House of Dark Shadows (DVD)

Daek Shadows fan

what more can I say But Its Dark Shadows it was good to see it in hd for the first time Love it.

Just didnt have the same magic as the original series. Story was not the same either. However, still sends the 2012 version into bad movie orbit by comparison. Ended up walking out on the new version.

Someone did a good job with the picture and sound remastering. Its nice not to have the commercials from where I taped this on VHS tape. Being able to see it for the first time in widescreen was great. Ironically it arrived from Amazon on Halloween. No extras but since the missing footage of David pretending to hang himself in a closet wasnt recovered, I was not expecting anything to show up at the time of this release. Someone has got to have the cut scenes.

I like horror films that have a consistent mood reminiscent of a nightmare, and House of Dark Shadows fits the bill for me. Theres a great New England Gothic vibe to this film, and a lot of really stylish cinematography by Arthur J. Ornitz. (Ornitz is also part of the reason why both Serpico and the original Death Wish are such gripping movies). The New England mood is somewhat ironic given that most of the film was shot on location in various locations in New Yorks Hudson Valley and absolutely no one in the cast sounds like they are from Maine or Massachusetts, but it is there and it is strong. Director Dan Curtis work here at times seems to be an American cousin to early 70s Dario Argento. Sure, there are times when the stock sound effects are out of place, and the storyline is somewhat confusing. (Since when do wolves howl on New England estates? Bears are more of a problem in reality!) But the overall mood of dread and decay, coupled with a very strong cast, more than compensates for this. Jonathan Frid delivers an especially strong performance as the obsessed vampire Barnabas Collins, so much so that I wish hed been able to parlay this film into a career playing strong villains. The amount of blood spilled onscreen here is comparable to Hammer in its latter years, and there are some very suspenseful moments (especially if you havent seen the film before or are unfamiliar with the source material). This is easily one of the best vampire films of the 1970s. It goes without saying that this film has virtually nothing to do with Tim Burtons travesty of a reimagining. Theres little to no comedy relief in this film, because it would destroy the mood which the cast and crew worked so hard to build. Theres a respect for the material and the audience here that is sorely absent in the recent reimagined version.

The movie was okay, but those who are not familiar with the soap opera Dark Shadows may find it hard to follow. Several scenes were cut and there were just too many unanswered questions. Good for nostalgia buffs and die-hard fans.

The thing I love about this movie......is it takes the Dark Shadows tv series and shoves it into a 2 hour movie!!!! You get all the Jonathan Frid vampire action, the gothic sets, the atmosphere, the cute girls running around. I remember being a kid and seeing this one advertised on Bob Wilkins Creature Features in the 70s ..........but never got a chance to see it. Then it disappeared, except for crummy quality bootlegs, now finally a clean, clear copy. Love it.

Dark Shadows the way U never saw it during its 5 year run on ABC-TV back in the mid- to late 60s & early 70s. Several of that iconic troop of actors that made the TV show so unique are here in the 1970 theatrical release. Joan Bennett, Jonathan Frid, & Grayson Hall to name but a few retelling the original Barnabus story from the TV series with director/creator Dan Curtiss special twist. A must see if you were & are a fan!

To those of you spending your days bewitched by the misadventures of Tabitha and Timmy on Passions, there are those of us who are here to remind you of Dark Shadows, the cult soap opera hit that ran from 1966-71. The Gothic soap was floundering in the ratings when the character of vampire Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) was introduced. Producer/Director Dan Curtis provided this 1970 introduction to the wonderful world of Dark Shadows, so late comers could get up to speed. Barnabas is freed from his crypt after nearly 200 years by a thief stealing treasure and returns to the family home Collinwood pretending to be a distant English cousin who just happens to be named for the infamous ancestor. Barnabas discovers that the family governess, Maggie Evans (Kathryn Leigh Scott) is the spitting image of his former love Josette, who killed herself when she learned he had become a vampire. Meanwhile, the family physician Dr. Julia Hoffman (Grayson Hall) learns of Barnabas true identity and develops a treatment that will reverse the curse. Able to walk in daylight again, Barnabas plans on marrying Maggie. Unfortunately, Dr. Hoffman has fallen in love with Barnabas and sabotges the treatments, which results in quite a bloodbath. House of Dark Shadows certainly stands on its own if you have never seen the soap opera, although the effort to give everyone in the cast some screen time does get in the way from time to time. For those who remember the show, it is nice to see Louis Edmonds, Nancy Barrett, Joan Benett and the others again. The script by Sam Hall and Gordon Russell is actually quite innovative, coming up with some new twists for the love triangle while working in notions of reincarnation and scientific approaches to curing vampirism. At the heart of the film is Frids portrayal of Barnabas Collins, which offers considerably more depth to the character than we were getting at the time from Christopher Lees Dracula in all those Hammer films.

The whole long running show wrapped up in one great movie for DS fans