Directed by Tim Burton, the film stars Johnny Depp alongside Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Chloë Grace Moretz, Helena Bonham Carter, and Bella Heathcote in a dual role.

Reviews for the film were mixed; critics praised its visual style and consistent humor, but felt it lacked a focused or substantial plot and developed characters.

In 1972, Maggie Evans, under the alias Victoria Winters, is hired as governess for the Collins family consisting of the Collins matriarch Elizabeth; her teenage daughter Carolyn; Elizabeth's brother: Roger, and his young son David, who believes he is being visited by his late mother's ghost; and a live-in alcoholic psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman.

Heartbroken, David is nearly struck by a falling disco ball, but Barnabas saves him before catching fire in the daylight, revealing himself as a vampire to the whole family and Victoria.

Carolyn, who is revealed to be a werewolf, joins the fight, and Angelique uses her enchantments to subdue them, damage the house and start fires.

In June 2011, Jonathan Frid, Lara Parker, David Selby, and Kathryn Leigh Scott all spent three days at Pinewood Studios to film cameo appearances.

In July 2007, Warner Bros. acquired film rights for the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows from the estate of its creator, Dan Curtis.

Johnny Depp had a childhood obsession with Dark Shadows, calling it a "dream" to portray Barnabas Collins, and ended up persuading Tim Burton to direct.

[8] Depp attempted to emulate the "rigidity" and "elegance" of Jonathan Frid's original portrayal, but also drew inspiration from Max Schreck's performance in Nosferatu.

Dark Shadows: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released on May 8, 2012, as a download[25] and on various dates as a CD, such as on May 22 as an import in the United States[26] and on May 25 in Australia.

[27] It features 11 songs, among them two score pieces by Danny Elfman and a recitation by Depp as Barnabas of several lines from "The Joker" by Steve Miller Band.

Songs not featured on the soundtrack that are in the film include "Superfly" by Curtis Mayfield, "Crocodile Rock" by Elton John, "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath and "Monster" by Skillet.

[1] For a Burton film, Dark Shadows achieved below-average domestic box office takings,[28] with many commentators attributing that to the domination of The Avengers.

[30] On Rotten Tomatoes, Dark Shadows holds an approval rating of 35% based on 263 reviews, with an average rating of 5.30/10; the site's critical consensus reads: "The visuals are top notch but Tim Burton never finds a consistent rhythm, mixing campy jokes and gothic spookiness with less success than other Johnny Depp collaborations.

[32] Some critics felt the film lacked a focused or consistent plot or genre (as either horror, comedy or drama),[33] pointing to problems with Grahame-Smith's script, and that some jokes fell flat.

[38][39][40] Positive reviewers, on the other hand, opined that the film successfully translated the mood of the soap opera[41] and that its '70s culture pastiche worked to its advantage.

He went on to note that "Much of the amusement comes from Depp's reactions to 1970s pop culture," and concluded that the film "begins with great promise, but then the energy drains out".

[39] Manohla Dargis, in a mostly-positive review written for The New York Times, said that the film "isn't among Mr. Burton's most richly realized works, but it's very enjoyable, visually sumptuous and, despite its lugubrious source material and a sporadic tremor of violence, surprisingly effervescent," and opined that Burton's "gift for deviant beauty and laughter has its own liberating power.

"[40] In The Washington Post, Ann Hornaday dismissed the film, awarding it just one-and-a-half stars out of four and explaining that "Burton's mash-up of post-'60s kitsch and modern-day knowingness strikes a chord that is less self-aware than fatally self-satisfied.

Dark Shadows doesn't know where it wants to dwell: in the eerie, subversive penumbra suggested by its title or in playful, go-for-broke camp.

"[33] Richard Corliss of Time pointed out that "[Burton]'s affection is evident, and his homage sometimes acute," and reasoned: "All right, so Burton has made less a revival of the old show than a hit-or-miss parody pageant," but praised the star power of the film, relenting that "attention must be paid to movie allure, in a star like Depp and his current harem.

"[41] Peter Bradshaw, in the British newspaper The Guardian, weighed the film in a mixed write-up, giving it three stars out of five, and pointing out his feeling that "the Gothy, jokey 'darkness' of Burton's style is now beginning to look very familiar; he has built his brand to perfection in the film marketplace, and it is smarter and more distinctive than a lot of what is on offer at the multiplex, but there are no surprises.