This marking their eighth film together, Johnny Depp and Tim Burton have a lot to live up to with Dark Shadows, as they attempt to make a film that feels fresh, unique, and entertaining after all these years. They are largely unsuccessful in this, as the problems run deep from the start, in a film that is neither entertaining nor redeeming from start to finish.

With its dark, strange, often gothic feel, Tim Burton puts his now typical mad-cap visual and storytelling style into Dark Shadows, which would have interested and captivated more on its own fifteen years ago. Similarly, Johnny Depp seems to be on autopilot in his usual brand of comedy as Barnabas Collins, whose strangeness feels stale and unable to carry the film.

From the start, Dark Shadows fights an uphill battle as it begins with a clunky, unneeded prologue. In 18th Century Maine, Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) garners the wrath of a spurned lover and witch, Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green), who turns him into a vampire and buries him deep underground. Two hundred years later, in 1970’s Maine, Barnabas Collins is unearthed, prompting him to journey back to his family’s mansion, where he is greeted by his eccentric surviving relatives.

Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) is the matriarch of the now struggling family, who has brought Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter) to look after her disturbed nephew, David (Gulliver McGarth). Roger Collins (Jonny Lee Miller), has minimal screen-time, but is solid as David’s emotionally absent father, with Carolyn (Chloe Grace Moretz) around as the emotionally dark teenaged daughter of Elizabeth. Jackie Earle Haley is also quite good as the drunken caretaker of the Collins estate, who helps to bring on Veronica Winters (Bella Heathcote) to help out with David’s care. It is here that Angelique, owner of the rival fishing business to the Collins’, discovers Barnabas’ return, thus setting the plot into motion.

Based on the Dark Shadows television series of the 1970’s, Burton seems keen on establishing the strange style of the characters over creating any sort of an interesting plot or true character interactions. These characters uniformly hit the same beats, as the antics of each quickly grow tired individually, let alone trying to carry the film.

Dark Shadows is a perfect example that strange doesn’t mean good. Past the design of the film and a few solid character moments, there isn’t much enjoyment to be found. Screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith (author of “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies”), can’t create a coherent storyline that is interesting, enjoyable, or worthwhile.

Looking at all the solid Tim Burton films of the past two decades, the truly great ones work due to their unique place in Burton’s work, as Dark Shadows can’t find that meaningful place within the Burton and Depp filmography. Largely unenjoyable, Dark Shadows feels like it’s strange for strange’s sake, doing very little to earn its odd personality. Precious-few solid moments can’t save it from being a completely muddled, uninteresting exercise in personality-driven filmmaking.

Grade: D+

Rated: PG-13 (for comic horror violence, sexual content, some drug use, language and smoking.)

Dark Shadows opens nationwide on May 11, 2012.