The original Dark Shadows movies get some high-def love

With a resurgence in the popularity of Dark Shadows — thanks to a complete series DVD collection and in spite of Tim Burton’s less-than-warmly received feature film — the folks at Warner Brothers have decided to give the original Dark Shadows movies their due … on Blu-ray! Yes, we finally have gorgeous versions of House of Dark Shadows and Night of Dark Shadows to fill the void that, for some, was created by the Burton version (which, for the record, I didn’t think was all that bad).

Of the two films, House of Dark Shadows is definitely the better one. Night of Dark Shadows may have its fans, but it certainly does not live up to the good will which carried over from the original series. Of course, the biggest problem is that the film was edited mercilessly before release, and all efforts to produce a restored director’s cut have apparently been scuttled mainly due to the poor condition of the existing audio tracks. Too bad because it would have been nice to see what director Dan Curtis had originally intended.

Looking at House of Dark Shadows, hardcore fans may be surprised to see how much the film actually shares with Burton’s version. He was accused of ruining the memory of the TV series, but his film is more closely a remake of the original movie than of the show. And for people who watched the TV show faithfully, the movie is basically key plot points boiled down to a 90-minute feature. The film opens with Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) awakened from his eternal slumber by Collinwood groundskeeper Willie Loomis (John Karlen) who was looking for supposedly hidden jewels. He got a little more than he bargained for. Like Burton’s movie, Barnabas turns Willie into his slave, pops up at Collinwood as a distant cousin from England, moves into The Old House, and sets his sights on Maggie Evans (Kathryn Leigh Scott) who seems to be the reincarnation of his long lost love, Josette. (And there is no Victoria Winters … Maggie Evans is now young David’s caretaker instead of a coffee shop waitress as she was on TV). Dr. Julia Hoffman (the fabulous Grayson Hall) is also on hand, discovers Barnabas is a vampire and sets out to cure him (she also falls in love with him not knowing he only has eyes for Maggie). The only thing missing is the witch Angelique and the fish-out-of-water humor (yes, Barnabas knows what a door bell is in this version).

While the situations in House of Dark Shadows are familiar, what sets the movie apart from the TV show are the higher production values — the film was shot on location at the Lyndhurst Castle in New York, so none of the walls wobble — and the actual acting that the cast gets to do. Jonathan Frid and the others did the best they could under tight TV production schedules, but the luxury of shooting a feature film actually lets them all bring some life to their characters without flubbing their lines. Even Grayson Hall, who always seemed on the verge of hysteria on the show, gets to turn it down a few notches in the movie (although I could not begin to explain what’s going on with her hair). While the movie was released in 1970 (the series ended in 1971), it certainly has a feel of finality to it for the series as [SPOILER ALERT] most of the key characters are dead by the end of the movie. So how does one make a sequel?