Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Release!!

[michael c]

i almost forgot it comes out this week. i'll look for it.

[madscntst]

I just got an e-mail from Amazon-- DS has shipped! 
 
 

Can't wait to receive it!

So, yesterday morning, the tracking said that my package was about 30 miles Southwest of me, and I thought maybe, just maybe, I'll get it a day early (that used to happen sometimes, in the good old days).  By the end of the day, it was still about 30 miles away from me, but to the Northeast.  Grr.  Well, today it's in the next town over and "out for delivery", so hopefully it'll be there when I get home.  Hope everyone who's expecting theirs today, or going out to stores to get it, gets it okay!

[KMR]

I ordered my copy through Columbia House DVD club, and was very surprised to see a note on my account on Friday that it had shipped. It actually arrived yesterday, one day before the official release date! And here I was worried that ordering through the club was going to make me get the disc much later than if I had just walked into Best Buy or Target on Tuesday!

So of course I watched it last night. For me , the movie definitely gets better the more I've seen it (this was the third time). Knowing all the stuff to come makes the story more "filled in", and the Vicki/Josette character doesn't seem to have been "abandoned" as much midway through the film--maybe because I'm noticing every little detail a lot more. And the lack of audience laughter makes the vomit scene easier to take. Hey, even the Carolyn stuff at the end seemed to play out more slowly and not be so out-of-left-field.

Now that I'm also mailing my way through the pre-Barnabas eps of the OS, I can see how amazingly clever the script was in using SO many aspects of the series. The family business threatened by someone who's retaliating against the Collins family; slimy Roger Collins; strong Elizabeth Collins; the house being just as much a character as it was in the OS (as grand as it was in the revival series, the house in that one never reached the same stature). And just little details here and there that I can't think of at the moment but that I am actually feeling when watching the movie.

And the Blu-ray is just absolutely gorgeous on my big plasma screen.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The status of my Blu-ray at Amazon still says "Shipping Soon." But I'm going to be so busy this week that I wouldn't be able to get out to buy it in a store until Friday - and IF Amazon does ship it today, I'll probably have it by Friday, or Saturday at the latest, so I'm not really all that upset. 

144 days 15 hours 24 minutes 50 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!

The day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows comes out on DVD/Blu-ray is here(ET)!!

[Phil]

Didn't see this here yet:

http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/170183-excl-john-august-on-the-dark-shadows-movie-that-never-was

Asked how much of his work is represented in the final cut, August told me, "Not a lot.  Dark Shadows, when it came to me, it was before Twilight had come out and before True Blood.  They said, 'Let's make a big gothic, vampire drama.'  I pitched that and I wrote a Godfather-like saga of the Collins family and Barnabas was at the center of it all."

"I was really happy with it and it looked like it was going to happen," August continued.  "Other movies came first, other things happened first.  Twilight and True Blood came out and, suddenly, vampires were everywhere.  I understood the instinct of, 'Let's not make it a drama, let's make it a comedy,' but that wasn't the movie I set out to write.  It was frustrating, but that's the nature of screenwriting.  You're building a movie that may not end up shooting.

One similarity August noted was that his story was a period piece as well.  "It took itself seriously.  It was set in '71 too and leaned on that for a bit of the comedy, but it played itself straight and not a comedy.  I was excited to make that movie and, honestly, I think it's one of the best scripts I've written.  But I totally get why, at the time they went off to make it, they didn't make that version.  It was frustrating to see other things coming out doing what was there, like True Blood, but that's going to happen."

[Midnite]

Didn't see this here yet:

It was posted as a separate topic:

The original Depp Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

In honor of the DVD/Blu-ray release of the film, 28 more new screen captures and set ups have been posted to the film's Complete This Phrase / Fill In The Blank(s) board. And just as before, be warned that if you haven't already seen the film, the screen caps may contain spoilers.

And as an aside, in the scene in which Barnabas asks Willie what year it is, I once wondered if perhaps the blood on Barnabas' face was digitally added because of how in some trailers/TV spots he has it while in others he doesn't. But this screen capture would seem to be proof that it actually was real makeup:

So I suppose that may mean that they shot footage both with and without the blood and decided which to go with during the editing.

144 days 18 hours 44 minutes 58 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!

The day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows comes out on DVD/Blu-ray is here(ET)!!

[KMR]

So I suppose that may mean that they shot footage both with and without the blood and decided which to go with during the editing.

I'm curious as to whether they did a re-shoot of that scene, or shot it both ways to start out with. If the latter, I wonder how many continuity variations they planned on having to cover!

[mm#7]

I purchased my copy from J and R today. I am off for 3 days, and plan to watch it Wednesday. Looking forward to seeing it. Also DS fans, lets not forget ,4 weeks from today the long awaited DVD and Blu release of House and Night. Looking forward to that also, even though Night is not the directors cut. It still will be great to see these in Blu Ray. Take care everyone.

[Brandon Collins]

I bought a Bluray copy of the film yesterday and watched it with my boyfriend last night. He had no knowledge of DS the show going into this movie, other than that it existed and that was what the movie was based off of.

This being the third time I've seen the movie, I definitely enjoyed it much more. As a whole it is a solid film when you don't compare it to the original series. Watching it with my boyfriend helped me actually get into the film and forget about comparing it so much because he didn't know anything about the series. He did think that the puking and the werewolf things in the climax of the movie were both stupid and came out of nowhere, especially for the latter plot point.

I wasn't impressed by the design of the menu on the disc and I was disappointed by the lack of extras that were included. On the Bluray there were deleted scenes (one with Vicki and Julia was especially good IMO) and a sort of enhanced movie mode. The DVD includes the feature about the strangeness of each family member--I don't remember what that featurette is called--but I was kind of expecting it to also be included on the Bluray disc so you wouldn't have to change discs to watch it. I suppose the extras that are included are pretty par for the course given the films level of success in the states, where a movie like The Avengers or The Hunger Games had hours of extras.

[David]

 

You may all now burst into applause & declare me the Dark Shadows hero of the hour. My essay, Why Dark Shadows Matters, is now up at Fangoris: www.fangoria.com

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I haven't received my copy of the DS DVD/Blu-ray Combo pack (though it did ship yesterday), so I can't specifically comment on the extras. But I'm just happy that it seems like the entire world is getting all the same extras, at least when it pertains to deleted scenes and featurettes. I've noticed that many times if a film is more successful in, say, Japan or Europe (or even one specific country in Europe), the DVD/Blu-ray released in that region will contain extras that the US version does not have - and as we know, the DS film was much more successful in foreign countries than it was here in the US. The only version that I've noticed that is different from what is available is the US is the SteelBook edition that only seems to be available in France. But to me that sort of packaging is a negligible incentive to buy, and it doesn't matter to me that the film's soundtrack CD (as opposed to its score CD) is included because I already own it.

145 days 15 hours 6 minutes 42 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!

The Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is now out on DVD/Blu-ray!!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I'll definitely read your essay when I get the chance, David. I tried to read it a short while ago but some sort of odd whiteness that I couldn't get rid of came over the page before I could click the link. 

145 days 15 hours 21 minutes 11 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!

The Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is now out on DVD/Blu-ray!!

[David]

MB: that was probably an ad, which keeps Fangoria nice & profitable! (how else are they going to pay me what I'm worth? )
I think the site gives you the option to delete ads as they pop up.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I presumed it was going to be an ad. But I waited 5 minutes and it just stayed white, so who knows what was going on. And that isn't the first time I've encountered that problem on their site.    But I will get through eventually because I always do. 

145 days 15 hours 52 minutes 36 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!

The Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is now out on DVD/Blu-ray!!