The Many Syncs (And Swipes) Of "Dark Shadows"

Tim Burton's "Dark Shadows" is such a problematic movie that I don't think I have the patience to watch it again for a deep analysis -- but a few syncs and general observations of note, especially in light of my post linking Johnny Depp/Heath Ledger/Brandon Lee.

First of all, "Dark Shadows" is like if every "gothic" film from the 1990s vomited its tropes back at us, including Burton doing a Xerox of Burton doing a Xerox of Burton (with tired "Catwoman" Michelle Pfeiffer thrown in for good measure). Whole scenes from such flicks as "Sleepy Hollow," "Interview With A Vampire" (it is rumored that Depp originally turned down the role of Lestat) and even "The Craft" have been lifted here -- though the subtler "swipes" and allusions are the more intriguing, in terms of the journey of Johnny Depp the Movie Persona.


Depp/Ledger/Joker/Crow Syncs:

Depp, as Barnabas Collins, recites lyrics from the Steve Miller Band classic "The Joker":

As I've pointed out before, Depp shares resonances with "Dark Knight" Joker Heath Ledger -- as well as very heavy "The Crow" connections (leading all the way up to Depp's upcoming "The Lone Ranger").

Conveniently, Alice Cooper, one of the original visual inspirations for The Crow, appears in "Dark Shadows" as himself:

Bela Finally "Teaches" Ed Wood

In Burton's "Ed Wood," Bela Lugosi teaches Wood how to do the mesmerizing hand trick...

In "Dark Shadows," Wood/Depp has seemed to have perfected it:

Does this truly make Tim Burton "Ed Wood," the maker of an inexplicably bad film?


Dark Shadows/Ninth Gate: Black Books & "The Girl"

Both Barnabas Collins and "The Ninth Gate's" Dean Corso are literally bewitched by dangerous blonds, the stories told in the engravings of old books:

Barnabas/Angelique:

Dean Corso/"The Girl":

"Nightmare On Elm Street": Full Circle

One of Depp's first film roles was in the original "Nightmare on Elm Street" -- where he was eventually murdered by Freddy Krueger:

In "Dark Shadows," Barnabas's Renfield-like slave is played by Jackie Earle Haley, who of course portrayed Freddy in the "new" Nightmare:

The Eye-Stigmata Of Johnny Depp

Barnabas bleeds from his eyes in "Dark Shadows"...

As he does in "Once Upon A Time In Mexico":

The visual look, again, reminiscent of The Crow:

And William Blake, the character he played in "Dead Man":

And is that the archetype Depp is destined to play: the dead man, Death? Or is it more like, "walker between the worlds," more like Orpheus in the underworld...or Trickster?

Or is Depp the actor -- of which his entire oeuvre is necessarily a part -- evolving through the archetypes, as in a tarot deck? Encountering seemingly the same situations...the same "scenes"...over and over...all of which, if we examine our lives, we do as well?

(The gross elitist/classist quality of "Dark Shadows," which it shares with the ill-fated "Munsters" reboot "Mockingbird Lane," will be explored in a future post.)