House of Dark Shadows is a 1970 American feature-length horror film produced and directed by Dan Curtis, based on his Dark Shadows television series. In this film expansion, vampire Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) searches for a cure for vampirism so he can marry a woman who resembles his long-lost fiancée Josette (Kathryn Leigh Scott).
Willie Loomis, the Collins family handyman, is searching for old treasure in the family mausoleum when he accidentally frees Barnabas Collins, a 175-year-old vampire who enslaves him. Upon his release, he attacks Daphne Budd, the secretary to Collinwood's matriarch, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard. She is discovered by Jeff Clark, who takes her back to the house where Dr. Julia Hoffman attends to her.
Later, Barnabas introduces himself to the family under the guise of a "cousin from England". Elizabeth and the others are intrigued by Barnabas and take an instant liking to him. However, Elizabeth's daughter, Carolyn Stoddard, and Professor T. Eliot Stokes, a friend of the family, are incredulous. Barnabas insists on moving into the Old House and hosting a ball in honour of the family. But on the night of the ball, Carolyn is bitten by Barnabas while she is getting ready.
Later on at the ball, he is introduced to young David Collins' governess and Jeff's girlfriend, Maggie Evans, and is instantly smitten with her, as she bears a striking resemblance to his long-lost fiancée, Josette du Pres. Maggie is thinking about leaving Collinwood, but Barnabas persuades her to stay. Back at the Old House, he tells Willie about Josette and how she took her own life on the night they were to be married. Carolyn overhears and threatens to expose him out of jealousy. Enraged, Barnabas delivers a deadly bite to Carolyn, much to Willie's horror. A shaken Willie takes Carolyn back home; she slowly walks to the doorway, but she is soon discovered slumped in the doorway—dead—by the maid, Mrs. Johnson.
Funeral services are held for Carolyn, and she is buried in the Collins family mausoleum. Dr. Hoffman, upon analysing samples of Carolyn's blood, recognises a trace of elements of the same unknown virus that was present in Daphne Budd's blood sample. Thereafter, Professor Stokes confers with Julia and tells her that he suspects that the recent attacks in Collinsport may have been caused by a vampire.
Meanwhile, Carolyn rises as a vampire and attacks David. Stokes and Julia try to explain, but Elizabeth and Roger refuse to listen. Carolyn's former fiancé Todd encounters her, and she bites him. After he is taken back to Collinwood, the family realises that Stokes and Julia were correct about the vampires. Todd again sneaks out in search of Carolyn, but she is cornered and staked, instantly killing her.
Julia eventually discovers that Barnabas is the vampire responsible. Thus, she visits him at the Old House and convinces him that she can use her methods to make him human and he reluctantly agrees. Julia gives him injections which allow him to walk in the daylight. Over time, Barnabas and Maggie begin to spend time together while Jeff is away in Boston. Stokes confronts Julia about helping Barnabas—and realizes she is in love with him—and reminds her that he is in love with Maggie. Overcome with jealousy, Julia gives Barnabas an injection which causes him to age rapidly. Out of rage, he strangles her to death. A terrified Maggie witnesses this and tries to flee, but is caught and bitten by Barnabas before she can escape, and he vows to come back for her. Jeff soon returns, and he is informed of the family history by Stokes and Roger and that Barnabas intends to make Maggie his bride. That night, Barnabas bites Maggie again, rejuvenating him, and then abducts her.
Jeff and the others pursue them; however, Roger and Stokes are killed (both turned into vampires whom Jeff kills). Jeff eventually finds Maggie at an old church in a trance and in Josette's wedding gown. Willie warns him against trying to stop Barnabas and knocks him out. Willie leads Maggie out of the room to where Barnabas is waiting for her. He lays her down on an altar and is about to bite her when Jeff wakes up and shoots at him, but Willie, running to stop Barnabas, moves in the way, and is hit by Jeff's crossbow bolt. Barnabas lures Jeff out of his hiding place and forces him to be a witness by placing him in a trance. However, as Barnabas attempts to bite Maggie, he screams in pain as he's struck in his back. Turning around, he's shocked then enraged to discover that it was Willie—in his final act of redemption—who stabbed him with the crossbow bolt. Barnabas strangles the mortally wounded Willie, but Loomis' attack breaks Jeff out of Barnabas's trance long enough for Jeff to finish driving the bolt through the vampire's back, ultimately bursting through his bloody chest. Maggie, now revived, is rescued by Jeff, both briefly observing the bodies of the presumably dead vampire and Willie Loomis before departing the ruined chapel.
In a post-credits scene, Barnabas's body transforms into a bat and then vanishes.
Dark Shadows producer Dan Curtis began pitching the idea of a film based on his gothicsoap opera sometime in 1968. The project was finally given the greenlight at MGM by company president James Aubrey in 1970. Curtis decided to use the original Barnabas storyline as the basis for the film, but with a modified conclusion.
