Making Christmas....

A very, very Merry Christmas from The Vault of Horror!!

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TRAILER TRASH: Tim Burton Edition!

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CONFIRMED: Depp Will Star in Burton's Dark Shadows

After months of speculation, it was reported in several places earlier today, most notably Yahoo! Movies, that Tim Burton and Johnny Depp are officially moving ahead with Dark Shadows as their next project. Burton will direct and Depp will star, as the duo has done seven times before in the past.

Apparently it was Depp who initiated the project, as the original 1960s/70s vampire TV soap opera has always been a bit of an obsession for him, and he had long desired to play lead vamp Barnabas Collins. For the longest time, it had basically been a foregone conclusion that the dynamic duo of surreal cinema would be moving on to Dark Shadows after wrapping up Alice in Wonderland, but now it's apparently for-real for-real. Although I think Burton has his feature-length Frankenweenie remake happening somewhere in there, as well--and Depp will be donning the mascara once again for a fourth Pirates go-round before then, too.

Not sure what took so long for the news to be officially disseminated, as sources are claiming that Depp himself announced it last week during a showing of Alice in Wonderland footage at the San Diego Comic Con. Nevertheless, these "official confirmations" have not been coming out till today. Hopefully this isn't some kind of elaborate jumping-of-the-gun. A Burton-Depp Dark Shadows has "WIN" written all over it...

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While I'm still up, I'd like to make mention of a new sidebar feature I've added, the Zombie Haiku of the Day. I'm taking them from Ryan Mecum's excellent Zombie Haiku collection--with the author's blessing, of course. In fact, Ryan was good enough not only to give me permission to do this, but also had some kind words to say about the Vault as well, which you'll find in the "Shameless Self-Promotion" section. Thanks, Ryan!

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More Burton Alice in Wonderland Production Art Revealed!

Anyone wondering why Alice in Wonderland is being covered on a horror blog has clearly never read Lewis Carroll's original book. And they most certainly have not seen any of the recent images from Tim Burton's 2010 film adaptation that have been wowing fans on the internet.

And now, I've stumbled across some breathtaking production art for the promising-looking picture, posted on a French blog called The Art of Disney Animation. Judging by all the sweet art on this site, it seems like it's run by someone who actually works at Disney (does anyone in the House of Mouse know about this guy??).

Check it out:






That Rabbit looks like a dressed-up refugee from Watership Down. Which is a good thing. And how about those giant, grotesque Tweedle brothers?

For even more of the production art, in much larger, high-res versions, check out the original site.

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Burton and Depp Do It Again

I never was one to include Tim Burton among the truly "great" directors of our times. The man can be maddeningly erratic, going from Ed Wood and Big Fish to Mars Attacks and Planet of the Apes. But when he's good, he's really good.

From the start, I knew that Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street would be the perfect material for his gothic sensibilities. Add Johnny Depp, easily the finest American actor under 50, and you have a highly satisfying cinematic experience.

Ironically, my biggest hesitation regarding the movie had nothing to do with Burton or Depp, but rather with Stephen Sondheim, the composer. Unlike most of the boorish clods bashing this movie on messageboards far and wide, I have no problem with musicals. I happen to love them. It's just that, when it comes to musicals, I'll take Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, et al over Sondheim and his post-modern ilk anyday. I just don't find him melodic, and with the exception of the stirring "Joanna", there's no song I really took away with me from the theater. I know I'll catch heat for this, but when it comes to horror musicals, I think I may ever-so-slightly prefer Joel Schumacher's adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera.

OK, now that I got that piece of blasphemy out of the way, let's talk about what I did like. Burton has gotten so good at setting the kind of tone this movie needs that its positively a joy to watch unfold. This is a fully realized other-dimensional version of early Victorian England. And when you compare this film to a similarly-toned work like Sleepy Hollow (which I also love), you can really observe how far he's come as a filmmaker over the years.

Depp, as always, is excellent. While I wouldn't say he can sing, he can at least carry a tune--his acting takes him the rest of the way. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the flick's true scene-stealer, Timothy Spall (pictured), a true pro who adds so much nuance and subtlety to the role of the Beadle, which on paper could have been just another two-dimensional flunky. Sacha Baron Cohen--a.k.a. Borat--is perfectly cast as the flamboyant Pirelli, who gets his just desserts in the film's first shocking moment of bloodshed.

Speaking of which, in case you've been living under a rock, I should warn you there is a copious amount of plasma shed in this motion picture. It's all very stylized, and the blood is a Dawn-of-the-Dead shade of crayon red, but even still--we're talking about enough crimson to fill a blood bank. Kudos to Burton for not skimping on what made this musical so memorable in the first place.

If you love horror and musicals like I do, then this movie is a lot of fun. Even if musicals have never been your thing, at least try to have an open mind, especially if you enjoy Burton's work. Sweeney Todd has always had a very polarizing effect on audiences, and it's been no different this time. Musical fans have been turned off by the gore, and horror fans have been turned off by the singing. It's quite an enigmatic work in that regard. Yet beyond genre, there are really only two kinds of movies: good and bad. And Sweeney Todd falls into the first category.

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A Buttload of Sweeney Todd Clips

We've still got to wait 10 days for Tim Burton's blood-drenched interpretation of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, but today Dreamworks released a whopping nine clips, which are now available for viewing on Bloody-Disgusting. I'd love to post them here, but BD hasn't yet made their videos capable of being embedded (c'mon guys, get with the program!) Anyway, here are the links for those interested in checking out Johnny Depp in action:

• Sweeney Todd: Clip #1 - Epiphany
• Sweeney Todd: Clip #2 - How Long Until Pirelli Gets Back?
• Sweeney Todd: Clip #3 - Little Priest
• Sweeney Todd: Clip #4 - My Friends
• Sweeney Todd: Clip #5 - Not While I'm Around
• Sweeney Todd: Clip #6 - Pamper You
• Sweeney Todd: Clip #7 - You Gandered at My Ward
• Sweeney Todd: Clip #8 - The Contest
• Sweeney Todd: Clip #9 - Sweeney Todd Now

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Go, Johnny, Go!

Johnny Depp, singer? In the upcoming horror musical Sweeney Todd, you better believe it. The Deppster has never sung before, but when eccentric filmmaker buddy Tim Burton enlisted him once again to play the starring role in his film adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim favorite, he decided to give it a go.
In this clip provided by Paramount Pictures to Bloody Disgusting today, Depp croons a bit of "Johanna", one of the songs written for the stage musical by Sondheim--also known for such musicals as Sunday in the Park with George, A Little Night Music, Into the Woods and West Side story (lyrics only) and for composing such standards as "Send in the Clowns", "Everything's Coming Up Roses", "Comedy Tonight" and "Let Me Entertain You."
What, I can't like horror movies and showtunes...?

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Burton + Depp + Sharp Objects = Kick Ass

Call him "Edward Razorhands" if you like, but Johnny Depp will be back on the screen in a Tim Burton directed flick this Christmas, this time playing the infamous revenge-minded slasher Sweeney Todd. YouTube has the new trailer for the film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, which you can watch below. Tim Burton has proven he's got the chops for atmospheric horror--I personally found Sleepy Hollow to be one of the '90s most underrated movies. But he's also notoriously erratic. Will this one be another Ed Wood...or another Planet of the Apes?

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