Posted to the Internet is a new, slightly expanded version of the trailer for Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows. This one does feature singer Alice Cooper towards the end of it. It should be noted that the moment when Cooper is singing at the landing in the middle of the staircase takes place during a party at Collinwood that will reportedly feature the cameo appearances by Jonathan Frid, Lara Parker, David Selby and Kathryn Leigh Scott. From what’s been gathered so far, these are literally walk-on parts with no actual dialogue (though that could be wrong).
Rob
March 19, 2012
Why do I have the sinking feeling that the more footage I see in these trailers, the more I’ll loathe this entire debacle? Plus – aside from everything else – none of the humor is even funny! This drivel makes “Airplane” seem like “The Philadelphia Story.”
And why am I now suspicious of their reasons for involving the original cast? Less of a heartfelt tribute to the actors – and more of a calculated attempt at leveraging some amount of goodwill from the enraged core fan base perhaps?
Toby
March 19, 2012
If having original cast members in that awful scene was supposed to alleviate the pain of this mess, then they sorely miscalculated on that. It’s about like Pierson telling us that because the OC is happy with the film, we should be too.
Well, I’m sure they got a big, fat, check — of course they are happy.
I am so sick of sellouts these days. It’s like we live in a nation of em!
Well, maybe David Selby isn’t a sellout since I hear he dropped out of attending the premiere of this attrocity. By the way — I left a long post at Kathrynleighscott.com and they deleted it.
Can’t have any “negativity”/I.e., truth, can we?
Pitiful…and sad. MOSTLY sad.
lonn4670
March 19, 2012
I just can’t wait this see masterpiece!!! Looks incredible. Kudos to Depp and Burton for another winning collaboration__not!
Toby
March 19, 2012
Slightly expanded but still sucks major “posterior”…
Hahaha!! I just have to laugh now. Sorry guys…it’s just so laughably bad. It’s like I’m having a bad dream about this movie that I can’t seem to wake up from…
Lizzie
March 19, 2012
I was so excited when I heard they were doing this movie, now that I have seen the trailer I doubt I will even go see it. Ridiculous is all I can say.
Toby
March 19, 2012
I feel your pain, Lizzie. This was, next to Prometheus, my most eagerly anticipated film for this summer.
Imagine if the Star Trek franchise had received this kind of treatment.
DS could have been like Trek — a series of successful films and then a return to TV! That should have been the goal here!
But, no…opportunity squandered.
chris
March 19, 2012
Still sucks.
What’s more, a lot of the stuff in these trailers, in my opinion, isn’t even funny. Barnabas brushing his (invisible in the mirror) fangs…not funny. Barnabas thinks Karen Carpenter in the TV is a miniature woman…not funny. Funny to some people? Maybe…to me it falls really, really flat.
valjazz
March 19, 2012
Hum….Now that we have “Dark Shadows: The Comedy”, let us consider some other possibilities for the franchise. How about “Dark Shadows: The Musical”, directed by John Waters or “Dark Shadows: The Ballet”, choreographed by Twyla Tharp. Yeah… lets milk this puppy!
DCWhatthe
March 19, 2012
Ok, that’s the last straw. They interrupted a Karen CARPENTER song!
Why, those low-down scoundrels!
chris
March 19, 2012
it would be fine…if it was funny…
lonn
March 19, 2012
All of a sudden Manning has 14 comments on his latest post praising the “film” and basically kissing his ass. One guy says this is how a 200 year old vampire should look like, not like Frid or Ben Cross. Right!
diabolus
March 19, 2012
Any way you slice it Dark Shadows has been Beetlejuiced. Burton and Co. funny franchised it. Graham Smith’s recent interview with Entertainment Weekly confirms the worst. And the fact that they wanted to surprise us so they lied about the comedy elements is bull$#!t. They didn’t want a fan base backlash any sooner than they had to have one. Now they have one. Big time. P.S. I am glad people here are calling Stuart Manning out on his a$$kissing. He has a $take in the commercial success of this cartoon. Perhaps taken on its own, by an audience not at all familiar with the original, it will meet with commercial success. Star Trek was not made into Galaxy Quest. Star Wars was not made into Space Balls. Why was Dark Shadows turned into Love at First Bite????
