KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling

Coventry I always wanted to see the "Dark Shadows" TV-series, but never had the courage to actually start… Six or seven years ago, I was thrilled to have found the first 35 episodes on DVD, but then I discovered there's a total of nearly 600 episodes, so what's the point? I tracked down the two spin-off films instead, hoping hoping that it wouldn't require extended knowledge of the TV-series. Luckily it doesn't, so all of you who're interested in this cult franchise as well, rest assured that the movies stand on their own as solid and creepily entertaining Gothic horror classics. Produced and directed by the multi-talented Dan Curtis, "House of Dark Shadows" delivers plenty of macabre atmosphere, sinister decors and filming locations, intriguing characters and a surprisingly big amount of typically late 60's/early 70's graphic gore. You know the type of gore I'm referring to, don't you? The thick and flashy red blood that spurts out of peoples' chests when they're impaled by wooden stakes! The plot of "House of Dark Shadows" is simple, efficient and actually very reminiscent to Bram Stoker's legendary tale of "Dracula" only with different character names and a contemporary New England setting. 19th Century vampire patriarch Barnabas Collins is resurrected from his tomb and mingles with his present day descendants by pretending he's a distant relative from another continent. The beautiful Maggie Evans immediately catches Barnabas' attention, since she looks exactly like his long lost lover Josette. But poor (?) Barnabas is too popular with the ladies, as also young cousin Carolyn and the acclaimed female Doctor Julia Hoffman fall in love with him. Carolyn gets turned into a vampire and terrorizes the area, while Dr. Hoffman intends to cure Barnabas' vampirism through a series of medical injections. The latter sub plot is definitely the freshest and most inventive part of the film because, as said, the rest is fairly similar to "Dracula". Maggie Evans is more or less Mina, her fiancée Jeff is Harker, Carolyn is Lucy and Professor Eliot Stokes is a bleaker version of Prof. Van Helsing. This is merely an observation, not so much a point of criticism since I was very much amused by "House of Dark Shadows" from start to finish. Jonathan Frid's performance as Barnabas Collins is inarguably one of the film's major strongpoints. He depicts the vampire character as a crossover between a despicable monster and a troubled romanticist; which is a style that became often copied in later vampire movies. It's a fun flick, with creepy music and settings as well as a devoted cast and crew! Very much recommended to horror lovers young and old (but preferably a tad bit older, since this doesn't resemble nowadays rubbish such as "Twilight" at all!)

gavin6942 Vampire Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) is released from his prison and searches for a cure to his affliction, so he can marry the incarnation of his lost love (Kathryn Leigh Scott).When you have something directed by Dan Curtis, you know it will be good. And then when you know the film is far more graphically violent than its television counterpart, with dripping vampire bites and bloody deaths... that is a guaranteed win.I am not overly familiar with the television show, but only because it has like 1000 episodes. I have been meaning to get to that. If it is anything like this film, though, it is well worth watching.

Morbius Fitzgerald To be perfectly honest, I liked this film. If you know what to expect from 1970's vampire horror, you would enjoy this. If you don't know, watch an episode of the original show and the movie "The Vampire Lovers" and you'll know EXACTLY what to expect.The plot is actually ripped out of one from the original show, luckily it just so happened to be my favourite plot; the kidnap of Maggie Evans.My only complaint with this film is basically fanboy "this character shouldn't do this!", If you want some examples; Carolyn dies 30 minutes in, Roger becomes a vampire, Victoria is never even mentioned in this one (this is probably my #1 biggest problem). The one that I liked is that Willie Loomis actually kills Barnabus. I'm not even joking. I get tired of Willie on the original show, all he did was worry. He actually took a stand against the Evil Barnabus.I actually also thought this film did have decent horror build up. I mentioned a film called "The Vampire Lovers" earlier but in that film I got the impression to feel sorry for Carmilla. In this, Curtis actually made you not feel any sympathy for Barnabus. Why? His plan is sick.Overall this film is no masterpiece but take it for what its worth, a well made 1970's vampire film (which, no offense, is quite rare).

Pumpkin_Man 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!!!