Depp, Burton Find Humor In Dark Shadows

This is just what one of the most absurd soap operas ever really needed — a tweak of the nose from offbeat director Tim Burton and the equally offbeat but charming Johnny Depp.

Don't worry if you never saw the original Dark Shadows TV series in the 60s, it wasn't nearly as funny as the latest collaboration from Burton and Depp.

Depp revamps the main character Barnabas Collins, a vampire who wakes up in the 1970s to find McDonald's, lava lamps and Alice Cooper — not to mention his old enemy, the witch who cursed him more than a century ago.

Depp plays this innately over-the-top role with perfect deadpan humor — "The Collins Family has always held the greatest balls." That should have cued up the AC/DC soundtrack.

Burton didn't miss a trick when he mined the original supernatural soap opera for material, with ghosts, vampires, witches and more.

Now, if only he could do the same for the Bold and the Beautiful.

Here's a look at what's showing in local movie theaters beginning Friday. Check the theaters for weekend showtimes:

Lark Theater

The Pirates! Band of Misfits: 6 p.m.

The Hunger Games: 8 p.m.

Gotterdammerung: 10 a.m. Saturday

Century Cinema Corte Madera

Marvel's The Avengers: 12:30 p.m.

Marvel's The Avengers (Real D 3D): 3:45 p.m., 7 p.m., 10:15 p.m.

Century Larkspur Landing

Battleship: 7:10 p.m., 10:10 p.m.

Dark Shadows: 5 p.m., 7:45 p.m., 10:30 p.m.

The Dictator: 5:15 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 9:50 p.m.

What To Expect When You're Expecting: 5:20 p.m., 7:55 p.m., 10:30 p.m.