Toby
March 19, 2012
Ahhh…there ya go…making sense!! That can’t be allowed you “hater”! LOL!!
chris
March 20, 2012
You know what? I LOVED Galaxy Quest…LOVED it. But if they had taken Star Trek in that direction I would have raised holy hell. That’s the problem with me…based on the source material I was expecting a big budget take on a supernatural drama/horror and I got a farce…not that I don’t enjoy farce but that’s not what I was expecting or hoping for with this and that’s what ticks me off about it.
Toby
March 20, 2012
Loved Galaxy Quest too! And I agree with your position on that…
rob
March 20, 2012
Wow. Someone is paying overtime for their PR team these days. It’s so obvious that the positive comments on the “other” site were cherry-picked and that the negative ones were not posted at all. Also telling – in a transparent attempt at achieving a false balance, a few posts with very minor complaints were thrown in to the mix. What’s not represented: the feeling of betrayal or the outrage.
alex
March 20, 2012
Dark Shadows fans are crazy. I mean, this is tonally not Dark Shadows, but the basic story elements are there. The problem here isn’t really about anybody being betrayed. Burton and Depp said they were huge fans of the show, true, but at what point did that imply that how they loved and viewed the show would be what you people wanted? The problem lies with the fans and the insane amounts of hype heaped upon this production from the start. This is one interpretation, is it ideal? No, but just because it isn’t ideal doesn’t mean it’s terrible. I’m involved in a great many fandoms with plenty of their own arguments, but the level of crazypants in this particular set of comments is hilarious.
Ed Gross
March 20, 2012
Whether or not someone has pants that are crazy is something that person has to deal with. While at some point one has to say they accept or reject the approach taken, I think part of the response is coming from the IMPLICATION that as old-time fans of the show Burton and Depp would hew at least a little bit closer to the source material, and not something that seems (based on the trailer and comments from cast and crew) so diametrically the opposite.
Toby
March 20, 2012
Amen, Ed.
However, I take exception to the “crazy” remark…
So it’s now considered “crazy” to be opposed to a film that has taken the intent of the original property it’s based on and turned it on its head?
From my vantage point it’s “crazy” to defend something that has been so (from the trailers and statements made by those who worked on the film — as well as those who participated in early screenings) radically deviated from the creators intent.
See, the proponents of this film are the ones hurling insults and leaving condescending posts like the one above. The die-hard fans like me are mostly complaining amongst ourselves and criticizing the makers of the film for promising one thing and delivering another!
How, pray tell, is that unreasonable or “crazy”?
alex
March 20, 2012
I’m not for or against the movie. The trailer was clearly not my ideal Dark Shadows film, but I’m keeping an open mind. That’s the craziness I’m seeing. Any time somebody wants to keep an open mind about this project people come out doing as you have. It’s unreasonable to not keep an open mind about something you have not even seen.
It’s just a different interpretation. It’s not the end of the world. Will it be terrible? Seems quite possible, but just because the trailer isn’t showing me what I wanted doesn’t mean the film is a failure.
Toby
March 20, 2012
Whatever dude.
It comes down to this: you’re ok with having waited for a comedy version of DS and I’m not. I wanted gothic HORROR like every incarnation up to 1991, not gothic COMEDY as Warner Brothers and Helena Bonham Carter and Eva Green have described it.
Again, if I go to Burger King and order a Whopper and I get home, open the bag, and find a grilled chicken sandwich — I’m not going to be happy. And telling me they are both served on a bun and therefore similar and that I shouldn’t complain because they are both served on a bun and have lettuce on them — guess what — ain’t gonna make me like that sandwich because it’s not what ordered.
Capiche? Why is this concept do hard for some to grasp?
Ed Gross
March 20, 2012
Guys, I don’t want this to go downhill. You’re all entitled to your opinions on the trailer, but I have to agree that it’s difficult to pass final judgment on the film until more than two minutes of it have been seen. I’m clearly disappointed and although I think the mainstream audience would have gone for a more straight-forward version, I have every reason to believe that that mainstream audience (i.e. the non-die hard fans) will also go for this whacked out version. Bottom line is that we’ll know soon enough.
