Earlier this week the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) anointed Johnny Depp with official Style Icon status. I’ve never really understood the Depp Factor but I’m starting to come around, especially in light (or dark!) of the new trailer for his latest spot as muse to the incomparable auteur-tastic Tim Burton, the remake of cult 60s TV series ‘Dark Shadows.’
Plot-wise, little has changed since we first caught a glimpse, with Depp portraying Barnabas, a two-hundred-plus year old vampire who awakens from his cursed slumber in the very changed world of 1972. Official synopsis below:
[Barnabas] 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.
This looks kinda fun – from what I can see (ample natural light does not for good Tim Burton watching make): great 70s soundtrack and a whole lot of daggy, camp fun with just the right dose of darkness and macabre. Dark Shadows will open May 11th.
