Dark ShadowsMovie Reviews

See this movie in Dark Shadows: The IMAX Experience in IMAX

So-so

Avg. Critic Score: 55 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore^® based on all critic reviews

Information for Parents:

Iffy for 13+

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Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

83

Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman
Depp's performance is more than just funny - it's ghoulishly endearing. Read full review
75

Boston Globe | Ty Burr
Tim Burton has got his groove back. Read full review
75

Philadelphia Inquirer | Steven Rea
Pinpointing the era - lovingly - is very much what Dark Shadows' has on its mind. While there's a tangle of romance and vengeance and all sorts of family matters to deal with, Burton's film is really about hippies in bell-bottoms, stoned out in their VW micro-buses. Read full review
75

San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle
There are times, not too many, when the movie drags. But when you consider all the pitfalls avoided, and all the laughs and pleasures it provides along the way, Dark Shadows is a satisfying and skillful effort. Read full review
63

Rolling Stone | Peter Travers
The pleasures of Dark Shadows are frustratingly hit-and-miss. In the end, it all collapses into a spectacularly gorgeous heap. Read full review
63

USA Today | Claudia Puig
At its best in comic mode, more effective as goofy spoof than horror show. Read full review
60

New York Daily News | Joe Neumaier
Whether it works is a matter of taste, but the fact that Burton's revisit unearths enough fun while feeling like four films in one is testament to the source's seductive bloodline. Read full review
50

The Hollywood Reporter | Todd McCarthy
Dark Shadows sinks its teeth half-way into its potentially meaty material but hesitates to go all the way. Read full review
40

Wall Street Journal | Joe Morgenstern
Amusing, in fits and spurts, and sure to make tons of money, but terribly familiar and fatigued. Read full review
40

NPR | Bob Mondello
It's stately with a smirk, crossing Bram Stoker with "The Addams Family" to arrive at what sometimes feels like a wildly overproduced "Saturday Night Live" sketch. Read full review

Metacritic link View more reviews for Dark Shadows on Metacritic

Information for Parents

Common Sense Media says Iffy for 13+ Mixed-up Depp/Burton vampire comedy has blood, innuendo.

What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that Dark Shadows is Tim Burton and Johnny Depp's big-screen adaptation of the cult '60s TV vampire soap opera, with a generous helping of silliness added. There's plenty of vampire violence and blood, though the blood is deliberately fake-looking, and the killings largely take place off screen. A flashback sequence involves a young girl's parents shipping her off to an asylum, where she's locked in a cell and receives electroshock therapy. While there's no nudity, there's lots of sexual innuendo and passionate kissing -- and a 15-year-old girl is disturbingly sexualized, often posing, dancing, or speaking in sexy ways. Language includes several uses of words like "s--t," "bitch," and "bastard"; the main character smokes pot in one scene, and supporting characters are shown drinking to excess. This isn't swoon-worthy vampire cinema a la Twilight, but Burton and Depp fans should enjoy the duo's always-quirky pairing.

Families can talk about Dark Shadows' vampire violence. Is it scary or funny? Which is it meant to be? What's shown, and what isn't shown? How does that affect its impact?
Are the scenes with 15-year-old Chloe Grace Moretz sexy or uncomfortable? Is she too young for this material, or does the movie's playful tone make it OK?
How is Angelique portrayed? Talk about female stereotypes in novels and films, particularly the "sexual (but evil) temptress."
Why do you think so many of the characters in this movie drink so much? Does the movie treat this seriously or jokingly?

The good stuff

Positive messages: Dark Shadows has a narrated introduction about how important family is, and there's a takeaway about avoiding the "curse" of a loveless life, but these themes aren't conveyed strongly. Basically, It's a one-man show, with Barnabas taking center stage and rarely turning to his family or helping them with anything. The other family members appear to despise one another. An uncle chooses to leave his son in exchange for money. And in general, problems are solved through violence.
Positive role models: Barnabas' behavior is supposed to be based on love, and he's funny and charming (for a vampire), but his actions aren't admirable -- they're mostly mean-spirited and violent. None of the supporting characters offer anything admirable, either.

What to watch for

Violence: The movie's mood is comic, so none of the violence has a heavy impact; but there are also no notable consequences for the killings -- and there are a lot of them, with lots of blood (which seems to have been deliberately colored to resemble the fake-looking TV blood of the 1960s). Most characters die off screen. The movie's climax includes a special effects-heavy supernatural fight between characters (including a stream of green vomit) but little brutality. In a flashback, parents ship a little girl off to an asylum because she sees ghosts; there are some potentially upsetting shots of her locked up in a cell and receiving electroshock treatment. Also some spooky ghosts and an explosion/fire.
Sexy stuff: Plenty of innuendo (references to touching oneself, making noises, etc.) and some passionate kissing, but no nudity. Barnabas kisses or has sexual encounters with three women (four if you count that the same actress plays women of two different eras). He has supernatural "sex" with a witch: Locked in an embrace (and still clothed), they crash all over the walls and ceiling of a room. A female character lowers her face, off screen, to the main character's crotch to (presumably) give him oral sex. A woman rips off her top to reveal her cleavage and places Barnabas' hand on her (covered) breasts. Also of note is the way in which 15-year-old actress Chloe Grace Moretz is sexualized in her scenes, posing or dancing sensually or reciting dialogue in a sexy way.
Language: "S--t" is used a couple of times; "bitch," "damn," "a--hole," "hell," "bastard," "whore," "oh my God," and "balls" are also used. There's also a range of insults, including "stupid," "harlot," succubus," etc.
Consumerism: When Barnabas emerges from his coffin, he's entranced by a giant "McDonald's" sign. There are lots of references to 1970s-era products, some of which are still around today -- there's a Wheaties cereal box, toys like Operation and Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots, and a "troll" doll. Scooby-Doo is shown on television.
Drinking, drugs and smoking: A supporting character is shown to have a drinking problem. It's treated comically, but she's drinking and belligerent in nearly every scene. She also pops some kind of prescription pill. Another supporting character is shown slobbering drunk in one scene. Barnabas is around a group of hippies who smoke pot. A 15-year-old girl is involved in a joke about being "stoned" (shown in the trailer), in which Barnabas misunderstands the meaning of the term.

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