Dark Shadows (12A)
HH
Dir: Tim Burton
With: Johnny Depp, Eva Green, Michelle Pfeiffer
Running time: 113 minutes
Johnny Depp and Tim Burton both cite Dark Shadows as a major influence upon their careers so it's disappointing that their ensuing film version of the cult TV soap opera feels like it's trying too hard to please.
On the box, Dan Curtis's show ran from 1966 to 1971 and clocked up 1225 episodes while on the big screen it attempts to combine elements of Gothic horror, comedy, romance and tragedy in a little under two hours.
Picking up in the 18th century, the film introduces Barnabus Collins (Depp) as the lusty son of a Maine fishing family whose decision to spurn the advances of a witch named Angelique (Eva Green) spells dire consequences for his one true love and for himself, as he is turned into a vampire and buried alive.
Resurrected almost 200 years later, in 1972, Barnabus attempts to revive the family fortunes and gain revenge on Angelique while finding an unlikely second chance at love.
Burton's film retains many of the director's trademarks, both in look and themes, and provides Depp with the opportunity to create yet another endearing "freak", but it fails to juggle all of its elements in a satisfying manner.
The tone is uneven and the pace a little too slow, with the horror feeling anaemic and the romance under-cooked. Too much time is devoted to exploring Barnabus's reactions to his new world and his intense rivalry with Green's suitably vampish witch rather than really getting to know some of the colourful support, including Michelle Pfeiffer's matriarch and Chloe Moretz's rebellious daughter. Hence, some of the last-act revelations feel like after-thoughts and lack any impact.
Depp keeps it watchable, as does Green, but this eighth cinematic outing between star and director looks destined to exist in the shadows of their best work.
Reviewed by Rob Carnevale
Two Years at Sea (U)
HH
Dir: Ben Rivers
With: Jake Williams
Running time: 90 minutes
BEN Rivers's study of Jake Williams, a recluse living in the wilds of Scotland, has been catnip to critics and juries at film festivals, and you can see why, writes ALISON ROWAT. Almost every shot in this black and white piece is stunning enough to put straight in a gallery. Here be exquisite images of bottles glinting in a window, of clouds mirrored in panes, of a caravan perched in a tree like a nest. Yet Williams says nothing about why he dropped out, or what he thinks of his hardscrabble life,. There is, though, a wonderfully eclectic soundtrack to enjoy. Depending on your mood and tolerance for art house fare this is either screamingly tedious or strangely beguiling.
DCA, Dundee, May 13-17; GFT, May 22-24
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