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Suddenly, A Werewolf Happened!
Jul. 25th, 2012 09:36 amSince Wonderful Husband currently has an electrical class Tuesday nights, last night I opted to go see Dark Shadows while he was at class. It's a film he had no interest in seeing. I, OTOH, have fond memories of the short-lived 1990s revival series, so....
The theater was packed. Which I kind of expected given it was a discount theater to begin with, and half-off night ($1 tickets!) on top of that. What I didn't expect was that this was apparently a family film. As in parents bringing really little kiddies. From the audience makeup, I guess a PG-13 rating actually means sure, bring your three-year-old!
Visually, the film was well done. I spotted and squeed at the original actor cameos. And I found myself really liking several of the characters. But where the film failed, I think, was in being a particular kind of film. It couldn't decide if it was serious, a comedy, mocking the '70s, or taking the zeitgeist as a legitimate one. Was this a horror? A morality play? Am I supposed to take Barnabas' angst seriously? I have no idea. And, too, it felt like it was almost attempting to cram too many seasons/themes from the original TV series into one film. Plus one of the characters suddenly being a werewolf at the big fight scene at the end needed to be more heavily (forgive the pun) foreshadowed earlier. As it was, it felt like "Suddenly, A Werewolf Happened!"
That said, I think I like the film. It was fun, and it's given the hindbrain a plotbunny or two to gnaw on once the current spate of Avengers plotbunnies are all chewed up and written out.
The theater was packed. Which I kind of expected given it was a discount theater to begin with, and half-off night ($1 tickets!) on top of that. What I didn't expect was that this was apparently a family film. As in parents bringing really little kiddies. From the audience makeup, I guess a PG-13 rating actually means sure, bring your three-year-old!
Visually, the film was well done. I spotted and squeed at the original actor cameos. And I found myself really liking several of the characters. But where the film failed, I think, was in being a particular kind of film. It couldn't decide if it was serious, a comedy, mocking the '70s, or taking the zeitgeist as a legitimate one. Was this a horror? A morality play? Am I supposed to take Barnabas' angst seriously? I have no idea. And, too, it felt like it was almost attempting to cram too many seasons/themes from the original TV series into one film. Plus one of the characters suddenly being a werewolf at the big fight scene at the end needed to be more heavily (forgive the pun) foreshadowed earlier. As it was, it felt like "Suddenly, A Werewolf Happened!"
That said, I think I like the film. It was fun, and it's given the hindbrain a plotbunny or two to gnaw on once the current spate of Avengers plotbunnies are all chewed up and written out.
