Soundtrack Review: Dark Shadows (2012)

Dark Shadows Soundtrack Review: This is a review of the film score Dark Shadows by Danny Elfman.

“Well, not to state the bleeding obvious, but I enjoyed this score a lot.”

Dark Shadows is a remake of the old TV series Dark Shadows back in the sixties. An imprisoned vampire, Barnabas Collins, is set free and returns to his ancestral home, where his dysfunctional descendants are in need of his protection. Yes, the trio is back! Tim Burton is the director. Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer and Eva Green are the stars, and the composer is of course Danny Elfman.

1. Dark Shadows – Prologue	100
2. Resurrection	80
3. Vicki Enters Collinwood	80
4. Deadly Handshake	80
5. Shadows Reprise	100
6. Is It Her	80
7. Barnabas Comes Home	80
8. Vicki’s Nightmare	80
9. Hypno Music	80
10. Killing Mr. Hoffman	80
11. Dumping the Body	80
12. Roger Departs	80
13. Burn Baby Burn / in-Tombed	100
14. Lava Lamp	80
15. The Angry Mob	100
16. House of Blood	80
17. Final Confrontation	80
18. Widows’ Hill – Finale	100
19. The End	100
20. More the End	80
21. We Will End You	100

Tim Burton, Johnny Depp and Danny Elfman, the incredible trio are at it again with Dark Shadows. It sure looks fun and more comical than the original. Still, a comedy score is usually not just a comedy score with Danny Elfman and Tim Burton and it’s not the case here either. Bring on the sound of gothic comedy/horror and to such an extent that it’s hard to find definitive flaws with the score. Just listen to the almost 8 minute track ‘Dark Shadows – Prologue’ and you’ll hear the awesome gothic sound of Danny Elfman.

I have to admit, during the first seconds of ‘Dark Shadows – Prologue’ I thought I had mistakenly put in my Bob Cobert CD from the television series Dark Shadows. The sound is unmistakable, but that’s where the similarities end (mostly). Step up the real Danny Elfman! From around 4:20 and onwards is the best part where he admittedly stals a little from his excellent Wolfman score, but it sounds better than ever with power and the choir. It has a bit of fun too and cues like ‘Shadows Reprise’ shows off some excellent sound design with some amazing synth work combined with a catchy theme.

The score has lot of great cues and there isn’t a weak cue among them.

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Conclusion

Well, not to state the bleeding obvious, but I enjoyed this score a lot. It has a little bit of Bob Cobert in there which ties it nicely to the original TV series and then it’s mostly all Elfman and his excellent take on gothic horror.

GEEK SCORE: 86.6