The film was shot in six weeks for a budget of $750,000. Principal shooting took place at several historic locations, including the Lyndhurst Estate in Tarrytown, New York, where the production had to work around the scheduled public tours of the house. Additional footage was shot at nearby Sleepy Hollow Cemetery; parts of the locales appeared on the Dark Shadows series as well. Some interior scenes were shot at the Lockwood–Mathews Mansion in Norwalk, Connecticut. Along with the original cast, Dan Curtis added other actors to the cast: Jerry Lacy, who notably played Reverend Trask in the 1795 storyline; Terry Crawford and Michael Stroka, who did the Dark Shadows 1890s segments; Don Briscoe, who played cursed brothers Chris and Tom Jennings; Dennis Patrick, who played Paul Stoddard and Jason McGuire; and George DiCenzo, who did more behind-the-scenes work on the last two years of the show.
Unrestricted by TV's censors, the film is far more graphically violent than its television counterpart, with dripping vampire bites and bloody deaths. The film was released at the height of the TV show's popularity to great commercial success.
Dark Shadows producer Dan Curtis's original idea had been to edit together footage from the original TV series into a feature-length film, an idea which was quickly abandoned. The TV series was still in production while the film was being made. Some characters had to be temporarily written out of the show so that the actors would be available to appear in the movie. Barnabas, for example, was trapped in his coffin on the TV show by a failed writer who wanted to use the vampire's life story as the basis for a novel.
Kathryn Leigh Scott was absent from 30 episodes (986 to 1015); Jonathan Frid was absent from 28 episodes (983 to 1010); Grayson Hall was absent from 21 episodes (986 to 1006); John Karlen was absent from 21 episodes (990 to 1010); Nancy Barrett was absent from 20 episodes (991 to 1010): Louis Edmonds was absent from 17 episodes (991 to 1008); Don Briscoe was absent from 15 episodes (986 to 1000); Joan Bennett was absent from 15 episodes (991 to 1006); and David Henesy was absent from 9 episodes (993 to 1001).
The preview version of the film (shown Aug. 24, 1970 at NYC's The DeMille Theatre on 47th Street) included a scene where young David Collins pretends to hang himself. It was removed because there were concerns some children might "try this at home." No copies of this footage are known to exist. Another scene that was shown in some theaters has Jeff testing out the crossbow before pursuing Barnabas.
A paperback novelization of the film by Marilyn Ross (who had written a series of novels based on the TV show) was published in October 1970. The novel is based on the original script, and contains some scenes which were either cut from the movie or were never filmed.
Sequel
The second film was originally supposed to bring back Barnabas, and was to be called Curse of Dark Shadows (according to Famous Monsters of Filmland).[citation needed] Before pre-production could begin, however, the series had gone off the air, and Jonathan Frid, fearing being typecast as Barnabas, had moved on to other things. Instead, Night of Dark Shadows was made, focusing on Collinwood after new heir Quentin Collins (David Selby) takes over. Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (played by Joan Bennett in the series and the first film) gets a brief mention in the film, but is not present.
Home media
House of Dark Shadows has been released on VHS, and as a two-sided laserdisc (the laserdisc packaged with Night of Dark Shadows, which is out of print). It is also available on iTunes, on the PlayStation 3 Movie Network (Digital DVD quality), and for rental at Amazon Unbox, now called Prime Video.
Warner Home Video announced the re-release of both films on DVD in 2012; House of Dark Shadows was released for the first time alongside Night of Dark Shadows on DVD and Blu-ray on October 30, 2012.[3]
Dark Shadows is an American gothic soap opera that aired weekdays on the ABC television network from June 27, 1966, to April 2, 1971. The show depicted the lives, loves, trials, and tribulations of the wealthy Collins family of Collinsport, Maine, where a number of supernatural occurrences take place.
Jonathan Frid was a Canadian actor, best known for his role as vampire Barnabas Collins on the gothic television soap opera Dark Shadows. The introduction in 1967 of Frid's reluctant, guilt-ridden vampire caused the floundering daytime drama to soar to 20 million daily viewers. His watershed portrayal has been cited as a key influence on contemporary genre film and television series such as Twilight, True Blood and The Vampire Diaries.
Night of Dark Shadows is a 1971 horror film by Dan Curtis. It is the sequel to House of Dark Shadows. It centers on the story of Quentin Collins and his bride Tracy at the Collinwood Mansion in Collinsport, Maine.
Grayson Hall was an American television, film and stage actress. She was widely regarded for her avant-garde theatrical performances from the 1960s to the 1980s. Hall was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Golden Globe Award for the John Huston film The Night of the Iguana (1964).
