AFTER the candy-coloured brilliance of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, filmmaker extraordinaire Tim Burton brings his visionary genius to bear on this animated film in the tradition of A Nightmare Before Christmas, co-directed by Mike Johnson.

Like Nightmare... Corpse Bride marries gorgeous eye-popping visuals with a twisted and often macabre sense of humour.

In a gloomy 19th century village, love is in the air, along with the unmistakable stench of greed. Old money aristocrats Finis and Maudeline Everglot (voiced by Albert Finney and Joanna Lumley) don't have two guineas to rub together. All they possess is their good name and a beautiful daughter Victoria (Emily Watson), who would make the perfect wife for a rich husband.

Desperate to improve their perilous social standing, the Everglots begrudgingly agree to marry off Victoria to painfully shy Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp), the son of canned fish tycoons William and Nell (Paul Whitehouse and Tracey Ullman).

On the eve of the big day, both families attend a wedding rehearsal, which descends into pandemonium when Victor's nerves get the better of him. He stutters and stumbles over his wedding vows, invoking the wrath of Pastor Galswells (Christopher Lee), who banishes Victor from the village until he has learnt his lines.

Retreating to the forest which encircles the town, Victor nervously practices his vows, only to inadvertently tie the knot with the decaying Corpse Bride (Helena Bonham Carter). Spirited away from his home to the Land of The Dead, Victor tries in vain to escape his predicament, and find a way back to his bride-to-be.

While the groom is disposed, rival suitor Barkis Bittern (Richard E Grant) worms his way into the Everglot's affections, with the intention of marrying Victoria himself.

Gradually, Victor resigns himself to his hellish fate and tries to make the best of a nightmare situation. He soon realises that there is no force - good or evil - that can keep him apart from his beloved Victoria.

Corpse Bride looks sensational. Drab greys of the town contrast vividly with the searing colours of the Land of The Dead, where skeletal crooner Bonejangles (Danny Elfman) and his band The Skeletones hold court at the Ball And Socket public house.

The stop-motion animation is so fluid, and the characters and backgrounds so richly detailed, you soon forget the painstaking work crammed into every frame.

Although the story, based on a Russian folk tale, is perhaps a little too dark for very young viewers, Burton and Johnson's otherworldly tale of nightmarish nuptials is an early Hallowe'en treat for the whole family.

See it at UCI, Odeon