Just found this awesome, interesting documentary that was produced in the 1980's and was about "Dark Shadows"- Jonathan Frid (Barnabas Collins) was the host! :-) RIP Jonathan!!
When I was about nine years old, I lived with my parents out in the country. Being an only child I had to basically amuse myself while on summer break when they were both at work. I remember every morning at nine o'clock on the Sci Fi channel they would play the classic show, "Lost In Space" and then an hour after that "Dark Shadows" was aired. Every day during the summer I would wake up and watch both. I still love both shows but "Dark Shadows" always left me transfixed. Then again, I love vampires, the gothic culture or atmosphere, and also historical costume- "DS" was perfect! At times it was corny, I will admit but you have to remember the era it aired- the late 60's into the early 70's. I still have a love for "Dark Shadows" and also love the two movies that came out in the early 70's- "House of Dark Shadows" and "Night of Dark Shadows." I even belonged to the official "Dark Shadows" fan club and used to have my very own membership card (don't judge me...lol) I'm at a loss because after so many years I can't find the card anymore! :-( The search continues.....
After so many years, "Dark Shadows" still has a big following. In 2012 Tim Burton released the film, "Dark Shadows" starring Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins. First off, I know every DS fan has their own opinion. Mine is this: I went to see it in the theater not expecting much. And that's exactly what Tim Burton gave- not much. Really the remake was dumb. Burton tried too hard making it a dark comedy and sort of corny. Back in the late 1960's the corny thing worked but not in this day and age...lol I will say one thing, I am a fan of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp- both very talented. But when I found out who was making the film and who was starring as Barnabas, I knew it would be a disaster. And I was right. I felt like I wasted my money at the theater. Another issue was once again, Danny Elfman scored the soundtrack. No shocker there. Tim Burton is notorious working with the same people over and over again, which is fine, but when you take on a project like "Dark Shadows", a show that is beloved by so many, you need to be careful and choose wisely. I had hoped that Elfman would at least take some of the original score soundtrack from the soap opera and at first, I thought the film was kick starting in a good direction. I spoke too soon. The very beginning you hear the mysterious and haunting flute solo that I recognized from the original show. But then it goes into Elfman's own score and you never hear anything else original, not even close, for the rest of the film. I thought maybe he would re-record or re-score the original "Dark Shadows" opening theme- nope. I was thoroughly disappointed in the film. To each their own though. The only thing I really did like is they had Alice Cooper do a cameo in the film- that was cool! And more importantly, Burton understood that DS fans would love to see some of the original cast. It was so neat seeing Jonathan Frid, who was the original Barnabas Collins, make a cameo in the film. Jonathan actually passed away before the release of the Burton film so I think it was wonderful he was able to make one last cameo with a show that had originally made him everyone's favorite vampire! :-)
There was also David Selby (Quentin Collins), Lara Parker (Angelique Bouchard), Kathryn Lee Scott (Maggie Evans/Josette Dupres). It was so neat to see them all as guests at a party in the movie. Hey, Burton was a lifelong fan of DS and I think it's cool that he wanted to put his own stamp on the story. I just don't think he got it right. But he understood how important it was to honor the original cast and it was really cool that he put them in the film. :-)
The original poster for, "House of Dark Shadows"~
The original poster for, "Night of Dark Shadows"~