Barnabas Collins is a fictional character, a featured role in the ABC daytime serial Dark Shadows, which aired from 1966 to 1971. Barnabas is a 175-year-old vampire in search of fresh blood and his lost love, Josette. The character, originally played by Canadian actor Jonathan Frid, was introduced in an attempt to resurrect the show's flagging ratings, and was originally to have only a brief 13-week run. He was retained due to his popularity and the program's quick spike in ratings, and virtually became the star of the show.
Victoria "Vicki" Winters is a fictional character from the television Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows and its remakes of the same name. The role was originated by Alexandra Moltke on the ABC series from 1966 to 1968. After Moltke left to raise a family in 1968, actresses Betsy Durkin and Carolyn Groves briefly replaced her for only a handful of episodes, before Victoria was written out completely. Jaclyn Smith, who was married to Dark Shadows actor Roger Davis at the time, was offered the role when Moltke left the show, but she declined.
Jeremiah Collins is a fictional character played primarily by Anthony George during the 1795 flashback on the ABC television gothic horror soap opera serial Dark Shadows.
Josette du Pres is a character played primarily by Kathryn Leigh Scott during the 1795 flashback on the TV serial Dark Shadows.
Angelique Bouchard is a fictional character from the gothic horror-soap opera and film Dark Shadows, in which she is the main antagonist. She is primarily portrayed as a powerful witch, who is driven by her vacillating love and hatred for Barnabas Collins.
Collinsport is the fictional setting of Dark Shadows, the 1960s Dan Curtis Productions Gothic horror soap opera.
Quentin Collins is the name of several characters featured in the 1966–1971 ABC cult TV Gothic horror-soap opera Dark Shadows. Variations of the character have been played by actor David Selby.
Collinwood Mansion is a fictional house featured in the Gothic horror soap opera Dark Shadows (1966–1971), built in 1795 by Joshua Collins. Collinwood has been home to the Collins family and other sometimes unwelcome supernatural visitors since its inception. The house is located near the town of Collinsport, Maine, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Almost every resident of the town is scared to drive by the house due to rumors and legends. The house has more than 40 rooms, most of which are closed off due to lack of inhabitants and financial reasons, and more than a few secret passageways, including a room that is a gateway to a parallel timeline, a stairway through time, and one room that appears to be a playroom to some and nothing more than a linen closet to others. Most of the household activity revolves around the drawing room and foyer, and occasionally extends to the kitchen, dining room, and study. Collinwood is notorious for causing unrest and frustration among both the residents and visitors, likely due to its ominous atmosphere and mysterious past. Despite its unsettling reputation, the allure of the grand estate continues to draw intrigue and curiosity from those brave enough to explore its halls. It has been the scene of deaths, random acts of violence, and other misfortunes. In many episodes of the series, most local characters find it easier to just avoid it and the Collins family altogether.
Dark Shadows: The Book of Temptation is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.
Dark Shadows: The Christmas Presence is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.
Dark Shadows is a one-hour television pilot that was a remake of the 1966–1971 gothic soap opera television series Dark Shadows. The pilot was commissioned by The WB and produced in 2004, but not picked up for a series.
Dark Shadows is a 2012 dark fantasy film based on the gothic television soap opera of the same name. Directed by Tim Burton, the film stars Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Chloë Grace Moretz, and Bella Heathcote in a dual role. Christopher Lee has a small role in the film, his 200th film appearance and his fifth and final appearance in a Burton film. Jonathan Frid, star of the original Dark Shadows series, makes a cameo appearance. He died shortly before the film was released. One of the film's producers, Richard D. Zanuck, died two months after its release.
Julia Hoffman is a fictional character played by Grayson Hall in the 1966 ABC soap opera Dark Shadows. A self-serving and conniving doctor in the fields of psychology and rare blood disorders. She is also head of the Windcliff Sanitarium, who moved into Collinwood and discovered the vampire Barnabas Collins. Initially, Julia represented a threat to Barnabas' undead existence, but eventually she became one of his most staunch allies. Together, Julia and Barnabas worked to assist the Collins family in the past, present, future, and in Parallel Time.
Dark Shadows: Kingdom of the Dead is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.
The Paperback Library began releasing novels based on the TV series Dark Shadows in December 1966. There were thirty-three novels released through to 1972, all of them written by William Edward Daniel Ross under his pen name Marilyn Ross.
References
↑ EARL C. GOTTSCHALK JR. (Oct 23, 1970). "The Hatchet Man: How Aubrey Is Reviving MGM by Cutting Out The Fat and Nostalgia He Fires Half of Staff, Sells The Magic Shoes From Oz; But Can He Make Movies? On the Back Lot: Levittown The Hatchet Man: How Jim Aubrey Revives MGM by Cutting Out Fat". Wall Street Journal. p.1.
↑ "Big Rental Films of 1970", Variety, 6 January 1971 p 11
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