Change Your Image
![](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjQ4MTY5NzU2M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNDc5NTgwMTI@._V1_SY100_SX100_.jpg)
gregwendland
Reviews
Dark Shadows (2012)
True Fans of the Original Series will be disappointed
Watched this at the theater today. I'm not jumping up and down raving about it. My brother and I took our kids and our parents to see it for Mothers Day and I'm apparently the only member of the family that didn't like it.
Dark Shadows was originally a black and white soap opera that ran from 1966 - 1971. It was the forerunner for future ideas like Twilight. It was the first series to introduce Vampires, Ghosts, Werewolves, etc.
Being that Dark Shadows was intended as a Gothic drama, it seemed out of place since the movie attempted to portray the prequel to the series. Depp is popular for quirky, comedic roles, but I didn't feel it meshed well. That may be only because I've seen and enjoyed the original series, though.
The comedy bits were just that -- bits -- and unfortunately that didn't play well on the big screen. It almost seemed as if the makers of the movie couldn't decide whether to make a comedy or stay true to the drama.
Fans of the original series will most likely not appreciate this attempt, unless they are Johnny Depp fans. Hopefully, there won't be a sequel. To do so would only serve to finish trashing the legacy of the 1966 series.
On an objective note, it's a good family movie. If you know nothing about the original series, then you'd have no expectations and the movie would probably be better received. But, don't look for it to spend time on the subjects of vampires, ghosts, and werewolves. Except for the supernatural powers exhibited by the "good" and "evil" characters, you'd almost forget that it was about a vampire.
One Hit from Home (2012)
Former Pro-Baller with broken dreams returns home and is offered redemption through coaching.
Overall, I liked this movie.
The acting was little more than adequate. This was what I call a "Religious Propaganda" movie, which is evidenced by the production and distribution companies. Basically, the movie had a good plot and theme to it, but the problem with religious propaganda directors is that it seems as if they try to make every single scene in the movie to be something powerful. Unfortunately, the result of that is a disjointed movie with scenes that don't mesh well together.
It was no different with this movie. While, overall, it was a great movie, the direction was terrible and it partially came off like having "Gods Word" shoved down your throat. A couple of the most powerful scenes in the movie were diluted by following scenes that kept bringing it up as if to say, "Did you get the point?".... The result of that is that the movie (and those scenes) lost their potency because of constant reiteration.
A great movie will let the audience come to their own conclusions, but this movie like so many other religious propaganda movies didn't allow that to happen, instead, the directors made a forced point in telling us what we should have seen and/or felt. One example of this is at the end of the movie when the Jimmy Easton says, "This wasn't about baseball, was it?" and his Uncle's reply was, "No, no it wasn't."
This movie is worth the watch. There is a great message in the movie, but you sort of have no choice in the matter... you'll see the message because they beat you over the head with it.