House of Dark Shadows
Encyclopedia
House of Dark Shadows is a 1970 feature-length horror film directed by Dan Curtis
Dan Curtis
Dan Curtis was an American director and producer of television and film, probably best known for his miniseries The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, his afternoon TV series Dark Shadows, and the made for TV movie, . Dark Shadows originally aired from 1966 to 1971 and has aired in syndication...

 based on his Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements...

television series. Filming took place at Lyndhurst
Lyndhurst (house)
Lyndhurst, also known as Jay Gould estate, is a Gothic Revival country house within its own park beside the Hudson River, located in Tarrytown, New York approximately one-half mile south of the Tappan Zee Bridge on US 9.-History:...

 in Tarrytown, New York
Tarrytown, New York
Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, about north of midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line...

 with additional footage at nearby Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York is the resting place of numerous famous figures, including Washington Irving, whose story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is set in the adjacent Old Dutch Burying Ground. Incorporated in 1849 as Tarrytown Cemetery, it posthumously honored Irving's...

: parts of the locals appeared on the Dark Shadows series as well. In this film expansion, Vampire Barnabas Collins
Barnabas Collins
Barnabas Collins is a fictional character, one of the feature characters in the ABC daytime serial Dark Shadows, which aired from 1966 to 1971. Originally played by Canadian actor Jonathan Frid, Barnabas Collins is a 200-year-old vampire who is in search of fresh blood and his lost love, Josette...

 (Jonathan Frid
Jonathan Frid
John Herbert Frid is a theater, television, and film actor, best known for playing the role of vampire Barnabas Collins on the gothic television soap opera Dark Shadows.-Early Life:...

) searches for a cure so he can marry the lovely woman who resembles his long-lost fiancée Josette (Kathryn Leigh Scott
Kathryn Leigh Scott
Kathryn Leigh Scott is an American television and film actress who is best remembered for playing Maggie Evans, Josette DuPres Collins, Rachel Drummond, Lady Kitty Soames Hampshire, and Maggie Evans PT on Dark Shadows.-Early life:Scott was born Marlene Kringstad in Robbinsdale, Minnesota in 1943...

).

Production

Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements...

producer Dan Curtis
Dan Curtis
Dan Curtis was an American director and producer of television and film, probably best known for his miniseries The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, his afternoon TV series Dark Shadows, and the made for TV movie, . Dark Shadows originally aired from 1966 to 1971 and has aired in syndication...

 began pitching the idea of a film based on his gothic soap opera hit sometime in 1968. The project was finally given the greenlight at MGM by company president James Aubrey
James Thomas Aubrey, Jr.
James Thomas Aubrey, Jr. was a leading American television and film executive. President of the CBS television network during the early 1960s, he put some of television's most enduring series on the air, including Gilligan's Island and The Beverly Hillbillies...

 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, where the production had to work around the scheduled public tours of the house.

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. The 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.

Plot

Seeking a legendary fortune in jewels, troublesome Collins family handyman Willie Loomis
Willie Loomis
Willie Loomis was a character on the ABC-TV gothic horror soap opera, Dark Shadows, which aired from 1966 until 1971. The character was first played by actor James Hall for a total of four episodes, who was subsequently replaced by John Karlen beginning with episode #206. Karlen continued to play...

 opens a hidden coffin in the Collins family crypt, releasing vampire Barnabas Collins
Barnabas Collins
Barnabas Collins is a fictional character, one of the feature characters in the ABC daytime serial Dark Shadows, which aired from 1966 to 1971. Originally played by Canadian actor Jonathan Frid, Barnabas Collins is a 200-year-old vampire who is in search of fresh blood and his lost love, Josette...

 from his 150-year confinement. Barnabas makes Willie his slave, then presents himself to the modern day Collins family (Roger, Elizabeth, Carolyn, and David) as a "cousin from England." Barnabas moves into the "Old House" on the Collins estate, where the "first" Barnabas had lived. To thank his gracious hosts, Barnabas throws an elaborate costume ball.

Barnabas becomes attracted to the family governess Maggie Evans
Maggie Evans
Maggie Evans was a character most prominently played by Kathryn Leigh Scott on the 1960s ABC-TV gothic horror soap opera serial Dark Shadows and in the 1970 film House of Dark Shadows.-Early days:...

