Dead on arrival...almost

Rating: 6/10 (15 May 2012)

When Johnny Depp and Tim Burton work together there are high expectations. If you plan to see this, lower your expectations. The movie doesn't hit it's stride. It can't decide if it's a comedy, romance or a horror thriller and in the end it comes up short.
Great costumes, interesting sets, excellent use of original and period music. The performances are intentionally stiff. There are some fun things. Johnny Depp is always interesting and even as a vampire his hanging around is fun. There are a couple of good laughs and it seems that is the direction they should have gone.
The bleeding pictures and walls, and carvings coming to life didn't seem very fresh. It was disappointing that the Depp character needed out of the blue help to dispatch the evil bitch witch.
It's not a bad movie, it's just not as good as you would expect from the talent involved.