In any case, keep the opinions going — just let’s not get personal about it, okay?
alex
March 20, 2012
But I never said I was okay with a comedy. This is the crazy pants I’m talking about. I’ve never said “ZOMG GUYS I TOTALLY, LYKE, LOVE THIS NEW TAKE” I’m just waiting to see how the movie is, and yeah I’m disappointed in the direction, but it could still be okay.
It’s just crazy because no matter how many times I state my position, all anyone hears is that I’m a staunch supporter of the new movie. How is THAT such a difficult concept to grasp?
Toby
March 20, 2012
I won’t be getting personal. I haven’t called anyone “crazy” or stupid or anything like that. I have strictly talked about what *I* don’t like about the film based on all the data I’ve gathered so far. I haven’t been mean to anybody! LOL!!
I’ve been completely logical about the whole thing — as per my Burger King metaphor above.
Only, unlike BK. I can’t take this movie back…HAHAHA!!!
Toby
March 20, 2012
We get it, Alex — you have an open mind towards this film and I freely admit I don’t! HAHA!!! I’m not judging you for giving it a chance…
I just feel like I’ve seen enough to get a pretty good idea of what it is…and I’m not in denial about it.
alex
March 20, 2012
Yes, but how a person regards being a fan is pretty varied. That includes just how involved they were with whatever they’re a fan of and just what about the thing in question made them a fan. As for the “little bit closer”. It’s fairly close, I mean, all the pieces are there. It’s just, now things seem to be a bit more humorous.
DCWhatthe
March 20, 2012
…criticizing the makers of the film for promising one thing and delivering another!…
Yes, that’s my point of view, Toby. I generally like what Burton & Depp do. Quirky is good, it makes the world more interesting.
I’ll see this film, but am annoyed at the misrepresentation by B & D. I guess BECAUSE Burton & Depp tend to be on the eccentric side, I expect them to be more forthcoming, than the average politician.
Bad conclusion, I know. We live & learn.
Toby
March 20, 2012
I used to like what Burton and Depp did too, but I won’t ever forgive them for this DS film. I really won’t see any more of their films because of this.
I can’t say I ever went to see a film just because it had their names on it, but I certainly respected and appreciated the talent.
Directors who get me to go see their films just based on name recognition are: Ridley Scott, Sam Raimi, Guillermo Del Toro, and Alex Proyas.
But, as I say — I respected Burton until this.
Rob
March 21, 2012
“Crazypants.”
I’ve been called many things over the years, but never “crazypants.” That description (not too far off base in regard to my ongoing reaction to the Burton/Depp version of “Dark Shadows”) actually made me laugh out loud.
Which, unfortunately, is more than the film appears to be able to do.
DMarieD
March 23, 2012
Toby,
I’m disappointed too, but the Burger King analogy is way off because when you order a Whopper, Burger King must give you a Whopper, or your money back. Tim Burton and Johnny Depp did not make the new movie because you, me, or any other fans of the original show ordered it. Our wishes, hopes and dreams have been dashed now that we have been forewarned by the trailer, but that’s our problem, not theirs. The “switches in the Christmas stocking” analogy, on the other hand, is spot on.
Patrick Lynch
March 31, 2012
When I showed my fiancee’ the first trailer, her first response was “Austin Powers Goes To Collinwood”. My heart sank when she said that because based on the trailer alone that’s exactly what it looks like. The subsequent trailers largely reinforce her take on it. She watched the show as a kid in the 60′s while her mother ironed but doesn’t remember a whole lot about it beyond what a sort of casual viewer would, but her take based on the trailer that the tone they’re selling does not match her memories.
Since then, co-workers and friends have come up to me having seen the trailers at the movies and they all to a person said. “Patrick, I’m so sorry about Dark Shadows”. Trailers can be misleading so I hope they’re wrong, but its an effort to remain optimistic for the kind of movie so many of us have longed for. We’ll see.