For months the web has been abuzz about what tone Tim Burton's vision for his big screen adaptation of Dark Shadows would convey. Those expecting a serious take on the campy 1960's TV series that starred Jonathan Frid as the centuries-old "vampire" Barnabas Collins, were probably looking down the wrong hole, as the series was neither taken seriously at the time, nor has it respectfully matured with age.

Those expecting the typical wacky Burton approach appear to be on the right track as we get our first lengthy look at the director's apparition via the film's trailer that just hit the web with all its gothic glory after debuting on the Ellen show.

After watching it though, it's clear that even by Burton's standards, the film's off-beat tone is even more, well... off-beat than anyone could have expected. And funnier too.

The film is written by screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith, who is tackling another vampire tale in the forthcoming Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter adaptation, and stars Burton's go-to guy Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins in this version that the writer claims has "an absurdist element" in it that might come as unexpected. One thing we've always come to expect from a Tim Burton film however, is to expect anything.

The film also stars Eva Green as the powerful witch Angelique Bouchard and Michelle Pfeiffer as the Collins family matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard. And of course, a Burton film wouldn't be the same without his wife Helena Bonham Carter and an original score from Danny Elfman.

Check out the trailer for Dark Shadows below or head over to apple.com to see it in high resolution:

Dark Shadows will take a bite out of U.S. theaters on May 11th of this year.