You can just imagine director Tim Burton locked away in some darkened loft, hair all over the place, cooking up his weird and wonderful plans liked some crazed scientist.

Visually, he's always been one of the most exciting directors, from Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985) through to his recent Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. There have been a few misses along the way, when his dreams have proved too extravagant (1996's Mars Attacks! for example), but with Corpse Bride everything comes together: the stop-motion animation is stunning, and the story is rich with his macabre and often dark sense of humour.

Like The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Corpse Bride is as black as the night. The story revolves around a young man, Victor (Johnny Depp), pledged to marry a suitable bride (Emily Watson). But when he plays around in the forest one night he slips the wedding band on a dead woman's finger and is whisked away to the land of the dead.

Burton's underworld is richer and more full of life than the one our hero has been plucked from - the dead know how to live more than the living, it seems. Dancing skeletons, Peter Lorre reborn as a maggot, and all manner of gruesome beings get a chance to kick up their heels - or what's left of them. And Victor must decide where his future lies - with his corpse bride or with living flesh.

The story is pure Burton - right down to the achingly sweet ending - but the animated magic can be put down to the work of first-time co-director Mike Johnson, who echoes the likes of the great Ray Harryhausen (Jason and the Argonauts). It's a feast for the eyes.

Depp basically plays Depp - never a bad thing, of course - but there are a few surprises in the support cast, which counts among its ranks Albert Finney, Richard E. Grant and Christopher Lee.

Throw in a few show tunes, a whole lot of Burton at his best, and you have a film that's a delight from start to finish.

Tim Burton's Corpse Bride opens today