Hearing Whitney Houston (even under the guise of playing a role) refer to her life as a “cautionary tale” is more than enough to give someone chills. It’s the most striking thing about the trailer to the singer/actress’s last role, in a remake of the 1976 cult classic “Sparkle.” The trailer premiered yesterday morning.

The original film co-starred Irene Cara and Philip Michael Thomas, among others. This revision stars former “American Idol” champ Jordin Sparks, Derek Luke, and Cee-Lo Green, in addition to Whitney, who portraysSparks’ mother.

I’ll admit to having seen only bits and pieces of the original “Sparkle.” When I was a kid in the Eighties, it was a frequent late-night movie. From what I’ve read, the remake appears to sanitize things a little bit and turn it into more of a “Dreamgirls” type of film. I’m not sure if this would normally be up my alley, but seeing Whitney in her final role might be the impetus I need to put my ass into a seat at the theater.

I’m betting the soundtrack (supervised by-sigh-R. Kelly) will be hot, too.