Dark Shadows on Tubi

[RonnyG]

Finally finished my custom Nicholas Blair Doll using the Rhett Butler Ken doll. I redressed him in a gray suit, and gave him a widow's peak, pointy sideburns, and a handlebar mustache. Painted his top hat gray to match his suit, and added a purple ribbon to match his tie.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^1795 is the high water mark for me in a lot of ways. Maybe they should have stayed there.

Chris

[Type3Toys]

I'm currently watching the 1795 storyline. Vicky was shot making her escape with Peter Bradford.

[Dark Shadow]

^The upcoming murder mystery is also fairly slow paced, but as that is resolved the supernatural finally materializes and the pace quickens.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^No worries!

I'm slowly watching the first episodes of DS. Just got past the "David tries to kill his Dad" story, which seemed to drag on a bit too long. But we know they have to milk these storylines dry before resolving them. The writing is a bit more refined and the acting more subtle and nuanced than later DS, so it's keeping me engaged...but I would honestly rather get on to the ghosts, phoneixes, and vampires.

Chris

[Dark Shadow]

^I had the Uninvited on my DVR for years, recorded off of TCM. I kept meaning to get around to it...but then I dropped DISH, and all my DVR dreams went with it.

I will make a note to seek it out. I greatly enjoyed a classic horror with creepy kids, The Innocents, based on The Turn of the Screw, which DS mined twice!!!

Chris

Apologies Chris!

My post was a bit misleading, I should have put my recommendation for The Uninvited above my comment about David. The movie isn't about creepy kids, sorry about that, it's actually about a haunted house. What I was attempting to convey, and badly so, is that the overall vibe of the story and its premise of a haunted house on a perilous seaside cliff must have been an influence on Curtis during the initial creative process for the show. When I watched it for the first time several years back, I remember having several "Aha!" moments throughout the film.

[fallensaviour]

Been watching DS on prime for the last few months.Started with ds the beginning and up to episode 426 of ds right now.
Forgot how great this show was...lol

[Earth 2 Chris]

^I had the Uninvited on my DVR for years, recorded off of TCM. I kept meaning to get around to it...but then I dropped DISH, and all my DVR dreams went with it.

I will make a note to seek it out. I greatly enjoyed a classic horror with creepy kids, The Innocents, based on The Turn of the Screw, which DS mined twice!!!

Chris

[PNGwynne]

I have the Criterion edition of The Uninvited, one of my favorites. I like Lewton too, interesting comparison.

[Dark Shadow]

I'm watching HoDS right now, I can seldom pass it up if it's on. It's been my avatar for the series for decades.

The first time I saw HoDS was on late night TV in 76, I think shortly after the first syndicated run ended. I wouldn't see it again until the late 80's when Elvira hosted it on afternoon television. I bought the VHS back in the early 90's, and have watched it just about every year around Halloween ever since, or whenever it pops up on TCM.

I really wish we had gone to see it in 2010 when it was run at The Vista theater in LA. Frid (and I think) a few other cast members were hosting it. We thought about getting tickets when we first heard about it, but something came up and we ended up not going

[Dark Shadow]

^I haven't seen House in a while, and need to do so again. I enjoy it's let it all hang out approach. I have never seen Night of DS yet.

Watching the early episodes now, and I realize DS started out as a much more sophisticated show in a lot of ways. It relied on mood and atmosphere to slowly build a sense of impending dread. It's almost like they traded in Val Lewton for Universal Monsters when Barnabas came along. Now, honestly, as much as I admire Lewton's films and enjoy them, on any given day, I'd rather see a straight up monster movie, so Universal is more my style. But I can't argue that Lewton...and by extension this early version of DS is much more...artful.

But man, David was a little sociopath in the early episodes! He creepily talked about lining his schoolmates up and shooting them, which is pretty haunting in a modern context. Yikes.

Chris

Interesting comparison, Lewton vs. Universal...very fitting.

And yes, David is a very creepy little "bad seed" in the early episodes, isn't he? Especially considering this was afternoon television in 1966!

If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend The Uninvited from 1944. Seems as though this film (or perhaps the novel) made a lasting impression on Dan Curtis.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^I haven't seen House in a while, and need to do so again. I enjoy it's let it all hang out approach. I have never seen Night of DS yet.

Watching the early episodes now, and I realize DS started out as a much more sophisticated show in a lot of ways. It relied on mood and atmosphere to slowly build a sense of impending dread. It's almost like they traded in Val Lewton for Universal Monsters when Barnabas came along. Now, honestly, as much as I admire Lewton's films and enjoy them, on any given day, I'd rather see a straight up monster movie, so Universal is more my style. But I can't argue that Lewton...and by extension this early version of DS is much more...artful.

But man, David was a little sociopath in the early episodes! He creepily talked about lining his schoolmates up and shooting them, which is pretty haunting in a modern context. Yikes.

Chris

[PNGwynne]

I'm watching HoDS right now, I can seldom pass it up if it's on. It's been my avatar for the series for decades.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^I like "House" as an alternate take. You can take it as a truer version of what the Barnabas storyline was meant to be. He was meant to be dispatched at the end of the initial Maggie into Josette story. Of course they added the Dr. Hoffman stuff with the cure as well, and having most of the cast die or become vampires wasn't going to happen on the show, but it's still the original intent, not having Barnabas live to become first the anti-hero, and then pretty much the hero!

Chris

[Figuremod73]

I really enjoyed House of Dark Shadows. I'm sure the character and storyline differences were rather shocking during its original release. I understand that it could be looked at as another parallel story but I'm sure parents didn't understand that!

I'm going to order the 1991 series soon on Amazon. I was pretty upset when it was cancelled in the day. Very little reason for it other than bad timing because of the Gulf War.

Eventually, I'll get around to "The Beginning", but I want to see how different Ben Cross did it while it's fresh in my mind.