Dark Shadows

Plot synopsis:
In 1760, the Collins family moves from Liverpool, England to Maine and establishes the fishing town Collinsport, where they built their estate, Collinwood.
When he first arrives, the young son Barnabas (Johnny Depp), meets the young Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green) who instantly falls in love with him. Angelique's witch mother who was with her at that time warned her of socializing with people of noble birth. This, however, did not stop Angelique from following the family for many years, hoping to be noticed by Barnabas.
In 1776 (that is, 16 years later), Barnabas, now a grown man, falls in love with a young woman named Josette du Pres (Bella Heathcote), scorning Angelique who was now working as a maid in his household. Turning to black magic, Angelique curses the Collins family, first killing Barnabas's parents (Ivan Kaye and Susanna Cappellaro) in an assumed accident, then by enchanting Josette to leap to her death off a cliff. In a fit of grief, Barnabas attempts to leap to his own death but that fails as well, as Angelique has cursed him to the immortal life of a vampire. When he still rejects her advances, she turns the town against him, and he is buried alive in a coffin.
In 1972 (that is, 196 years later), the young Maggie Evans (also Bella Heathcote), under the assumed identity of "Victoria Winters", applies for a job as a governess at Collinwood and meets with the current reclusive matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer). Her nephew David (Gulliver McGrath), for whom Victoria will be caring, believes his mother, who drowned in a boating accident, still visits him. Victoria does not divulge that since her young age she, too, can see ghosts.
After meeting with David, his live-in psychiatrist Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter), his father Roger (Jonny Lee Miller), and Elizabeth's rebellious daughter Carolyn (Chloë Grace Moretz), Victoria is hired by Elizabeth. That night, Victoria sees the ghost of Josette who warns that "He's coming" before disappearing after falling from a chandelier.
Elsewhere, a group of construction workers dig up Barnabas's coffin and inadvertently free him. After sating his blood thirst of 196 years, and shocked by the modern times he finds himself in, Barnabas returns to Collinwood, and hypnotizes the groundskeeper Willie Loomis (Jackie Earle Haley) as his personal Renfield, and introduces himself to the family as a "distant relative". Elizabeth believes him to be a con man until he reveals hidden riches buried in a secret room within the house, when Elizabeth thought the family to be destitute. After realizing who and what Barnabas is, she asks to keep it a secret, barely passing him off as a distant cousin.
Barnabas is instantly smitten with Victoria when he meets her as she resembles Josette. He seeks out Carolyn's advice on courting her. Angelique, now an immortal witch herself, visits Barnabas and threatens him not to go into business competition against her. Nevertheless, Barnabas reopens the Collins family cannery business and uses hypnosis to steal several of the fisherman crews who work for Angelique. She tries to buy him off. Even after an episode of supernatural lust between the two of them, he rejects her offer. Julia discovers his identity by hypnotizing him and offers to cure his vampiric condition via blood transfusions.
Barnabas wants to hold a ball to reintroduce the family to the townsfolk. Carolyn suggests they make it a happening with musician Alice Cooper as the headliner. At the ball, Barnabas catches Roger stealing from guest's coats. Victoria reveals to Barnabas that she's actually an escapee from the mental asylum where her parents had her confined since she was a child due to her powers.
Angelique makes a grand appearance in order to seduce Barnabas. When she catches him kissing Victoria, she becomes even more embittered. Barnabas, on his part, wishes even more desperately to be mortal again. Barnabus finds out Julia has been using his blood to make herself immortal, so he kills her and dumps her body into the bay with Willie's help. After catching Roger trying to break into the secret room, Barnabas gives him a choice: to stay and be an exemplary father to David or leave with enough money to live his life alone. Roger chooses the latter, to David's heartbreak. Barnabas's true identity is finally revealed to the rest of the family and Victoria when he saves David from a falling disco ball. Victoria is scared by the revelation and runs away.
Angelique summons Barnabas again to her office, but when he rejects her offer of partnership once again, she traps him into another coffin, this time burying him in a mausoleum. Shortly after, he is found and freed by David, alerted by his mother's ghost. Meanwhile, Angelique destroys the Collins's factory and implicates Barnabas in the murders of Julia and all the people he had to feed on, turning the townsfolk against the family.
