Dull Shadows (or, The Rise of Count Chocula)

Rating: 1/10 (12 May 2012)

If the tone set in the first ten minutes of Dull Shadows had been carried over into the last 110 minutes of the film, this would have been a very good entry in the Burton/Depp oeuvre. Instead, the tone changes drastically from Sleepy Hollow to a poor man's Beetlejuice. It's as if the opening sequence was directed by a skilled craftsman and the remainder by a skilled but inexperienced dilletante. The sets are excellent, as is the cinematography but the characters are underdeveloped and the actors underused. Depp puts in a carefully crafted performance as Count Chocula, but not Barnabas Collins. This is a disaster and the threat of a sequel is unbearable. Certainly, the original series was a bit campy but charmingly so. This film is just over the top in a very underwhelming way. Guess though that as long as it sells seats that's all that matters in Hollywood. As it goes this film is all dressed up with no where to go.