In Tim Burton’s 2012 film Dark Shadows, the vampire released from a coffin in 1972 is Barnabas Collins.
Johnny Depp plays Barnabas, a wealthy eighteenth-century man who is transformed into a vampire and buried alive after a curse by the witch Angelique Bouchard. He awakens two centuries later and returns to Collinwood, where his descendants are struggling to preserve the family business.
The film is based on the 1966–1971 television soap opera Dark Shadows, created by Dan Curtis. Burton’s adaptation keeps the Collins family, Barnabas, and Angelique while using a compressed comic storyline set mainly in 1972.
Barnabas should not be confused with Quentin Collins, another important supernatural figure from the television series. The film’s time shift is central to its humor: Barnabas understands eighteenth-century customs but must navigate 1970s music, fashion, technology, and social attitudes.