House of Dark Shadows

source: House of Dark Shadows

There was more gore in this film but it was necessary...the Barnabas Collins character was less sympathetic and characters were killed who didn't suffer such fate on the day time soap opera such as Nancy Barrett,Thayer David and Louis Edmonds characters. Interesting how Joan Bennett seemed to disappear from the film upon discovering an aged Barnabas....on the whole it was a much better film than the follow up "Night Of Dark Shadows". This film had a better budget than the day time program, better use of "shadows". I would have liked to have seen a sequel to this film rather than the other. Dan Curtis had earlier success with TV versions of "Dr.Jeckyll & Mr.Hyde", "Dracula" and "Frankenstein" but "House Of Dark Shadows" was very enjoyable.

I re-watched this last night. For the past year, I've been watching the classic Dark Shadows series, and I thought this movie was done pretty well. I love how they actually play the theme (unlike Tim Burton's version) They tried so hard to re-film scenes from episodes 211- 300ish and cram it all into a 90 minute movie. Their cut scenes felt like they cut it too short and went on to something else. In the beginning of the show, Barnabas was very much a monster and killed people, but as the series progressed, he sorta became a good guy and helped people. This film shows Barnabas as he was in the beginning; a vampire that killed people and forced Willie Loomis to be his servant. After attacking Carolyn, Barnabas becomes attracted to Maggie Evans, who be believes is his lost love, Josette DuPres re-incarnated. If you didn't watch the show, you'd probably have no idea what's going on. The film starts so suddenly it feels like it's in the middle of one of the episodes. No story as to who the Collins family are. No mention of Victoria Winters. No backstory as to how Barnabas became a vampire, and not mentioned how or why Dr. Hoffman, Jeff Clark, or Professor Stokes are there (but in the series, it's all explained. This film doesn't run con-current with the series, so it's not meant to be a sequel to the show) It has its faults, but it's a pretty worthy film based on the series. If you love the series, you may enjoy HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS!!!

Most of the major characters are back for those who did not get to watch the daily serial "Dark Shadows" in this big screen version of that Dan Curtis campfest. Looking like a cross between a Hammer horror film and an American International gothic melodrama, this lacks a strong continuity which results in this being a disappointment as a big screen condensed synopsis of what had happened in Collinwood just a few years before. Unfortunately, the script starts off with a wimper, never fully develops all of the important characters, so you feel like you are getting an empty egg shell of the show's bible without the all important yolk. Joan Bennett, still glamorous and commanding as matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, doesn't really get to do much but be regal and grieving, as people around her begin to die off one by one thanks to a vampire curse that goes back several centuries. Coming to Collinwood in the midst of this is Jonathan Frid's Barnabas Collins, a look-alike descendant to a long forgotten branch of the family that left centuries before supposedly for England. Frid quickly moves into the abandoned ancestral home which becomes quickly filled with the graves of his victims, revealing the truth about his real identity. Along comes the genius Dr. Julia Hoffman (Grayson Hall) who by chance discovers the secret and offers to cure him, but at what cost is yet to be determined. When her treatments take a nasty turn, you want to break into a variation of that Leslie Bricusse classic, singing "What Kind of Ghoul am I?" Of course, every long dead vampire must have an unrequitted love, and in this case, it's Kathryn Leigh Scott's Maggie, whom Barnabas wants to join together with to be gloriously undead forever. Louis Edmunds as Elizabeth's brother, Roger, deals with unruly son David Hennessy, while Bennett's daughter, Carolyn (Nancy Barrett) becomes obsessed with Barnabas even though she's in love with local hero Roger Davis. It becomes a battle of wills between those who want to destroy whoever is killing local residents in this brutal manner, the fanged Barnabas himself, and of course, Dr. Hoffman who gets the shock of her life when her jealousy over Barnabas's love for another woman makes her (quoting Hall in "The Night of the Iguana") "take steps". There are far too many characters, so little development, and the motivations are clearly missed, having been written out on a daily basis. With vampire movies coming out by the dozen through Hammer horror (starring the far more dashing Christopher Lee), this seems like a cheap imitation. As a soap historian, I have enjoyed the parts of the series I have seen, and would have liked for this to have been better. Still, it's campy fun (especially Frid's sudden change into a ghoulish looking old man), much better than the pathetic Tim Burton remake, but the ending battle for the souls of the living and newly dead, goes on far too long.

Movie version of the Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows with better production values. It's a great-looking movie that makes effective use of location shooting. Dan Curtis, creator of the series as well as many other horror-related films and shows for television in the '70s, directs his first theatrical release here. I've always been a big admirer of Curtis, who did more for horror (and television in general) than he seems to get credit for. The plot for the film comes directly from the TV series. Essentially it retells the story of vampire Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid), the show's most popular character, and his quests for a cure and to be with his reincarnated love. I wouldn't call it a scary movie, though some of the outdoors scenes at night do carry a reasonable amount of spooky atmosphere and tension. Also, the old-age makeup used on a character at one point is well-done and creepy. Nice music, as well. Fans of the series will probably find more to like than most but I think there's a lot here to enjoy, even for those unfamiliar with Dark Shadows.

