"REVEAL YOURSELF, TINY SONGSTRESS!"

"In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet--or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy...until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive. Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets. Matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) has called upon live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter), to help with her family troubles. Also residing in the manor is Elizabeth's ne'er-do-well brother, Roger Collins, (Jonny Lee Miller); her rebellious teenage daughter Carolyn Stoddard (Chloe Moretz); and Roger's precocious 10-year-old son, David Collins (Gulliver McGrath). The mystery extends beyond the family, to caretaker Willie Loomis, played by Jackie Earle Haley, and David's new nanny, Victoria Winters, played by Bella Heathcote."

So goes the synopsis for the upcoming May 11 release of Tim Burton/Johnny Depp's DARK SHADOWS. Judging from the trailer that finally came out from the shadows on Thursday (March 15), it is appears to be the familiar send up of a melange combining campy creeps and Burtonesque humor that we have seen in other films like BEETLEJUICE. This is not always a bad thing, but I'm afraid that hardcore, traditional DS fans may end up being disappointed. Burton is capable of visually creepy scenes, but he has a lot of fun doing it, too. Another noticeable annoyance is that is seems Mr. Depp has not lost his gargling dialogue delivery shtick used most notably in the PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN series.

Still, I am guardedly optimistic.