By Todd Garbarini
In August 1981, at the age of twelve, I
viewed my very first horror film, Dan Curtis' 1976 theatrical outing Burnt Offerings, based upon the 1973 novel
of the same name by Robert Marasco. I
was immediately impressed with the film's spooky quality and the performances
by Oliver Reed, Karen Black, Bette Davis, and Burgess Meredith. One area that
stood out most was the chillingly icy score by Robert Cobert. I was eager to
discover other works directed by Mr. Curtis and it would be nearly 30 years
before I would finally see episodes of what is arguably his most popular
production, the soap opera/thriller Dark
Shadows. Running for nearly five years on ABC-TV from 1966 to 1971 and consisting
of 1,225 episodes in total (some of which were in black and white), Dark Shadows is an enjoyably spooky
production that was shot on videotape. It stars Jonathan Frid as Barnabas
Collins, Joan Bennett as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, and Lara Parker as
Angelique. Genre fans will recognize the
late Ms. Bennett from as Celia Lamphere in Fritz Lang’s Secret Beyond the Door… (1948) and as Madame Blanc in Dario
Argento’s Suspiria (1977). Like many of Mr. Curtis’ other creepy
productions, it was scored by Robert Cobert as well.
For those of you who were watching this
series when it premiered 46 years ago, your opportunity to view uncut and
uninterrupted episodes is now possible thanks to home video. There are two newly released single DVDs (Dark Shadows: Fan Favorites and Dark Shadows: Best of Barnabas), each of
which contain nine of the most loved episodes by the millions of fans who tuned
in to it daily. These DVDs were released
to coincide with Tim Burton’s film version of the show starring Johnny Depp and
give new viewers a taste of what the series was like. While it is a far cry from such current
vampire fare such as HBO’s enormously popular True Blood, it still possesses (no pun intended) an air of Gothic creepiness
and in my humble opinion the entire series should have been shot in black and
white. Eagle-eyed viewers will catch a
glimpse of a boom mike here and there, and it’s a hoot to see that the show’s
costumes were provided by Ohrbach’s, a department store I recall from my youth
in the 1980s. Actresses Kathryn Leigh
Scott and Lara Parker provide introductions
to the individual episodes which are a nice added value for the money
spent.
If you’re a rabid fan and need to have
every episode, the complete series is due out on DVD in July 2012. If you’re looking for a sampling of the show
prior to seeing its complete run, these two DVDs are the perfect appetizer prior
to the entrée due out next month.
The success of the show led to two theatrical
offerings: House of Dark Shadows (1970)
and Night of Dark Shadows (1971),
also directed by Mr. Curtis and scored by Mr. Cobert.
Click here to order Fan Favorites DVD from Amazon
Click here to order Best of Barnabas DVD from Amazon
Click here to order deluxe limited edition entire series DVD set