'Dark Shadows' is one of those shows that wholly deserves its popularity and its reputation as a classic. There are a few films based on it, and while they're all watchable in varying ways quality-wise they're mixed. By far the best of them is this, 'House of Dark Shadows'. To me also, it's the only film to be as good as the show, not quite on the same level but almost as good. Its only real problems are some characters not given enough screen time or development, especially Elizabeth and Maggie, and Joan Bennett being very underused as Elizabeth that she doesn't shine anywhere near as much as in the show. 'House of Dark Shadows' however is visually an improvement over the show's production values, with the exception of a couple of goofs and bloopers which didn't hurt the film at all. The production and costume design are lavish and splendidly Gothic, and it's all photographed stunningly and boasts some surprisingly good special effects. The music is suitably moody, and evokes a real eeriness. The script has a good balance of the funny and the tense, and the story is never dull, is always fun and has some real nerve-shredding tension and bone-chilling shock. The highlight was the somewhat poetic ending, which is also a masterclass in sheer galvanising horror and incredible Gothic imagery. There is a good deal of gore, but it's used chillingly and is never overused or gratuitous. Dan Curtis directs beautifully and intelligently, never once undermining the tension, suspense or horror and doesn't make the mistakes of not having enough of either or over-crowding the film with them. Most of the characters are interesting, particularly Barnabas and Julia, and the wonderful chemistry between the actors in the show translates every bit as wonderfully here. The acting is uniformly good, with only Bennett not shining as much as she could have done due to being so underused. Jonathan Frid is terrifyingly magnetic, while Grayson Hall, Thayer David and Nancy Barrett are particularly strong in support. All in all, by far the best of the 'Dark Shadows' films and the only one to be as good as the show. 8/10 Bethany Cox

The film features a number of the series regulars repeating their original TV roles, and there are several recycled plot elements from the show that come in handy for the movie. But producer/director Dan Curtis(the creator of the original series), knows the drastic difference between a daytime TV soap opera and a feature film, and uses this knowledge to create a striking, entertaining picture. Unlike an episodic TV series, the film doesn't allow the suspense to lag at a snail's pace, but actually builds suspense from the opening scene and never lets up! The performances by the multi-talented cast are truly wonderful, though star Joan Bennett(one of my most favorite characters on the show), doesn't get as much screen time as I would have liked. This is probably due to the fact that the film was cut by some twenty minutes before being released. But even in its truncated form, HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS remains one of the greatest vampire/horror flicks of its time.

This is one of the best horror films of the '70's, and certainly the best vampire flick of that decade. Based on the highly successful supernatural soap opera DARK SHADOWS, this feature film version of the ever popular series recounts the resurrection of Barnabas Collins(Jonathan Frid), a 175-year-old vampire who passes himself off as a modern-day descendant of the Collins clan. While staying at the Gothic Collinwood estate, Barnabas becomes entranced by a beautiful governess(Kathryn Leigh Scott) who bears a striking resemblance to his long-lost love, Josette, and determines to make the young woman his new bride. Few films based on Tv shows work, but HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS is an exception to that rule and like the TV series on which it is based, HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS has developed into a cult classic over the years. Like its sequel, 1971's NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS, the film is currently under restoration. There are several sequences from both films missing. Hopefully, the generally unfavorable opinion of NIGHT will change once all of the missing footage has been recovered, and the film will then rank right up there along with its predecessor like it should.

I watched this movie all the way through and just couldn't get into it. It is one of those movies that is like a 30s or 40s black and white movie but with color. The acting/writing/direction is exactly like that of a black and white movie but it is in color. These should have some kind of name to refer to them, there are a lot of them and if you like one, you like them all. For me, i have never been able to get into these kinds of movies. Most Italian horrors and gallios are like this. Maybe one day ill get into it but I've seen a lot and still don't get it. This movie is about a vampire and a researcher that is trying to find a cure.. i don't really remember details since i couldn't get into it.

Based on the "Dark Shadows" TV show which was a Gothic soap opera than ran from 1966-1971. Basically this just takes most of the plots from 1966-1967 and crams them into 90 minutes. Vampire Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) is accidentally released from his coffin after being chained in there for over 100 years. He poses as a cousin from England and gets friendly with the present Collins family. He quickly falls in love with beautiful Maggie Evans (Kathryn Leigh Scott) and Dr. Hoffman (Grayson Hall) tries to discover a cure for his vampirism. But things start to fall apart when Hoffman falls in love with Barnabas.... This was made when the TV series was at the height of its popularity. It was shot in two weeks VERY quickly with most of the original cast (while the TV show was still in production). If you don't know the characters from the TV series you might be confused at first. Still it's not a big deal. The characters are all introduced very quickly but almost immediately they are killed by Barnabas. It's pretty obvious this movie was edited severely--the story moves VERY quickly and you're playing catchup most of the time. Still, I had no trouble following it. Also they pour on the blood here--throats are torn open, vampires are staked all with plenty of gushing red blood (this would NOT get a PG today). Producer/director Dan Curtis decided he would show everything he couldn't get on TV--and he did! The violence and gore is strong, the locations are just gorgeous, there's tons of atmosphere, all the acting is good and there are quite a few nice jolts. Frid is just great as Barnabas, John Karlen is good as his servant Willie, Scott does wonders with the thankless victim role she's given and Roger Davis plays the hero very well. SPOILER ALERT!!!! Nancy Barrett especially is sexy and terrifying as a vampire--her staking is a definite highlight of the film. END SPOILER ALERT!!!! A strong, tight horror film. Perfect viewing for Halloween night. Highly recommended!