The Dark Shadows movie trailer debuted three days ago, stirring up a wide range of opinion from the show's fans. Controversy aside, the release has already made an strong impact
online, clocking up an impressive 2.8 million hits on YouTube.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Dark Shadows screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith defended the trailer's broad approach, saying that the filmmakers had deliberately tried to surprise the audience: "Some of the leaked photos evoke a very straightforward, dour, gothic feeling, which the movie
does have in places. However, it’s also a very entertaining, very funny
movie. We wanted it to be something that
paid homage to the actual series, which was campy in its own right and
very sincere... I think when people see the movie,
they’ll realize we struck a good balance between respectful and updated."
Addressing the thorny area of updating an established property, Seth suggests: "If we made a movie that was strictly
just for the hardcore fans, I worry that it would exclude other people
who might not want to then experience Dark Shadows... We tried to have those elements in
the movie that would really pay respect to the original series, to the
origin stories... to the idea of this as
a real family story, and a gothic story, and something that would make
[series creator] Dan Curtis proud. And yet we wanted to open it up, because we wanted
people to not be frightened of it. We want people to come and enjoy it
as something completely new."
4 comments:
I was a young viewer of the original series and movies. I don't know what I expected I guess I should have known with T Burton doing the movie. I am dissapointed in the campiness. I realize the 68 serial was that way when you watch now but back then not so much.
Oh my god, they did that on purpose! Seth really got us didn't he? Sorry I wasn't alive when the original show was on TV, but the people behind this film were and I think this will be a great film. They waited until the Ides of March to release the trailer but they should have waited until April 1st.
I always thought Dark Shadows,TOS was campy not so much for its humor but its melodrama. No melodrama indicated in this trailer so I can't pin camp on a Tim Burton project.
All of his films display dark humor combined with top notch art direction, most often in a Gothic vein. Stories with heart and adequate acting, imo.
If this movie can tap into the soap's main ingredient, suspense…there in lies the homage!
I saw Seth give a talk at Emerson College tonight. He said Jonathan Frid did a cameo. He also said that Kathryn Leigh Scott is a real keeper of the flame, and was on the set contributing. It seems they are still shooting, since he emailed lines for an actress to do today. He implied that the jokey moments are in the trailer, that there are macabre scenes as well.
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