At the mansion, Elizabeth and Barnabus see the police, Angelique, and the angry mob approaching as Caroyln withdraws into the mansion. Barnabas reveals his and Angelique's true nature in front of an angry mob and a fight ensues. During the fight following the mob's departure upon these revelations, Carolyn reveals she is a werewolf, a massive fire breaks out in the house. Ultimately, the ghost of David's mother (Josephine Butler) manages to hurl Angelique against the chandelier, which then falls to the ground, mortally wounding her as she starts to shatter. She literally offers her heart to Barnabas again, but he refuses it and it turns to dust and she dies. David learns from his mother that Victoria is headed toward the cliffs where Josette committed suicide. David asks Elizabeth what the Collins family will do now, and Elizabeth says they will do what they've always done: "endure."
After catching up to Victoria at the cliffs, Barnabas refuses to turn her into a vampire. Victoria throws herself from the cliffs; he leaps after her, biting her so she can survive the fall as a vampire. She awakens, asking him to call her Josette, and the two kiss passionately on the rocky shore.
Meanwhile, at the bottom of the bay, Julia, who had been assumed dead, suddenly opens her eyes to her new immortal life as well.

Tags: paranormal, psychedelic, good versus evil, gothic

Review:
Originally airing in the afternoon in 1966 as a half hour "Gothic" soap opera then a few months later morphing into pure supernatural story telling, Dark Shadows is unique in American television.
As the series opens, we are introduced to the character Victoria Winters, played by Alexandra Moltke, raised an orphan on her way to her new position as governess to young David at Collinwood.
Each show would begin with a shot of the impressive mansion Collinwood, bathed in moody lighting, while Victoria Winters' voice eerily introduced themes of mystery & secrets hopefully to be revealed on that day's episodes while Dark Shadows' famous theme music played in the background.
As the shows progressed over the first few months from mystery Gothic to supernatural suspense we are introduced to the character of Barnabas Collins played by Jonathan Frid.
Story lines would go back in time, revealing how Barnabas became a vampire by an evil curse from witch Angelique (Lara Parker), a maid of French Caribbean descent.
Later back in modern time, Roger Collins will bring home as his new bride, Cassandra, a woman who looks amazingly like the Angelique from the 1700s.
Detailing a tormented New England family's continuing involvement with ghosts, witches, werewolves, vampires, and other fearsome creatures, this was certainly unlike any other daytime TV soap opera ever made.
In addition to its Gothic tales involving the supernatural, what set DARK SHADOWS apart from the other TV soap operas of its day was the remarkable cast, including famous and glamorous Hollywood screen star Joan Bennett as the aristocratic matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, Oscar-nominated actress Grayson Hall(THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA) as Dr. Julia Hoffman who tried to develop a cure for vampire Barnabas Collins but wound up falling in love with him instead.
Made on a noticeably low budget, DARK SHADOWS concentrated on plot and character rather than cheap thrills, though there were plenty of eerie, spooky moments and creepy Gothic atmosphere.
Like it or not, DARK SHADOWS completely changed television history and remains one of the most well-remembered TV series of all time.
As the comment from a new teenaged viewer on this page shows, the show's appeal continues to draw in a new audience 30 years after its original broadcast.Barnabas Collins, the pivotal character of the "vulnerable vampire," has become a part of postmodern folklore.
The central drama of Dark Shadows--a doctor in unrequited love with her vampire patient, whom she was trying to cure--was intriguingly reprised in the Canadian series Forever Knight, with Geraint Wyn-Davies and Catherine Disher taking on the roles originally played by Jonathan Frid and Grayson Hall.Dark Shadows boasted perhaps the most impressive cast (in terms of sheer ability) ever assembled for an American daytime series.
Jonathan Frid, Thayer David, the extraordinary Grayson Hall (probably the first instance of an Oscar nominated thesp taking a role in a soap opera), Nancy Barrett, Louis Edmonds, and John Karlen, all of whom had distinguished themselves both on and off Broadway, routinely turned in sterling performances with a minimum of rehearsal time.
