Movie Review - House of Dark Shadows - Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer

     After the success of the ABC’s daytime soap Dark Shadows, the creator Dan Curtis directed a darker version from the script written by Sam Hall and Gordon Russell and produced by MGM back in 1970. The script was based on the popular Barnabas storyline and starred the original cast such as Jonathan Frid, Grayson Hall, Kathryn Leigh Scott, David Henesy, and Roger Davis. The movie was shot in six weeks with a budget of $750,000, which is now considered a low-budget.

   The movie uses an altered version of the Barnabas plot. The recently fired handyman Willie Loomis visit’s the Collins’ family Old House in an attempt to steal rare jewels, but instead he unleashes the vampire cursed Barnabas from his 150-year confinement. Using his vampire powers, Barnabas makes Willie his slave. Barnabas wastes no time and introduces his self to the Collins family as a cousin to England.

   Barnabas meets the young governess, Maggie Evans, who looks exactly like his lost-love Josette. While during this time, Barnabas turns Carolyn, whom is later staked by Professor T. Eliot Stokes.

   The family doctor, Julia Hoffman, examines the blood of the victims and, for some unknown reason, knows that vampirism is behind the deaths. She soon realizes that Barnabas is a vampire and she offers to cure him. Barnabas accepts the offer. For a short time he is cured and begins to romance Maggie Evans.

Julia falls for Barnabas and becomes jealous of Maggie, resulting in Barnabas being given an overdose of the cure, which shows his true age to Maggie. With his true identity exposed, Barnabas must kill the entire Collins family and anyone else that becomes between Maggie and him.

House of Dark Shadows is an edgier, bloodier version of the campy daytime soap, and, in my opinion, one of the creepiest vampire movies every made. The sets have a more gothic vibe than the series did. Sadly, the movie has never been released on DVD, but rumor has it that it’ll be released by Warner Bros. later in 2012. For those of you that can’t wait, there is an older version on VHS which you can sometimes find on Ebay or Amazon.com for sale. Occasionally, TCM and Chiller air House of Dark Shadows, along with the sequel Night of Dark Shadows.