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Dark Shadows is a 2012 American dark fantasy film based on the gothic television soap opera of the same name. Directed by Tim Burton, the film stars Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Chloë Grace Moretz, and Bella Heathcote in a dual role. Christopher Lee has a small role in the film, his 200th film appearance and his fifth and final appearance in a Burton film. Jonathan Frid, star of the original Dark Shadows series, makes a cameo, which was his final screen appearance, as he died shortly before the release of the film. One of the film's producers, Richard D. Zanuck, died two months after its release.
The film had a limited release on May 10, 2012, and was officially released the following day in North America. It performed poorly at the United States box office, but did well in foreign markets. Reviews for the film were mixed; critics praised its visual style and consistent humor, but felt it lacked a focused or substantial plot and developed characters.
Plot[]
In 1760, young Barnabas Collins and his wealthy family set sail from Liverpool to the New World, where they establish the town of Collinsport in Maine and construct Collinwood Mansion, their grand estate. Fifteen years later, Barnabas spurns the advances of his servant, Angelique, who is secretly a witch. In response, she murders his parents using magic and curses Barnabas so that "all he loves will die".
Barnabas becomes obsessed with dark magic to prove his parents were murdered. Under Angelique's spell, his fiancée Josette jumps to her death from a cliff called "Widow's Hill". He throws himself after her, but survives, further cursed by Angelique to eternal suffering as a vampire. Angelique turns the town against Barnabas and gets him buried alive.
In 1972, almost 200-years-later, Maggie Evans, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Josette, travels to Collinwood to fill the position of governess. She assumes the alias Victoria Winters and meets the dysfunctional current-residents of Collinwood: Collins matriarch Elizabeth and her teenage daughter Carolyn; Elizabeth's brother Roger and his young son David, who believes he is being visited by his late-mother's ghost; and a live-in alcoholic psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman. That night, Victoria is visited by the ghost of Josette.
A construction crew building a McDonald's unwittingly frees Barnabas from his tomb. He apologetically feeds on their blood and then makes his way to Collinwood, perplexed by the modern-day technology and fashion he encounters.
At Collinwood, Barnabas hypnotizes the caretaker, Willie, into his service and reveals to Elizabeth that the legends of the family curse and her long-lost ancestor are true. He asks to rejoin the family and shows Elizabeth the manor's secret passages and hidden treasure. Though wary, she introduces him to the family as a distant relative from England.
While adjusting to modern life and falling for Victoria, Barnabas uses his powers of persuasion and the family treasure to restore both the Collins Canning Company and Collinwood to their former glory. Dr. Hoffman learns of his true nature and offers to try to turn him mortal again. They start by removing his blood and giving him transfusions of human blood.
Angelique, having survived through the centuries and now the owner of the dominant Angel Bay Seafood, is still in love with Barnabas. To protect Victoria, he gives in to Angelique's lust and they have sex in her office, but, afterwards, a remorseful Barnabas again rejects Angelique.
Barnabas hosts a "happening" at Collinwood for the entire town, with Alice Cooper as entertainment. He finds Victoria alone, who reveals she has seen the ghost of Josette her entire life; her parents committed her to an asylum as a result, but she eventually escaped and Josette directed her to Collinwood. She returns Barnabas' affections and they kiss, to Angelique's dismay.
More eager than ever to be human, Barnabas goes to Dr. Hoffman's office, where he discovers her transfusing his blood into herself to try to stop her aging. He drains all the blood from her body, and he and Willie dump her at sea, telling everyone she went away on business.
Barnabas confronts the greedy Roger and offers him a choice: to become a better father to David, or to leave Collinwood with enough money to live out his life elsewhere; Roger chooses the latter. Heartbroken, David is nearly struck by a falling disco ball, but Barnabas saves him with supernatural speed and catches fire in the daylight, revealing himself as a vampire. David, Carolyn, and Victoria are shocked.
Desperate, Barnabas meets with Angelique, who goads him into confessing to his murders and demands he join her as her paramour. He refuses, so she again traps him in a coffin. Angelique destroys the Collins’ cannery and, with a recording of Barnabas' confession, rallies the town against the family.
David frees Barnabas, who confronts Angelique at Collinwood. They battle, and the townspeople see that she is a witch. Elizabeth and Carolyn, who reveals herself to be a werewolf, join the fight, and Angelique enchants the house to turn against the Collins family. She admits she was responsible for the werewolf that bit Carolyn as an infant, and for the deaths of David's mother and Barnabas' parents. The ghost of David's mother appears and incapacitates Angelique, and the family escape the burning manor. Angelique offers Barnabas her heart, which crumbles as she dies.
Barnabas races to Widow's Hill and finds Victoria, who says there is only one way for them to be together. When he refuses to turn her into a vampire, she steps off the cliff. He leaps after her, biting her neck on the way down. On the rocks, he holds her in his arms. Now a vampire, she awakens as Josette. As they kiss, a voiceover from Barnabas declares that his curse is now lifted. Though Barnabas thinks he is finally safe, Dr. Hoffman, bound and on the sea floor, opens her eyes.