Well, after a never-ending supply of still photos and a ridiculously short glimpse of footage contained in a preview for an episode of "Ellen" (we're not kidding), the first full length trailer for "Dark Shadows" has finally arrived.
Just to recap, the film is adaptation of the cult TV show you never saw (we haven't) centering on playboy Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp, once again playing dress-up) who breaks the heart of the witch Angelique Brouchard (Eva Green) in 1752 and, in her fury, she turns him into a vampire and buries him alive. He wakes up in the 1970s to find his manor in ruins, and his family in disrepair to the point that matriarch Elizabeth Collins (Michelle Pfeiffer) has called in a psychiatrist (Helena Bonham Carter) to help.
And while that may all sound like a typical day at the office for both director Tim Burton and star Depp, "Dark Shadows" promisingly hearkens back to better days in both of their careers. Decidedly and pleasantly odd, and boasting a big comic streak, the trailer plays more like a fish out of water tale, with the just-returned Barnabas adapting to the mysterious 1970s technology (the TV gag is pretty funny), while trying to put the house in order. Combined with the garish '70s decor, a period-specific soundtrack (T. Rex is in there, among others) yet just stamped enough with Burton's own penchant for the bizarre, this is pretty promising.
"Dark Shadows" opens on May 11th. Watch below. [Apple/ComingSoon/STYD]