, who looks just like his long-lost love, Josette. When Carolyn, who has become one of the vampire's victims, threatens to reveal his secret out of jealousy, Barnabas kills her. Carolyn rises from the grave as one of the undead, and seeks out her former lover, Todd Jennings. Professor T. Eliot Stokes uses the young man as bait for Carolyn, who is eventually trapped and staked by Stokes, aided by the Collinsport police.

Meanwhile, a doctor, Julia Hoffman, has studied blood samples from the victims and begins to conclude that vampirism is real and that it may be a curable disease. She has accidentally discovered, while using a compact mirror, that Barnabas is the vampire. She makes a pact with Barnabas and develops a serum to cure him.

The cure works for a while, and Barnabas's courtship of Maggie proceeds. He gets her boyfriend, artist Jeff Clark, out of the way by arranging a showing of the young man's paintings in nearby Boston. However, Julia, who has fallen in love with Barnabas, discovers his dalliance with Maggie. Insanely jealous, Julia gives Barnabas an overdose of the serum, with the result that he ages to his true 175 years. Barnabas angrily kills Julia, and restores his youth (and vampiric nature) by biting Maggie. He flees with the young woman. Stokes and Roger Collins quickly research the family history of Barnabas in 1797, and Stokes is convinced that Barnabas intends to take Maggie as his bride.

The search extends to St. Eustace, an island off the shore of Maine. Jeff discovers that both Stokes and Roger Collins have become vampires, and he has to destroy them both—Stokes with the silver bullets intended for Barnabas, and an arrow through the heart for Roger.

Jeff tracks the vampire to an abandoned monastery, where Barnabas is planning to make Maggie his bride. Jeff attempts to shoot Barnabas with a crossbow, but Willie, who is also infatuated with Maggie, rushes over to the altar to stop Barnabas. The arrow that Jeff aims at the obsessed vampire hits Willie in the back. Barnabas takes Jeff under his hypnotic control and is about to vampirize Maggie, when Willie revives and plunges the wooden shaft into Barnabas's back, and then dies. Coming to his senses, Jeff finishes-off Barnabas with the stake, which bursts through Barnabas' chest and leaves with the revived Maggie.

In the after credits scene, the seemingly dead Barnabas turns into a bat and flies away.

Production

Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements...

producer Dan Curtis
Dan Curtis
Dan Curtis was an American director and producer of television and film, probably best known for his miniseries The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, his afternoon TV series Dark Shadows, and the made for TV movie, . Dark Shadows originally aired from 1966 to 1971 and has aired in syndication...

'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.

The preview version of the film 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 bow and arrow before pursuing Barnabas.

Some interior scenes were shot at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion
Lockwood-Mathews Mansion
The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion is a Second Empire style country house, now a museum, in Norwalk, Connecticut. It was featured in the movies The Stepford Wives and House of Dark Shadows....

 in Norwalk, Connecticut
Norwalk, Connecticut
Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of the city is 85,603, making Norwalk sixth in population in Connecticut, and third in Fairfield County...

.

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
Famous Monsters of Filmland
Famous Monsters of Filmland is a genre-specific film magazine started in 1958 by publisher James Warren and editor Forrest J Ackerman.-Magazine history :...

). Before preproduction could begin, the show had gone off the air and Jonathan Frid had moved on to other things. Instead, Night of Dark Shadows
Night of Dark Shadows
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....

was made, focusing on Collinwood after new heir Quentin Collins
Quentin Collins
Quentin Collins is the name of several characters featured in the 1966-1971 ABC cult TV Gothic horror-soap opera Dark Shadows. All variations of the character have been played by actor David Selby.-Quentin I:...

 (David Selby) takes over. Elizabeth Stoddard gets a brief mention in the film but is not present.

Availability

House of Dark Shadows has been released on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....

, and a two-sided laserdisc (the laserdisc packaged with Night of Dark Shadows) which are out of print
Out of print
Out of print refers to an item, typically a book , but can include any print or visual media or sound recording, that is in the state of no longer being published....

, iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....

, & on the Playstation 3 Movie Network Digital DVD quality. It is currently also available to rent from Amazon Unbox
Amazon Unbox
Amazon Instant Video is an Internet video on demand service, only available in the United States, offered by Amazon.com which offers television shows and films for rental and purchase. The service became available on September 7, 2006 as Amazon Unbox...

.