Among the newcomers who shone most strongly were Lara Parker (who enacted another variant of vindictive unrequited love as the witch Angelique), Alexandra Moltke as perennially clueless governess Victoria Winters, Don Briscoe as doomed werewolf Chris Jennings, and David Selby as roguish cousin Quentin Collins.
Vestoff did a tour de force as the ruthless Samantha Collins at the same time (1970) as she was performing nightly in the hit musical 1776.Derided by some, misunderstood by many, beloved by its legions of fans, Dark Shadows will never die!.
As with all soap operas, the actors in DARK SHADOW had to stretch the material (Remember they had a collective 2 hours plus every week to cover.) Many actors would repeat what the other actor just said (Example BARNABAS: "This room was once filled the scent of lilacs." GIRL (in awe...) "....the scent of lilacs!"  Flaws normally covered by alternate takes came up (much of this was live TV) We saw boom mikes, camera catching the edge of set, and the most celebrated goof- a pesty fly that won't leave vampire Barnabas Collins' (Jonathan Frid) nose, while Barnabas delivers a menacing monologue.
1795- "I set a curse on you Barnabas Collins-" 1967- Dark Shadows, after being on for less than one year was on the verge of being thrown into oblivion, forgotten and lost forever, along with a 172 year old family secret.
make this show truly memorable (and made me join the DVD club, where I am now the proud owner of my own Barnabas Collins bobblehead) :)I never did watch the remake of the Dark Shadows series when it came out, because I personally thought that no one could replace Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins.
David Selby, Roger Davis, Joel Crothers, and of course Jonathan Frid (Barnabas) to name a few.Dark Shadows is remembered as being campy with lots of bloopers.
I encourage all people who haven't had the privelege of seeing this show, or the movies or the attempt at making a new Dark Shadows(in 1990 or whatever) that they ought to watch it on Sci-fi and You will see why there are still SO MANY dedicated fans of a show that was made over 30 years ago!
They are all good but the ones above have little to no stuff ups and the others I've seen either overact or fumble their lines more than the others.You'll see a couple of famous faces such as David Selby, Joan Bennett, Mitch Ryan and Denise Nickerson (Violet Beauregard from Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory).The main part of the show to get you interested is the deep and complex character of Barnabus Collins.
If you watch the series of episodes where he tries to turn Maggie Evans into Josette Collins you'll want Maggie to escape Barnabus yes but you will also be worried that they'll discover his little secret of being a vampire and if you are properly engaged in the show you wont want that.Overall this show is at times corny.
But most importantly the show was revolutionary for it's time because it helped bring monsters from the horror genre we know and love translated to our modern times.I got into this show when I was about 11, one day decided out of boredom to give it a shot and of course I watched more and more and soon it grew to become a show I really like.
I'll just say four characters I really like since there is no room.Barnabas Collins: He's a great character due to how dark and complex he is and yet at times is capable of warmth.
HYDE, FRANKENSTEIN, etc) added to the high quality of the series along with time-neutral dialog (I think Carolyn used the word "groovy" exactly once) to make this series still relevant for future generations.Marrying horror movies to soap opera probably sounded outrageous at the time, but it actually worked to provide detail and depth and character development often absent in film.
Dark Shadows began as a traditional soap opera but soon found a charm in Gothic story lines borrowed from classic works of literature like Jane Eyre, Turn of the Screw and Dracula.The show is extremely atmospheric with subtle nods to several classic works of Gothic literature from Bram Stoker's Dracula and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray.
The first 210 episodes are forgettable but once Barnabas Collins joins the show things gradually start to improve and fast becomes the most compelling, complex, Gothic creation to ever appear on television.Dark Shadows is part drama, part Gothic horror and part science fiction, including such plot lines as the vampire, Barnabas Collins, having to time travel to 1897 in order to save a man from becoming a malicious ghost that torments children in 1968.
When the Scifi Channel first started the first thing they ever aired was the introduction of Barnabas Collins (episodes 210 and 211) of Dark Shadows.I strongly recommend Dark Shadows for anyone who loves a good, spooky Gothic horror-fantasy romance or even urban fantasy.
