TRAILER: Dark Shadows (2012)

The first trailer for Tim Burton's Dark Shadows has been released, and it looks wonderful. I've been a fan of Burton's since Beetlejuice, but his recent output has been too mainstream and oafish for me (with the exception of Sweeney Todd), so I'm glad he's back on that familiar, dark, gothic turf. Even better, this is an all-out supernatural screwball comedy! When was the last time we had a Burton comedy? Planet Of The Apes? Low blow, sorry. It must be 1996's Mars Attacks!, of course.

Dark Shadows is based on a cult TV soap (1966-71) that aired in the UK on The Sci-Fi Channel in the early-'90s. I didn't see it, so have no clear idea how faithful this adaptation is. But the answer appears to be "not very" according to various grumbles from Dark Shadows fans. Maybe Burton's simply taking inspiration from the spooky soap's ideas and concept, but doing his own thing. I don't care either way; I just know that this looks like a huge amount of fun to me.

And look at its amazing cast. Johnny Depp, Jonny Lee Miller, the lovely Michelle Pfeiffer (reunited with Burton after Batman Returns), Helena Bonham Carter (no surprise), Jackie Earle Haley (awe-some), Christopher Lee (horror legend), Eva Green (perfect) and Chloe Grace Moretz (only a matter of time before she worked with Burton). Those actors alone deserve my ticket money at the box office.

I also like the timeslip idea here, with Barnabus (Depp) transformed into a vampire by a witch (Green) and buried alive, only to awaken in 1972. (From our 2012 perspective, this remains a period piece.) It's like someone merged The Addams Family with the '90s Brady Bunch parody movies, then threw in vampires and monsters. I hope the movie's as entertaining as this trailer.

DARK SHADOWS premieres 11 May 2012 (US/UK)