Cast

  • Jonathan Frid
    Jonathan Frid
    John Herbert Frid is a theater, television, and film actor, best known for playing the role of vampire Barnabas Collins on the gothic television soap opera Dark Shadows.-Early Life:...

     (Barnabas Collins
    Barnabas Collins
    Barnabas Collins is a fictional character, one of the feature characters in the ABC daytime serial Dark Shadows, which aired from 1966 to 1971. Originally played by Canadian actor Jonathan Frid, Barnabas Collins is a 200-year-old vampire who is in search of fresh blood and his lost love, Josette...

    )
  • Grayson Hall
    Grayson Hall
    Grayson Hall was an American television, film and stage actress. She was widely regarded for her avant garde theatrical performances in the 1960s-80s. Hall was nominated in 1964 for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for the John Huston film The Night of the Iguana...

     (Dr. Julia Hoffman
    Julia Hoffman
    Julia Hoffman is a fictional character played by Grayson Hall in the 1966 ABC soap opera Dark Shadows. A doctor in the fields of psychology and rare blood disorders and head of the Windcliff Sanitarium, she moved into Collinwood and discovered the vampire, Barnabas Collins...

    )
  • Kathryn Leigh Scott
    Kathryn Leigh Scott
    Kathryn Leigh Scott is an American television and film actress who is best remembered for playing Maggie Evans, Josette DuPres Collins, Rachel Drummond, Lady Kitty Soames Hampshire, and Maggie Evans PT on Dark Shadows.-Early life:Scott was born Marlene Kringstad in Robbinsdale, Minnesota in 1943...

     (Maggie Evans
    Maggie Evans
    Maggie Evans was a character most prominently played by Kathryn Leigh Scott on the 1960s ABC-TV gothic horror soap opera serial Dark Shadows and in the 1970 film House of Dark Shadows.-Early days:...

    )
  • Roger Davis
    Roger Davis
    Roger Davis may refer to:*Roger Davis , American actor*Roger Davis , American actor in television series Dark Shadows and Alias Smith and Jones...

     (Jeff Clark)
  • Nancy Barrett
    Nancy Barrett
    Nancy Barrett, born , is an American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of "Carolyn Stoddard" in the popular 1960s Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows....

     (Carolyn Stoddard)
  • John Karlen
    John Karlen
    John Karlen is a character actor best known for playing Willie Loomis, Carl Collins, William H. Loomis, Desmond Collins, and Kendrick Young on the ABC serial Dark Shadows, in various episodes between 206 and 1245, which aired from 1966-1971. In 1971 Karlen starred as the male lead in "Daughters...

     (Willie Loomis
    Willie Loomis
    Willie Loomis was a character on the ABC-TV gothic horror soap opera, Dark Shadows, which aired from 1966 until 1971. The character was first played by actor James Hall for a total of four episodes, who was subsequently replaced by John Karlen beginning with episode #206. Karlen continued to play...

    )
  • Thayer David
    Thayer David
    Thayer David was a film, stage and television actor. He was best known for his work on the cult ABC serial Dark Shadows and as the fight promoter George Jergens in the Oscar-winning movie Rocky . He also appeared as Count Arne Saknussemm in the film Journey to the Center of the Earth in 1959...

     (Professor Stokes)
  • Louis Edmonds
    Louis Edmonds
    Louis Edmonds was an American actor from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was best known for his roles in Dark Shadows and All My Children....

     (Roger Collins)
  • Donald Briscoe
    Don Briscoe
    Cecil Donald "Don" Briscoe was an American soap opera actor, most notable for playing Tony Meritt on Days of Our Lives, and, from 1968–1970, for playing Chris Jennings, Tom Jennings, Timothy Shaw, and Chris Collins on Dark Shadows.Briscoe left Dark Shadows abruptly in 1970...

     (Todd Blake)
  • David Henesy
    David Henesy
    David Henesy Raised in New York City, Henesy was a child actor in film, television, and Broadway. He appeared in "Oliver!", "Jenny" , and daytime television series Dark Shadows in the roles of David Collins, Daniel Collins, Jamison Collins, and Tad Collins...

     (David Collins
    David Collins (Dark Shadows)
    David Collins was a fictional character, the son of Roger Collins, on the television serial Dark Shadows, played by David Henesy. In the 1990 made-for-television movie and 1991 revival series, David Collins was played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. In the 2004 WB Pilot for Dark Shadows, he was played by...

