go see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel this weekend and it was wonderful. Agree that Snow White & the Huntsman looks good. I may make time for that one too. Though I find the idea of Kristen Stewart being more beautiful than Charlize Theron laughable.

Brandy said...

I barely remember anything of the old Dark Shadows premise and kind of want to see the remake. However, I'll wait until my library gets it. I haven't been to a movie in over a year (for a family of four it's just too expensive sometimes), but wanted to see that Pirates animation movie. It looked funny.

Kathy Bacus said...

OMG, Terri. We had the very same conversation about Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron on the way home after we'd seen the preview.

And yes! I've heard wonderful things about The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Once I saw the preview, I knew I had to see it so this may be one of those matinee/dinner/movie weekends.

Kathy Bacus said...

I'm not much for animated movies, Brandy, but that Pirates movie sounded like one I'd enjoy, too.