Dark Shadows..Remember ?

[JT Brooklyn]

I'm sure Johhny Depp will create another one of his Memorable Screen Character's with his "Barnabus Collins" Interpretation.

 

The Movie "Dark Shadows" is due out I believe in May... Although the Original Dark Shadows "Barnabus" was one creepy Memorable Character also.

[jgoo]

Thanks for posting this as it certainly brought back some great memories of watching Dark Shadows years ago. I wasn't aware of the movie coming out so that will be something I definitely will go to see.

[JT Brooklyn]

Thanks for posting this as it certainly brought back some great memories of watching Dark Shadows years ago. I wasn't aware of the movie coming out so that will be something I definitely will go to see.

 

It of course being a Tim Burton Movie will be a far cry from the TV Series..But looks Totally Entertaining! Thank The Gods for Johnny Depp an Actor First then a Movie Star!

He makes Tom Cruise Movies look really sad!

[Boink]

Hmmm....the trailer seems to bear little resemblance to the series. Part of the fun of that series was how seriously it took itself - like some classical Greek tragedy. This movie looks more like a comedy akin to Addams Family. It may have it's own appeal, but I'll have to dis-associate it from the original in my mind.

[josephga]

I wanted too see this looked forward too seeing this that was until I saw the trailer

[+ Gar1eth]

I wanted too see this looked forward too seeing this that was until I saw the trailer

 

Joseph- I used to get scared out of my wits by Dark Shadows, but I watched it everyday. But I agree with you totally. I was really looking forward to the movie- until I saw the trailer and learned Tim Burton was the director. I really wish a new series worthy of the original - but with better production values could be brought to some network. It's been tried once or twice, but has never had a long run.

 

Gman

[Decatur Guy]

I was the perfect age for Dark Shadows during its original run ... just old enough to understand it a little, but too young not to realize it wasn't real. So I was in constant fear/delight when it was on.

 

The soap opera format worked so well for that show -- while the production values were often cheap, the plots and characters and dialogue were often top-notch.

 

I was often as fascinated by the mortals as I was by the supernatural characters -- Elizabeth Collins Stoddard was intriguing, and one of my favorite storylines was why she didn't leave Collinwood for 17 years and kept a key to the basement around her neck. It was Gothic and creepy, but not supernatural ...

 

There was usually a love story and a power struggle for Collinwood thrown in with the vampirism and witchcraft and all, and that made it all the more intriguing.

 

Other favorite storylines: Barnabas kidnaps Maggie Evans and tries to recreate his doomed lover Josette ... All the intrigue between Julia and Barnabas leading up the seance that sent Victoria Winters back to 1795 (that seance episode may be my single favorite episode of all) ... Quentin's ghost calling up the kids on the phone and haunting Collinwood, eventually driving the entire family out of the estate (which you know was bad because they put up with a lot of scary shit in that house!) ... In 1897, insane Jenny Collins terrorizing everyone with nothing but doll babies and a knife (they should have let that storyline last a lot longer) ... And Parallel Time was also a great storyline. (I know WAY too much about this show).

 

I'm not sure a movie treatment of Dark Shadows can really do the complex story any justice.

 

The 1991 revival series was good. Alas, it didn't last.

[Decatur Guy]

Ugh. I just saw the trailer. Looks like they are turning it into a Batman-style joke. Too bad.

 

Meanwhile, here's a clip of squabbling siblings Judith, Edward and Quentin in some drawing room drama from 1897.

 

[Decatur Guy]

Here's the end of the episode where Quentin's ghost has driven out all the Collinses and he has the mansion to himself.

 

It's lovely, creepy and sad all at the same time. I like how they took the time to pan over many of the empty rooms while playing his theme.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3Kl-Km8l4E&feature=related

[justaguy]

This is the only soap I ever watched. I used to make sure I got home from school in time to see it. I'm not sure I had a crush on Barnabas or not. Who was the caretaker? She was my favorite character. To me she was creepier than all the rest combined. It will be interesting to see what Burton does to it, but I don't think I'm going to like it because Dark Shadows in my mind should always be what it was.

[JT Brooklyn]

IMHO I'm sure those who are totally into the Original Series can find it on DVD. I would not find it hard to just go with a Tim Burton/ Johnny Depp Version and not do any comparing.

 

Myrna Loy was a Hoot in her later year's.

[josephga]

my mother use to have a thing for David Selby that played Quentin Collins and later Richard on falcon crest

[Decatur Guy]

my mother use to have a thing for David Selby that played Quentin Collins and later Richard on falcon crest

 

LOL. So did my mother (when he was on Falcon Crest).

[Decatur Guy]

BTW, you can order Dark Shadows in its entirely on Netflix. It would take months to watch ... but I'm thinking about do it.

[+ deej]

This is the only soap I ever watched. I used to make sure I got home from school in time to see it. I'm not sure I had a crush on Barnabas or not. Who was the caretaker? She was my favorite character. To me she was creepier than all the rest combined. It will be interesting to see what Burton does to it, but I don't think I'm going to like it because Dark Shadows in my mind should always be what it was.

