‘Ebenezer' review: Johnny Depp turns ‘A Christmas Carol' into joyless horror

No matter how many ghouls and corpses you stud your production with, the essence of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" is about a man coming back to life. It's about Ebenezer Scrooge's finding a lightness of spirit after years of denying it. Unfortunately, the makers of "Ebenezer" seem to be on a mission to deny that spirit, even if they're not aware of it.

The movie is devoted to horror effects and gloomy set decoration at the expense of anything else. "Ebenezer" is, essentially, a horror movie, and that could have worked, since the best horror movies have a metaphysical element (" Dracula ," "Frankenstein," " The Island of Lost Souls "), and the metaphysical is crucial in Dickens' story.

But the spirit of Christmas is gone. "Ebenezer" feels more like Halloween. Ian McKellen as Jacob Marley in a scene from "Ebenezer." (Jaap Buitendijk/Paramount Pictures) At first it's something of a relief to realize that director Ti West is not going for cheap laughs.

Cuteness, audience-distancing humor and superficial character quirks have marred Johnny Depp's previous explorations of the Gothic with director Tim Burton (" Sleepy Hollow ," "Sweeney Todd"), but that's not the problem here. Depp plays it straight, and he makes for a credible Scrooge.

In fact, by the end of the film, Depp shows a tenderness and depth of feeling that indicates that his Scrooge could have been one of the great ones. But everything in the production is pushing against him. Far from there being any cheap jokes, there are no laughs (or smiles) at all in "Ebenezer," despite the humor built into the character of Scrooge and Depp's proven comic ability.

It's as if every choice made by West and screenwriter Nathaniel Halpern were made with the intention of tamping down joy. Tramell Tillman as the ghost of Christmas Present, left, and Johnny Depp as Ebenezer Scrooge in a scene from "Ebenezer." (Jaap Buitendijk/Paramount Pictures) Take the character of Scrooge's nephew, Fred (Sam Claflin).

The character is that of an irrepressibly upbeat person who annually invites Scrooge for Christmas dinner and is annually rejected. Unfazed by rejection and buoyant of spirit, he's not bothered in the slightest by his uncle's sourness. But in "Ebenezer" he is in anguish over it.

It's another leaden note in a movie that doesn't need any more of them. More Information 2 stars "Ebenezer": Drama. Starring Johnny Depp, Sam Claflin and Andrea Riseborough.

Directed by Ti West. (PG-13. 116 minutes.) In theaters Friday, Nov. 13.

The treatment of the ghosts is equally grim. The ghost of Christmas Past (Andrea Riseborough), usually a reassuring, childlike entity, is instead a revolting, emaciated specter with pupil-less eyeballs. When Scrooge tries to run from her, he is chased by frantic, zombie-like ghouls.

The ghost of Christmas Present is also usually presented as jolly and loving, but here is a gluttonous slob. The movie takes charitable characters from Dickens's novel and turns them into con men. The filmmakers take Fezziwig, Scrooge's jovial boss, and give him an almost comically bleak fate.

Rupert Grint as Bob Cratchit, center, Ian McKellen as Jacob Marley, left, and Johnny Depp as Ebenezer Scrooge, in a scene from "Ebenezer." (Jaap Buitendijk/Paramount Pictures) The movie also suffers from the perplexing choice made by West to not show Scrooge in the same frame with the visions of his past and present.

Usually, we can gauge the effect of these visions by simultaneously watching Scrooge. But half the time in this version, Scrooge is either not present or, if he's there, we barely see him. These are just some of the bad choices made here.

There are more. The intention seems to be to take whatever Dickens did and do it differently. At the same time, dialogue passages are lifted straight out of the novel, without adjustments made to make them sound like normal speech.

Virtually everything here is awkward, wrong or both. Still, "Ebenezer" isn't terrible. Think of it as a stress test for "A Christmas Carol." It shows how much an adaptation can screw up - ghosts without compassion, Christmas without joy - without killing the source.

Thanks to Dickens and Johnny Depp, and almost nothing else, "Ebenezer" is ever-so-mildly watchable. Mick LaSalle is the film critic emeritus of the Chronicle. Email: askmicklasalle@gmail.com Subscribe There's more to San Francisco with the Chronicle.

Subscribe today for just 25¢. This article originally published at 'Ebenezer' review: Johnny Depp turns 'A Christmas Carol' into joyless horror .