But this is not Dark Shadows. They should have just made it, it's own thing. Used their talent to skewer the drivel that is Twilight and poke fun at the absurdity of turning vampires into whiney, glittery stalkers. And it would have probably done really well, and be really funny, unlike those scary movie style spoofs could ever be.
But no. They had to use a story that many die hard fans adored (some who grew up watching) and ruin it.
So sad.
True, it's more 'inspired by' Dark Shadows. I think they did exactly what you said they should do. Took off and ran with it as their own thing and what's upsetting most is that it's named "Dark Shadows". Why not just ignore the title and take it for what it is? Why can't it still be EXACTLY what you said, skewering the twilight vampire and be done really well and be really funny unlike the wayan bros. spoofs? Just because they used the name and characters, it's ruined?
I don't know. I tend to obsess over things but if someone took, say, Pirates, called it pirates and used all of the same character names but basically made something different, I could still take it for what it is. I guess that's actually kind of what Pirates 4 was to me...but it wasn't a very good movie whereas DS actually might be despite being WAY off base from what it was expected to be by hardcore fans ( which I think is safe to say, actually make up a very small percentage of the general movie-going audience ). I like the original way Snow White is told but I can still appreciate the creativity and originality that's gone into the two new versions, one which is a comedy and one which is an action/drama, neither of which I'd categorize the original story into.
Micdavis, I think the fact that they skipped that opportunity is a good thing. Because of what it was ( supernatural soap opera drama ) and because of what people associate that with today ( like you said, Twilight ), it would've driven off masses of people, been more of the same that's been invading theaters for years, appealed to the totally wrong crowd and then suffered to audience and word of mouth reviews for not meeting the expectations of being Twilight-crap.
Making anything with vampires while Twilight is still 'hot' was a crapshoot at best. After this whole fiasco and vampire obsession, I'd pass on this without a second thought. It's so overdone and overplayed and always disappointing that I'd have no interest in it. HOWEVER...it being exactly what Psab keel said, a comedic skewering that will be visually wonderful with a fantastic cast and much more well made than a cheap spoof, it's different, refreshing, and I think it'll in the very least be entertaining. It's something new.
Even after saying all that, I still feel it's a crapshoot to be honest. The anti-vampire crowd will pass just because he's a vampire, and the too cool for camp crowd will pass because they're too cool for camp...and of course those who hold the original dear will pass because it's a completely separate entity.
In the very least, I feel this movie will attain a cult hit status. And I like most of those movies. So I've got a good feeling about it. ( And any preview reviews I've heard so far have been generally positive )