The first glimpse of Tim Burton's Dark Shadows has fluttered on to the web. Johnny Depp stars as Barnabas Collins, a dashing aristocrat who is turned into a vampire by Angelique (Eva Green), a witch who reacts to his rejection of her advances by whacking him on the head and burying him in a coffin.
Decades later, Barnabas is unearthed and returns to his mansion to find it filled with his descendants, a cynical bunch of misfits clad in paisley, polo necks and huge sunglasses. "What is the year?" Barnabas asks a "future dweller". "1972," comes the terrified reply, before a hefty chunk of Curtis Mayfield's Pusherman drops in to drive the stake home.
Burton's fish-out-of-water comedy is based on the cult gothic soap opera of the same name, which first aired in the US in 1966. The original series was loved by many for its corny scripts, high-camp premise and cheap production values. It's a shared passion of Burton and Depp, who – now on their eighth project together – have recruited Michelle Pfeiffer, Chloë Moretz and Helena Bonham Carter to join the monstrous fun.
It's unclear whether the zombies and werewolves that populated the TV show will be making an appearance, and the trailer seems more interested in disco fever than Hammer horror. But there's glimpses of Scissorhands-style macabre in there, too.
Depp crying blood, Green as a disco ball-slinging, boggle-eyed psycho AND a supernatural sex scene? The trailer makes Dark Shadows look a lot of fun, if a little familiar to us. What do you reckon? Will there be blood on the dancefloor? Or is this one a real scream?
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