黑暗阴影

Nominally based on the cult* favorite 1960s daytime soap opera, "Dark Shadows" has much more to do with what goes on inside director Tim Burton's head than with any TV show, no matter how beloved.

In fact, "Dark Shadows" is as good an example as any of what might be called the Way of Tim, a style of making films that, like the drinking of blood, is very much an acquired taste and, unless you are a vampire*, it is not worth the effort.

Blood, of course, figures prominently* in both the original "Dark Shadows," which ran on ABC for 1,225 episodes* between 1966 and 1971, and this new version, for both focus on the character of Barnabas Collins, an 18th century vampire who reappears in today's world.

Back in the day, having a contemporary* vampire on a daytime soap* was unheard of, and "Dark Shadows" soon developed a devoted following that extended into reruns, including two youngsters who grew up to wield* great power in Hollywood, filmmaker Burton and his frequent star, Johnny Depp.

With Depp onboard as Collins, the director was free to construct his own version of "Dark Shadows," which plays much more fang* in cheek, so to speak, than the more straight-ahead original.

As a result, the film turns out to be an uncertain combination of elements that unsuccessfully tries to be half-scary, half-funny and all strange.

The Collins' only son Barnabas (Depp) is something of a ladies' man, but when he toys with the affections of servant Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green), he finds he literally has hell to pay.

Bouchard is a practicing witch* who brings a bleak* end to Barnabas' love for Josette DuPres (Bella Heathcote) and turns the man himself into a vampire. Then, just to rub it in, she has him buried alive "so that his suffering would never end."

Eternity* does not last as long as it used to, and a mere 200 years have passed when some unwary* and unfortunate construction workers unearth Barnabas' coffin* and set him free. "You cannot imagine," he says after he has done his worst, "how thirsty I am."

Barnabas soon makes his way to Collinswood Manor, where he has passed off to the locals as a distant relative visiting from the United Kingdom. He tries to return the Collins family to prominence* but fails.

A director of moments rather than wholes, Burton is prone to wander off point and engage with unimportant concerns rather than matters such as plot coherence. "Dark Shadows" is all over the place, getting more grotesque and less involving the longer it goes on, and that, as even the undead would admit, is a damned shame. (SD-Agencies)