There has never been any other single daytime TV program like "Dark Shadows", the creation of producer Dan Curtis, which ran on ABC-TV from 1966 to 1971. What began as a typical soap opera instead evolved into a Gothic melodrama that would involve ghosts, zombies, and, most of all, a vampire named Barnabas Collins. It was the first time that horror had invaded daytime television, and it may have been too unique, since it hasn't been done again in any way, shape, or form on daytime television. Yes, it was a very low budget undertaking; the sets were threadbare; and the acting was what you'd expect for any other soap opera, even one literally full of cobwebs. Nevertheless, it was on for five years, with an astounding 1,225 episodes being aired in the afternoon hours for those five years. And Curtis, realizing how the show was gaining a cult audience unheard of among soap opera fans, decided to make two big-screen films from it. The first of these was HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS, released in 1970.
Using many of the characters and actors that regularly appeared in the TV serial itself, HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS sees the 175 year-old vampire Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) being unwisely released from his resting place by a callow undertaker (John Karlen), and he goes to the Collinwood estate to cause all manner of vampiric mayhem on the Collins family. He introduces himself as a cousin from England, but he pretty soon proves to be much more than that, first killing off the secretary (Lisa Blake Richards) to Collinwood matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Joan Bennett). This leads off to many other ghoulish things, as anyone bitten by Frid comes back to life as a vampire as well. A nominally related sequel to the film, NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS, would follow in 1971; but by that time, the series itself had come to an end, awaiting syndication revivals in the 1980s and beyond.
The ironic thing is that the release of HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS in the late summer of 1970 may have partially hastened the demise of the TV series itself. Due to the very low budget of the series, and the restrictions placed on television during the late 1960s and early 1970s, much of what went on was largely implied, or given Gothic flourishes (cobwebs; fog; sometimes nourish photography). But even though the budget for HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS wasn't exactly big either, at just $750,000, Curtis, freed from TV censorship restrictions, was able to show a lot more in the way of sex and violence, especially in Frid's bloodthirsty activities. And while nothing in this film even comes remotely close to HOSTEL/SAW-type torture porn, the biting and staking scenes as such were nevertheless quite hair-raising, bloody, and horrific for their time. The series' ratings decline may have been due to the fact that parents discouraged their young kids from seeing it after the film's release, owing to the much more explicit material of the film.
Curtis went on to make a number of very solid made-for-TV horror films, notably 1972's THE NIGHT STALKER, 1973's THE NIGHT STRANGLER, 1975's TRILOGY OF TERROR, and a very good 1974 adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula (with Jack Palance as the world's best-known bloodsucker), all of which were scripted by the legendary Richard Matheson. He also went on to do some miniseries work for TV ("The Winds Of War") and the 1976 feature horror film BURNT OFFERINGS. But HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS, despite its low-budget flaws, nevertheless distinguishes itself as a thoroughly unique horror film, especially of the vampire genre, of the early 1970s, much as the series that spawned it remains, again with all its flaws in mind, one of the most unique TV shows ever put on the air.
Using many of the characters and actors that regularly appeared in the TV serial itself, HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS sees the 175 year-old vampire Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) being unwisely released from his resting place by a callow undertaker (John Karlen), and he goes to the Collinwood estate to cause all manner of vampiric mayhem on the Collins family. He introduces himself as a cousin from England, but he pretty soon proves to be much more than that, first killing off the secretary (Lisa Blake Richards) to Collinwood matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Joan Bennett). This leads off to many other ghoulish things, as anyone bitten by Frid comes back to life as a vampire as well. A nominally related sequel to the film, NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS, would follow in 1971; but by that time, the series itself had come to an end, awaiting syndication revivals in the 1980s and beyond.
The ironic thing is that the release of HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS in the late summer of 1970 may have partially hastened the demise of the TV series itself. Due to the very low budget of the series, and the restrictions placed on television during the late 1960s and early 1970s, much of what went on was largely implied, or given Gothic flourishes (cobwebs; fog; sometimes nourish photography). But even though the budget for HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS wasn't exactly big either, at just $750,000, Curtis, freed from TV censorship restrictions, was able to show a lot more in the way of sex and violence, especially in Frid's bloodthirsty activities. And while nothing in this film even comes remotely close to HOSTEL/SAW-type torture porn, the biting and staking scenes as such were nevertheless quite hair-raising, bloody, and horrific for their time. The series' ratings decline may have been due to the fact that parents discouraged their young kids from seeing it after the film's release, owing to the much more explicit material of the film.
Curtis went on to make a number of very solid made-for-TV horror films, notably 1972's THE NIGHT STALKER, 1973's THE NIGHT STRANGLER, 1975's TRILOGY OF TERROR, and a very good 1974 adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula (with Jack Palance as the world's best-known bloodsucker), all of which were scripted by the legendary Richard Matheson. He also went on to do some miniseries work for TV ("The Winds Of War") and the 1976 feature horror film BURNT OFFERINGS. But HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS, despite its low-budget flaws, nevertheless distinguishes itself as a thoroughly unique horror film, especially of the vampire genre, of the early 1970s, much as the series that spawned it remains, again with all its flaws in mind, one of the most unique TV shows ever put on the air.