Dark Shadows Trailer

So, in 2012, we're getting not one, but two new Tim Burton films.  Secondly is Frankenweenie, coming out this Halloween (and I've already blogged about it), but the first one is Dark Shadows.

This is a movie version of the cult-classic soap opera of the same name.  It was on in the late-1960s/early-1970s, and what made it unique from the other soaps was that it drew it inspiration from Gothic horror.  Vampire, werewolves, and ghosts were all frequent characters on the show, and our lead, Barnabis Collins, was a vampire.  It spawned two features films, and the only exposure I've had to it is some half-remembered commercials for its prime-time revival in the early 1990s.

Anyway, both Tim Burton and Johnny Depp have professed to be fans of the original TV series.  So, when they announced they wanted to do a movie version, it seemed like the property was in good hands.  With his trademark Gothic style and love of Hammer horror films, a movie version of Dark Shadows seemed right up Burton's alley.

But people started having doubts.  Some of the first photos released back at Christmastime didn't really ignite passions.  And the fact that the film comes out in a little less than two months (May 11 is the release date) and there's been little to no promotional ramp-up had people thinking that things did not bode well.

And then the cracks started to show.  A review from a test screening popped up on Ain't it Cool News a few days ago, and some of the Dark Shadows fanboys were agog.  Says the reviewer, "this film wasn't quite the Gothic horror I was expecting...It's more of a horror comedy, closer in tone to Beetlejuice or The Addams Family."

Yup.  Following in the footsteps of Starsky and Hutch and the new 21 Jump Street, they decided to make it a spoof of the original, rather than a straight adaptation.

And most fears were confirmed when the trailer came out yesterday.





From what I gather, the Dark Shadows legion is pretty pissed off.  But you know what?  For me?  A guy with little-to-know exposure to the source material?  I found myself laughing at this.  I found it funny.  And since I am a Tim Burton fanboy, I'll probably go check this out when it hits theatres on May 11. 

And as has become my way, here's the poster so I've got a thumbnail for the social networking sites.