Given a choice, I came home from school and went fossil hunting, swimming, golfing, etc., rather than stay indoors and watch TV.That aside, I grew up loving horror classics at the movies, so Dark Shadows interested me considerably during the cold Midwestern months when I wasn't sledding or playing ice hockey.Fast forward to 2008.My wife and I got to discussing Dark Shadows, and that led to us ordering the series thru Netflix, starting with the first episode.Simply put, I am "A Serious Dark Shadows Fan via the Backdoor" in that my passion for the show has come from watching it over the past year.
For all these years of enjoyment, I salute all the fine people that were involved in this Daytime Horror Classic and to all the thousands of devoted fans everywhere....."Dark Shadows Rules!!".
Later storylines, with Quentin (yes, Nora played by Denise Nickerson is Violet from 'Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'), more time travel sequences (check out the 1995 future travel) and the zombies destroying Collinwood are nice, as well as the alternate reality where Julia Hoffman now becomes Julia Collins and Barnabas becomes Bramwell.
I can't comment on what David Selby or Jonathan Frid did for women (altho when the villianous Barnabas is pleading for Sarah to appear to him as she appears to others who he says 'fights' him, its clear that he did win many a female fans then), but Kathryn Leigh Scott, Nancy Barrett and Alexandra Moltke are incredibly easy on the eyes, stunning visions to watch, and they would later be joined by the equally appealing Lara Parker as Angelique.
If Ed Wood had done a soap opera it would have looked a lot like Dark Shadows, although the original DS did have talent.
Along the way,it spawned a hit song(the 1968 light notable instrumental recording of "Quentin's Theme" by the Charles Randolph Greane Sound was a top ten hit cracking the Billboard's Top 20 singles chart,the first for a song ever from a soap opera),a successful line of books and comic books,two theatrical features based on the show("House Of Dark Shadows" in 1970,and "Night Of Dark Shadows", in 1971 by released theatricallly through Dan Curtis' production company and MGM),and a huge cult following which was still holding conventions with original members of the cast some 40 years after the show began.
The series itself gave viewers one of the fascinating and monstrous characters ever to grace daytime TV....Barnabas Collins-Vampire!-played to the hilt by Jonathan Frid.
During some of the episodes as in some sequences,the actors on "Dark Shadows" usually played the ancestors of there characters,their ghosts,or whatever the plot required of them with terrifying results.
Other actors that starred in the series were just starting out and went on to bigger and better things because of this show....actors like Dana Elcar,Louis Edmonds(later on for All My Children),John Karlen,and not to mention Kate Jackson(who also starred in one of the theatrical sequels to Dark Shadows and also went on elsewhere as one of the actresses of the Aaron Spelling variety of shows that emerge in the 1970's with shows like "The Rookies",and "Charlie's Angels" and etc.)The mystique of Dark Shadows that attracted so many dedicated viewers remained powerful right up to the end,even though the show's younger viewers were showing a preference for repeated episodes of "Gomer Pyle","Family Affair",or "The Beverly Hillbillies" on CBS or whatever was basically on NBC,which led to the soap's replacement by a revival of the game show "Password" not to mention repeated episodes of "Bewitched" during the 1971-1972 season for ABC Daytime which killed it.
DARK SHADOWS reigns supreme as THE unique cult classic Gothic Soap Opera par excellence for fans of the supernatural genre to relish..
When I started watching it, I did not think there would be anything good about a thirty year old gothic soap opera.
Johnny Depp plays Barnabas Collins makes Collin's character no longer the romantic, Gothic-love-lost-revenge-seeking vampire that Jonathan Frid played so well.
If you are into good, classic "Gothic Horror" from the 1950-70's, then this Dark Shadows movie is a great place to start!
It's very easy to picture them as characters in an opera.If you like "Dark Shadows", you probably already know about Dan Curtis' films of the classic Victorian horror novels "Dracula," "Frankenstein," "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde," and "The Picture of Dorian Grey." Highly recommended for severely rainly days and nights with storms!.
Dan Curtis, after having a conversation with his young children decided to go all the way with the show and introduced the character of Barnabas Collins, a 175 year old vampire.
Over it's five year run many other characters were introduced, all involved with things that go bump in the night.The series had many time travel plots which had the cast in wardrobe of the period.
One of the most enjoyable thing about the series was that, because of it's imperfections, the viewers felt a warmth for the cast, as it was a well known fact, even in those days that this was edge of your seat acting.Dark Shadows Festivals have been going on since the early 80,s and I am sure that like Barnabas Collins, Dark Shadows shall live on forever..
