Is This Tim Burton's Worst Film Of All Time?
If you've been working for nearly forty years as a director, you're bound to have plenty of hits and misses. That's especially true if you're Tim Burton, blockbuster auteur director and an icon of dark pop culture. Even the films he's simply produced or had a hand in — movies like "The Nightmare Before Christmas" – have become juggernauts.
Especially in the nineties, Burton's disturbing but beautiful movies and art connected with millions, to the extent that his films have now grossed over $4 billion (via The Numbers). And the director is now extending his reach to television with the upcoming "Wednesday" Netflix series.
Still, for every "Beetlejuice" and "Batman," Burton is also known for some near-disastrous projects. And though it's been debated by fans and critics alike, many have argued that his most recent films have been part of an overall slump in quality. Here, then, is the one Tim Burton movie that critics tend to agree is his very worst.
According to critics, Dark Shadows is Burton's worst film
At 35 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, "Dark Shadows" has been ranked by critics as Tim Burton's overall worst movie.
A remake of the 1960s soap opera of the same name, Johnny Depp stars as Barnabas Collins, a wealthy 18th century aristocrat cursed to be a vampire by the witch Angelique (Eva Green). Waking up centuries later in 1972, Barnabas returns to his ancestral home and is surprised by the dysfunction of the modern Collins family, as well as by the new technology and fashion of the period. The vampire must protect his family while ridding himself of the immortal Angelique once and for all.
With a 46 percent Audience score, it's not like viewers embraced the film either. And while "Dark Shadows" did okay at the box office, it was, uh, overshadowed by "The Avengers" at the time, according to E!.
The second worst rated Burton film after "Shadows" was the 2001 "Planet of the Apes" remake, currently rated at 44 percent. Similarly, the 2019 "Dumbo" remake was rated at exactly 46 percent (Rotten Tomatoes).