House of Dark Shadows Video

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directed by: Dan Curtis

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Average Rating: Rating: - Before there was "Passions," there was "Dark Shadows"! 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 Frid's portrayal of Barnabas Collins, which offers considerably more depth to the character than we were getting at the time from Christopher Lee's Dracula in all those Hammer films. Rating: - The Best Vampire Film Produced To Date House of Dark Shadows is a "MUST HAVE" for any serious vampire film buff. The writing, production, directing as well as the acting are tops. The films plot is based on the 1966-1971 TV series Dark Shadows. It features a 18th century vampire, Barnabas Collins, who is released after 180 years in his crypt, by a greed driven, drunk handyman, Willie Loomis. After making Willie his unwilling blood-slave, Barnabas introduces himself to the inhabitants of the Collins family ancestral home, aptly named Collinwood, as a long lost cousin from England. All of the current residents of Collinwood embrace him with open arms and curiously, very few questions. In a short while, Barnabas finds what he considers to be his true love of the 18th century who is reincarnated in the personage of Maggie Evans, a governess at Collinwood. Many twists of love, jealously, murder and intrigue await the current residents of the ancestral estate of Collinwood all centering around "Cousin Barnabas". This film is again a must see for any true vampire film lover. Dan Curtis did a fine job of producing and directing this MUST HAVE vampire flick. Rating: - Count Dracula, eat your heart out..... before someone pounds a stake in it! The good old USA has its own vampire in Barnabas Collins! (Yes, I know actor Jonathan Frid is a native Canadian!) This is a decent horror flick based loosely on the hit daytime soap opera of the sixties. Dan Curtis took his entire cast and with a little help from the MGM studios who lent him some of their old movie sets to work with, made a picture all devoted Dark Shadows fans would appreciate.

House of Dark Shadows Video

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