Best of Dark Shadows

[palitoy]

Spied some of these "Best of " DVDs at Wal-Mart when I was running around looking for Logan's Run yesterday and I'm sorry I didn't grab them:

Amazon.com: Dark Shadows: Best of Barnabas: Jonathan Frid, Grayson Hall, Dan Curtis (Creator): Movies TV

Stickers mentioned the movie on the case, which regardless of how it is, is a bonus that the classic series is now so readily available.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^I'd be in for that. I have fond memories of watching Dark Shadows over summer breaks back in high school and college. I of course never saw every episode, but I caught the highlights of some of the better storylines. I'd like to see those again.

Chris

[Earth 2 Chris]

I never did pick up the "Best of" DVD sets this year, mostly because I'd been spending a lot of fun money elsewhere. But this past weekend, Target had "The Vampire Curse" for $5, so I couldn't pass that up!

I began watching it last night, and rather than whole episodes, it is segments from episodes pertaining to Barnabas becoming a vampire. It begins with Victoria Winters back in the 1700s, follows the most important parts of the Barnabas/Angelique storyline, and after Barnabas is cursed and chained in his coffin, leaps to 1967 to the first episodes where Frid actually appeared as Barnabas.

It's a bit confusing in places because they cut out some of the ancillary story elements, but overall it seems like a crash course for folks who haven't seen Dark Shadows in years, like me.

I didn't make it through quite all of it, but I enjoyed it.

I love catching things like boom mikes in shots, shadows that aren't supposed to be there (maybe THAT is where they get the title), and even crew members lurking to the side of the screen! In perhaps the most important scene on this DVD, when Barnabas awakes from his coffin for the first time and confronts Angelique, there is a stage hand crouched down in the shot who scurries away when he notices his folly.

Chris

[HumanWolfman]

I will have to keep my eyes open for that. I already have 16 of the 4 dvd sets already. Sometime I like to watch the oldest stuff before Barnabas. It seems so much creepier in B/W.

[Earth 2 Chris]

As soon as the DVD jumped "back" to 1967, and the show was black and white, the show not only looked creepier, but honestly, less cheap.

Chris

[Figuremod73]

I wish the whole series would air on tv again or the dvd sets become cheaper. I wouldnt be able to sit thru the "best of" without wanting more. Once I get into the storylines, I look forward to another episode.

I use to look forward to it every afternoon in the eighties and remember being upset when they took it off for no reason.

[DCSTING]

It is on Netflix

[Zemo]

It is on Netflix

Thanks, watching it right now on the split screen.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Turns out the main "feature" on the DVD ends shortly after Barnabas is released. There is a bonus episode where he first meets Maggie Evans.

I was reading up on Dark Shadows over the weekend, and WOW I had no idea the plotlines became so convoluted. Multiple trips into the past, "Parallel Time"...!!!

I guess when I watched it on Sci-Fi back in the 90s I only scratched the surface!

Chris

[Figuremod73]

Heres a in depth summery of the episodes. I've only stratched the surface of the '80s run myself.

http://www.nicholasmooneyhan.com/darkshadows/

This one might be just as good, or better.

http://darkshadows.wikia.com/wiki/Dark_Shadows_(1966)

[Earth 2 Chris]

Thanks for the links. I spent my lunch break pursing the wikia site.

One odd thing I noticed about Dark Shadows. Jonathan Frid has some striking facial similarities to Boris Karloff. Having just painted Karloff as Frankenstein, this jumped out at me as I watched this DVD. His delivery and mannerisms are even somewhat similar, minus Karloff's famous lisp.

I'm not the only one who thinks so. After coming to this conclusion on my own, I found a review on Amazon where the reviewer points out the same thing.

Chris

[Figuremod73]

I consider Jonathan Frid the best actor to ever play a vampire. His mannerism and the way he seems to look right thru the other actors is chilling.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I would tend to agree with you from what I've seen. He understood how to make the character haunting, but not repellent. Under a lesser actor the character could have come across as very hammy.

His portrayal reminds me a bit of how Nimoy handled Spock. Frid really seemed to fully invest himself in the character, making it work for the viewer no matter what wonky circumstance the writers dreamed up.

Chris