Being familiar with Dan Curtis through his 1968 and 1974 adaptations of 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' and 'Dracula'(both starring Jack Palance), both recommended especially the former, re-watching 'Dark Shadows' over the past few months as uni slowly became less intense brought many a day and hour of sheer joy.It does get off to a slow start, with the characters not being as interesting and the budget limitations coming through quite loud and clear.
However, 'Dark Shadows' improves significantly with the switch to colour and once the show's most iconic character Barnabas Collins is introduced, and it is very easy to see why it was so popular and why it is considered a classic still now.The budget limitations are still obvious in the switch to colour, though not as badly affected.
The main cast are great, with Joan Bennett and Grayson Hall for examples being very well cast and Jonathan Frid is just magnetic as Barnabas and can't be topped.Overall, despite a slow start 'Dark Shadows' at its best was a classic, it is easy to see why it was popular at the time and it is equally easy to see why it is so loved and remembered with fondness now.
Elements of PORTRAIT OF JENNIE and ALL THAT MONEY CAN BUY/THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER are included for good measure.LEVIATHAN represents a return to the mysterious early months of DARK SHADOWS and provides good dramatic material for the actors, notably series star Joan Bennett whose role had been greatly diminished since the advent of Barnabas (Jonathan Frid) and Quentin (David Selby).
But then, Dan Curtis's DARK SHADOWS was an unusual soap opera -- the first to revolve around supernatural horror.
The most famous DARK SHADOWS character was probably the 200-yeal -old vampire Barnabas Collins, who entered the story -- over 200 episodes into the show, I was surprised to learn -- when he was accidentally released from a chained coffin by the sleazy Willie Loomis, during an attempted grave robbery.
In the serial's remaining years, the storyline expanded to include, among others, the man-made creature Adam, werewolf Chris Jennings, and spirit Quentin Collins, who was probably the most famous character after Barnabas.
There were more trips back in time, and even two scenes in Hell.The soap opera format gave DARK SHADOWS room to deal at length with the question of how the paranormal interacted with the personalities and pre-existing real-life problems of the characters.
Because it was horror, the humans often encountered ghosts, werewolves and possibly the world's most famous vampire before Anne Rice's Lestat - Barnabas Collins played by Jonahtan Frid.
The looming shadow of the vampire Barnabas was all over the latter episodes but to spice things up, the series also featured time travel and parallelism from the Victorian Era to the late 1960's.
This seemingly would've been a great way to end the series because Barnabas was cured and everything was right with Collinwood, but it doesn't end there.1840 parallel time, we are introduced to a new set of Collinses.
I know this comment is a bit wordy, but it has to be ten lines long!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I am about to finish watch Dark Shadows on DVD.It has taken me almost two years.
When Hall appeared a decade after the show's cancellation on "One Life to Live", gothic elements of her character reflected memories of her on "Dark Shadows", ironically reuniting her with several fellow cast members including Nancy Barrett and Anthony George.As the modern drama began to make the writers run out of story ideas, they tried to take it into Collinwood's past to explain much of the background that set up the initial years of plotlines.
Dark Shadows obviously was an influence for many soap opera writers who remembered the fun story lines from theirs youth and utilize similar themes in supposedly more realistic settings.The lovely Joan Bennett was still very glamorous when she made the switch from movies to television, and while not as hard as some of her film noir vixens, there is definitely something mysterious about her.
Forget about all the modern shows about zombies, vampires etc....Dark Shadows was the original and still the best!
Before long, Dark Shadows featured a flashback to the year 1795 to show how Barnabas had become "the thing" he was.
Dark Shadows is like Barnabas Collins...one of the true immortals!.
One of the funniest things I ever saw was when Barnabas Collins cast a reflection in a mirror, and, as I recall, vampires are not supposed to cast reflections in mirrors.Toward the end of the series, it started to look more like a typical soap opera.
Dark Shadows-The Best of Barnabas Collins.
I picked up the special edition Dark Shadows disc commemorating the Gothic soap featuring episodes celebrating the immortal (pun intended) Barnabas Collins, chosen by popularity.