    )
  • Dennis Patrick
    Dennis Patrick
    Dennis Patrick was a well-respected American character actor best known for his works in television shows such as Jason McGuire and Paul Stoddard in Dark Shadows, Somerset, Vaughn Leland in Dallas, movies such as Joe...

     (Sheriff George Patterson)
  • Lisa Richards (Daphne Budd)
  • Jerry Lacy
    Jerry Lacy
    Gerald LeRoy "Jerry" Lacy is an American soap opera actor best known for playing the roles of Tony Peterson, Reverend Trask, Reverend Gregory Trask, Mr. Trask, and Lamar Trask on the cult TV serial Dark Shadows...

     (Minister)
  • Barbara Cason
    Barbara Cason
    Barbara Cason was an American character actress. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, she began her career appearing in theatre and on local television in Memphis during the 1950s, where she notably co-founded and ran the Front St. Theatre.She relocated to New York City in 1967, becoming active in theatre...

     (Mrs. Johnson)
  • Paul Michael
    Paul Michael
    Paul Michael was an American actor best known for his role as TJ, the hapless boss of a burger bar in children's television show 'Spatz'. He was a regular guest star on American television appearing in Kojak, Hill Street Blues, Alias, Gilmore Girls and Frasier among others. He played a cop in...

     (Old man)
  • Humbert Allen Astredo (Dr. Forbes) (credited as Humbert Astredo)
  • Terry Crawford (Todd's nurse)
  • Michael Stroka
    Michael Stroka
    Michael George Stroka was an American actor on soap operas like ABC-TV's Dark Shadows, in which he played Aristede, Bruno, Bruno Hess, and Laszlo Ferrari from 1969 to 1970...

     (Pallbearer)
  • George DiCenzo
    George DiCenzo
    George Ralph DiCenzo was an American character actor and one-time associate producer for Dark Shadows. He was in show business for more than 30 years, with extensive film, TV, stage and commercial credits.-Life and career:...

     (Deputy)
  • Philip Larson (Deputy)
  • Joan Bennett
    Joan Bennett
    Joan Geraldine Bennett was an American stage, film and television actress. Besides acting on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 motion pictures from the era of silent movies well into the sound era...

     (Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
    Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
    Elizabeth Collins Stoddard was a fictional character played by Joan Bennett on the cult television ABC-TV Gothic horror soap opera Dark Shadows from 1966-1971. Jean Simmons portrayed the character in the reival series in 1991, Blair Brown took over the role in the WB pilot and will be played by...

    )

Sources

The Dark Shadows Companion: 25th Anniversary Collection, edited by Kathryn Leigh Scott
Kathryn Leigh Scott
Kathryn Leigh Scott is an American television and film actress who is best remembered for playing Maggie Evans, Josette DuPres Collins, Rachel Drummond, Lady Kitty Soames Hampshire, and Maggie Evans PT on Dark Shadows.-Early life:Scott was born Marlene Kringstad in Robbinsdale, Minnesota in 1943...

, Pomegranate Press Ltd., 1990, ISBN 0-938817-25-6

Dark Shadows Memories: 35th Anniversary, by Kathryn Leigh Scott
Kathryn Leigh Scott
Kathryn Leigh Scott is an American television and film actress who is best remembered for playing Maggie Evans, Josette DuPres Collins, Rachel Drummond, Lady Kitty Soames Hampshire, and Maggie Evans PT on Dark Shadows.-Early life:Scott was born Marlene Kringstad in Robbinsdale, Minnesota in 1943...

, Pomegranate Press Ltd., 2001, ISBN 0-938817-60-4

The Dark Shadows Movie Book: Producer/director Dan Curtis' original shooting scripts from House of Dark Shadows and Night of Dark Shadows
Night of Dark Shadows
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....

, edited by Kathryn Leigh Scott
Kathryn Leigh Scott
Kathryn Leigh Scott is an American television and film actress who is best remembered for playing Maggie Evans, Josette DuPres Collins, Rachel Drummond, Lady Kitty Soames Hampshire, and Maggie Evans PT on Dark Shadows.-Early life:Scott was born Marlene Kringstad in Robbinsdale, Minnesota in 1943...

and Jim Pierson, Pomegranate Press Ltd., 1998, ISBN 0-938817-48-5

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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