 

I used to run home from school to see it too.

 

Surprised nobody has mentioned Angelique. I have a vivid memory of Barnabas, fangs in place, snarling her name.

 

I actually remember the show mostly in B&W. I may have started watching before we got color TV, or I may have been watching on a B&W portable we had for a long time. It was creepier in B&W. In color, you could see the wires on the props easier.

[dannyboynyc]

Ugh. I just saw the trailer. Looks like they are turning it into a Batman-style joke. Too bad.

 

Meanwhile, here's a clip of squabbling siblings Judith, Edward and Quentin in some drawing room drama from 1897.

 

 

The 1897 storyline is my absolute favorite. It's long, complex, keeps moving and has the most interesting characters. And, Quentin's character is the most outrageous!

[dannyboynyc]

I collected the series when it was available on VHS. I still watch it. It takes a couple of years to get through the entire series. When I'm done, I start again.

 

This is what I watch every morning when eating breakfast.

[Decatur Guy]

The 1897 storyline is my absolute favorite. It's long, complex, keeps moving and has the most interesting characters. And, Quentin's character is the most outrageous!

 

The 1897 storyline is my absolute favorite. It's long, complex, keeps moving and has the most interesting characters. And, Quentin's character is the most outrageous!

 

I have a love/dislike relationship with 1897.

 

What I loved:

 

The characters were TERRIFIC: Quintin, Judith, Edward, Pansy Faye (the real one and then channeled by Charity Trask), Minerva Trask, Rev. Gregory Trask, Magda, Beth Chavez, Laura Collins, Magda and Sandor, and my favorite -- crazy Jenny Collins.

 

The first half of 1897 was brilliant. Then it drags on too long for me. I once read that DS reached the peak of its popularity with the 1897 storyline and that's why they extended it. And you can tell. The first half was focused and then it started to aimlessly ramble about.

 

I also felt 1897 had too many villains -- Quintin AND Laura AND Petofi AND Magda AND Trask AND Evan Handley AND ... Angelique. And I'm sure I'm forgetting some of them. Angelique just had no place there. And I hate to say that because Lara Parker was nothing less than brilliant, but she just popped in and out, seeming to serve no real purpose. To me, Laura the Phoenix served the niche Angelique did in 1795, and Diana Millay was great.

 

In my personal 1897, I would have axed Angelique and further played up the Laura/Edward/Quentin/Jenny story and wrapped up the Petofi part a lot sooner.

 

I compare it to 1795, which was shorter and more focused: Angelique drives the first part, Barnabas as a vampire drives the second half (with the Victoria/Trask witch hunt) woven throughout.

 

So ultimately I liked 1795 better, though 1897 probably had the best characters and initial set up ... I LOVED the Trasks and their terrible school. They were really just about as scary as the supernaturals amongst them. I also loved the bickering between Judith, Edward and Quintin. I wish they had even more of that.

 

One last thing ... I hated the end of 1897. 1795 took us right back to the frozen figures at the seance in "the present" and the storyline reverts back to what drove the journey to 1795 to begin with ... But it seems like they just dropped the whole David/Quintin thing after 1897 was over and launched right in the Leviathons.

[bluboy]

I was so excited about this and even with tim burton as director because i was thinking he would do sleepy hollow style not beetlejuice but he has done it as beetlejuice so now i am not interested. I wanted it to be taken seriously not as parody....

[Boink]

To me, the true heart-throb of the whole series was an actor named Don Briscoe. He was the older brother of the annoying little girl, Amy, and Collinsport's resident werewolf. He wasn't given very much to do, and seemed to vanish from the series altogether way too soon.

 

Speaking of older brothers, I used to love how Barnabas, in the 1700s, had a 'little sister' who looked like she could be his grand-daughter. I think that girl out-flubbed everyone in the history of the series.

[+ LIguy]

Damn! This thread is stirring up so many memories.I grew up in Brooklyn and my friends and I would take the subway into Manhattan and head to the studio on west 53rd St where Dark Shadows was taped.There was a group of regulars that would come a few times a week and several of us became good friends and we traveled up to the Lyndhurst Mansion in Tarrytown to watch the 2 movies being filmed.

The actors were so gracious to us and happily posed for pictures and signed autographs for us.One year Jonathon Frid(Barnabas) gave a group of us a Christmas party in the studio to thank us for helping him sort out fan mail and many of the cast attended.

About 4 years ago I sold many of the pictures I took on Ebay.I still have a few but the ones of a very young Kate Jackson,Joan Bennet,Grayson Hall and Jonathon Frid sold fast.AHHHH the memories!

[jgoo]

Just came across the news that Jonathon Frid passed away last week. Very sad to hear of his passing. RIP

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/20/arts/television/jonathan-frid-ghoulish-dark-shadows-star-dies-at-87.html?_r=1