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Tim Burton's latest gothic spectacular has met with decidedly mixed reviews following it's premiere, splitting critics neatly down the middle in early reviews.

Scoring an underwhelming 49% on movie review aggregator Rottentomatoes.com, the movie is looking unlikely to rival either Burton's - or star Johnny Depp's - most loved work.

While Empire magazine says: "This is not the knockabout comedy the trailer suggests. Instead, it cleaves closer to what you expect from Burton: darkness, quirk and Johnny Depp on great form," many US reviewers have been less kind about the vampire movie.

"Johnny Depp and Tim Burton enable each other's laziest, most indulgent habits: They make movies to entertain themselves instead of the audience," says the Miami Herald and famed US critic Roger Ebert comments: "It offers wonderful things, but they aren't what's important. It's as if Burton directed at arm's length, unwilling to find juice in the story."

The Telegraph gives the movie an underwhelming 2/5 review, saying: "Dark Shadows lacks a coherent story, engaging characters, ideas, charm, wit and purpose. The one thing it’s stuffed with is Burton gratia Burtonis: Burton for Burton’s sake."