House of Dark Shadows (1970) ** (out of 4)Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) gets released to the open where he seeks a long lost love but a doctor (Grayson Hall) might have the cure for his disease.HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS was the first of two features from Dan Curtis that were based on the long-runniung and highly successful television series. The television show ran for years and had an incredibly large fanbase and these fans are still crazy about the show after all this time. It's also worth noting that those same fans will tell you that this film and its sequel are among the greatest vampire movies ever made. That there leads me to ask: Do you need to be a fan of the television show to enjoy this movie? I have never seen the television show so perhaps what people love about this movie is just something I'm missing since I'm a virgin to it. I thought the performances were quite good and especially Frid and Hall. I thought Curtis managed to bring a nice atmosphere to the picture and there's no doubt that the blood level is quite good and will remind you of Hammer. I also thought the story was told in a very good way. However, did I really connect with anything that I was watching? No I didn't. I really felt like an outside. Someone watching something but not totally getting everything they were seeing.HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS was well-made and clearly fans love it. With me, it was impressive but just not entertaining.

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!)

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).

To begin with, my expectations for this vintage vampire flick – one of two cinema spin-offs (but whose DVD release has been pending for several years now!) of the seemingly never-ending TV series (putting paid to the prospect of acquiring it on DVD and of which I knew next to nothing beforehand except for the name of the lead vampire!) – were considerable given the cult status of the franchise (not forgetting my own impression of the other Dan Curtis work I'd watched thus far); incidentally, I don't think the more recent "Dark Shadows" incarnations have had much of an impact. Even so, I couldn't help feeling let down to some extent by the result – since, while it's certainly well done in most respects and highly watchable (in spite of the over-familiar subject matter) – there's nothing really outstanding about it either!Vampirism is clearly one of the horror themes which has, pardon the pun, been done to death most over the years; yet, when handled with reasonable flair (though negated somewhat here by the full-frame presentation of the Laserdisc-sourced edition I watched – amusingly reverting to a blue-screen for a split-second at one point, denoting the end of Side A!), it's able to retain all the fascination and chill-factor inherent within the subgenre. Incidentally, several vampire films made during this time utilized – not always successfully – a modern-day setting; this, however, was one of the more effective because the vast estate around which much of the events revolve – plus the old-style look of the vampire himself (Jonathan Frid bearing a striking resemblance to Boris Karloff, with a bit of Harry Dean Stanton thrown in for good measure!) – supplies the requisite Gothic touch in spades. As I said, it follows much the typical pattern of cinematic vampires: the undead Barnabas Collins obviously hides his true identity initially; he practically enslaves the man (John Karlen from DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS [1971]) who re-awakens him (incidentally, it appears that the vampire was left chained inside his coffin for 200 years i.e. he wasn't killed in the traditional way beforehand!) without being turned into a vampire himself – similarly, there's the usual illogicality in that some people become afflicted with just one bite while the heroine, conveniently, requires numerous 'sessions'!; Collins ensnares a couple of women throughout, one of whom is never seen again, but then incurs the jealousy of the other – who's strong-willed and, therefore, more compelling than the lovely but rather bland heroine – through his obsession with the latter, a girl who's ostensibly the reincarnation of the vampire's dead love (she's not actually a descendant of hers, but just happens to be working for the family!), etc.A couple of novel (and interesting) ideas, then, involve the middle-aged female doctor played by Grayson Hall (she was excellent in the Tennessee Williams adaptation THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA [1964]). Falling for Collins herself, she attempts to use her knowledge to cure his affliction – by which treatment he's able to withstand sunlight as well as diminish his blood craving; however, when he wants to speed up the process for the heroine's sake, the two fall out and he kills her, but turns soon after himself into a bald and wizened old man! Thayer David contributes another impressive turn as the family lawyer (like the rest of their various associates, he hardly ever seems to leave the premises!) who's actually the first to suspect of Frid's true nature. Unfortunately, while he had been played up as a formidable adversary for the vampire (despite his penchant for referring to him as the "living dead" and, having mentioned this, there's an inconsistency as well with the fact that vampires shouldn't but are often seen to cast reflections in a mirror!), David's then shown to have fallen victim to the curse himself off-screen – which doesn't quite convince. I guess, though, that the purpose for this was two-fold: to upset audience expectations, but also to leave the gate open for a showdown in which hero – who had barely featured in the plot until then! – and vampire contend over the former's girlfriend and the latter's intended bride…with a little help from the vampire's own slave (who happens to be smitten with the girl himself)! By the way, while veteran Hollywood actress Joan Bennett's role of family matriarch is given a prominent credit in the cast list, her participation is very small and – even more disappointingly – negligible! All in all, the film is stylish and enjoyable – with just the right balance of mood, thrills and even romance; while the sequel, which is to follow, NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS (1971) is said to be much inferior (not surprising given its compromised current form), I'm still looking forward to an open-minded preliminary appraisal of it. Accompanying the feature is a frenziedly-edited trailer which, delightfully typical of its time, also contains such campy narration as "House Of Dark Shadows – where death is a way of life" and ending with "Come see how the vampires do it"!! For the record, after this Curtis mini-marathon, I'll be left with at least two more interesting made-for-TV horror efforts (both coincidentally broadcast in 1973) he was associated with – the nth adaptation of Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN and Oscar Wilde's almost-as-popular THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, both of which he only produced and are, happily, readily available on DVD...