Has Dark Shadows already been done as True Blood, Vampire Diaries or Twilight?

The answer to the above is no, but sort of. Dark Shadows was the original vampires as soap opera show. In fact it was billed as a daytime soap and aired (the original 1960s show) against other soaps.
But the latest supernatural soap opera movies and TV shows are obviously aspiring to be something more. But are they?
Twilight is the classic love triangle between young girl and bad boy (who's really not so bad, he's just, you know, misunderstood) and a good boy (who's not really that good, he just seems that way because he acts sensitive.)
True Blood, produced by the brilliant Alan Ball, started off as a fairly original show and definitely a few cuts above most of the other vampire drams  being offered, but the show, now in its fourth season, seems to be running out of story lines and is in danger of Jumping the Shark.
Vampire Diaries is the watered down version of True Blood for the under 18 set, so there's not a whole lot to say about that.
So where does that leave Dark Shadows the movie?
Considering its being directed by Tim Burton and will star Johnny Depp, the team that brought us the now cult classic Ed Wood, I'd say there is a chance Burton & Depp can make Dark Shadows seem new and original and not just another warmed over soap opera with vampires.
I'm hoping Burton lays on the camp with Dark Shadows and I'd love it if they shot it in B&W but I won't hold my breath on that one.
I suppose I'm a little biased in that I applaud any artist who brings more humour to the vampire genre which is suffering from wayyyy too much melodrama these days. 

Good old fashioned vampirism, where for art thou?

By Alan Forsythe

Sigh, True Blood and Vampire Diaries are about to launch their new seasons, the Twilight series is planning to unleash yet another forgettable movie and it all makes me ache for the days when vampires were vampires.
Bela Lugosi didn't pout and get all 'conflicted,' he saw Mina Harker and went for it. Even in the 1979 Dracula film that stressed the romance between Dracula and Mina, Frank Langella stilled played Dracula as a man who meant business. Just because he loved Mina in a undead sort of way didn't stop him from dining on her best friend Annie.
Plus that film had the great Lawrence Oliver as Van Helsing a formidable foe for the vampire count and definitely much better than the guidance counsellors the latest round of vampires have to deal with, 'so you're a vampire how does that make you feel?'
Also let's not forget the British Hammer films of the 1960s, early 70s, they brought in the era of sexy vampires, but really sexy vampires. Lesbian vampires, nubile victims running around in diaphanous robes, and swarthy vampire counts doing swarthy vampire things to said nubile victims. Plus there was a lot of blood...and Vincent Price.

Vampires and romance

By Alan Forsythe

Why is vampirism of all things so closely link with love and romance or barring that at least sex. But it's usually some form of destructive sex, as in somebody has to pay a price for giving into desire. The latest crop of vampire stores, Twilight, Vampire Diaries and True Blood to name a few didn't invent the whole vampirism as metaphor for sex/love. The original Vampyre featured a mysterious young man who seduced young women. Furthermore it was based somewhat on the life of Lord Byron the notorious libertine of his age.
Illicit sex became one of the themes of vampire novels, with precursors to Dracula, like Carmila setting the tone. Carmilla may sound like the B-movie plots of more recent vampire stories: lesbian seduces the beautiful young heroine but it was actually written in 1872 and was hugely successful.