18. Dark Shadows, 2012

Tim Burton is all over the place trying to adapt Dark Shadows, a popular soap opera from the 1960s about a wealthy vampire Barnabas Collins in a centuries-long feud with the witch Angelique Bouchard. Of course, Collins’ sprawling Maine estate looks incredible, showcasing Tim Burton’s signature Gothic style with ominous spires and stone statues displayed with exquisite attention to detail. The dramatic lighting and wide shots, which take in dust-covered chandeliers and old-fashioned paintings, bring the mansion to life in ways the original television show never could. But for all its spellbinding production design, the story is lacking.

While Tim Burton is usually an expert at striking the right tone, he doesn’t know whether to lean into the campiness or scariness, resulting in a film that toes a boring line down the middle. Rather than indulging us in another chameleonic performance, Johnny Depp seems to be sleepwalking, making this his weakest collaboration with Burton to date (and, thus far, his last). Most of the magnetic power comes from the female cast such as Eva Green and Michelle Pfeiffer. Dark Shadows fails to capture the essence of the original series and doesn’t add anything of its own.