PT 2-1970: House of Dark Shadows (Released 1970)
The Collins family and governess Maggie Evans search for young David Collins. Lecherous servant Willie Loomis, however, is searching for lost jewels. Following an old poem he found tucked in a book, Willie finds a secret room in the Collins' mausoleum with a chained coffin in it. Assuming the jewels to be inside, he breaks the chains and opens the coffin. A ringed hand grabs him by the throat.
Soon, odd attacks start happening around town. Liz's secretary is found with strange bite marks on her neck. Maggie, locked in the Old House by David, is almost attacked before her boyfriend Jeff Clark shows up, scaring the mysterious figure off. Carolyn Stoddard and her boyfriend Todd Blake overhear of yet another attack while dining at the Blue Whale. Also at the blue Whale, Carolyn runs into a subdued Willie, who claims he has a new job, though he carefully makes sure Carolyn doesn't see who he is with.
That night, a visitor arrives at Collinwood, cousin Barnabas Collins from England. The whole family is taken with him, and he is granted permission to renovate the Old House to live in. Carolyn is particularly interested in him, even stopping by the Old House before the party in his honor. But after returning to Collinwood to dress for the party, Carolyn is surprised to find Barnabas in her room. He bares fangs and bites her on the neck.
At the party, in spite of Carolyn's annoyance, Barnabas introduces himself to Maggie, who is preparing to leave Collinwood. But using his charm, he convinces her to stay. Later, at the Old House, he explains to Willie that Maggie resembles his lost love Josette, and plans to make her his own again. Carolyn, jealous of his attention to Maggie shows up, and Barnabas is forced to attack her. In spite of Willie's attempts to stop her bleeding, she is found dead in the Collinwood foyer.
Prof. T. Eliot Stokes is convinces a vampire is at work in Collinsport. Dr. Julia Hoffman, on sabatical to write a history of the Collins family, has discovered an aborrent cell in the blood of the attack victims, and thinks that if it is a vampire, he could be cured. But Stokes is skeptical.
But when Carolyn rises to try to attack David, and almost kills Todd, Stokes is proven correct. As she goes after Todd again, the sheriff's men find them, and Stokes puts a stake through her heart.
Meanwhile, Julia, having accidentally discovered that Barnabas is the vampire, offers to cure him. He accepts, and Julia starts a series of injections to make him human. The attacks stop, as the cure begins to work. Sending Jeff away with a business offer, Barnabas begins to court Maggie in earnest. But Willie, ever concerned about Maggie's safety, tries to warn her off, and when she doesn't understand, he goes to Stokes. But Maggie tells Barnabas about Willie's strange behavior, and he punishes him severely.
Stokes, upon seeing Barnabas in the daylight, realizes that Julia is helping him. But the cure is almost complete, and Barnabas plans to propose to Maggie. Julia, in love with Barnabas, gets upset that she is not the object of his affection, and uses too much of the serum for his next injection. Not sure what effect it will have, she tries to leave quickly, but the reactions happens too fast, and Barnabas realizes she betrayed him. As he ages to his true 175 years, he strangles her to death, then attacks Maggie, her blood rejuvenating him.
When Maggie is found missing, Jeff is frantic, and the whole sheriff's department looks for her. A message arrives from Roger and Stokes about a lead on St. Eustice Island, and Jeff goes running. Finding Stokes, it seems to be a false lead until Stokes attacks, fangs bared. Jeff kills him using silver bullets, and later is forced to stake Roger, also now a vampire. Discovering that Barnabas plans to make Maggie his vampire bride, he tries to stop him, but falls under the vampire's hypnotic spell. But Willie, having been struck by a crossbow bolt, uses that same bolt to drive through Barnabas' back. Released from his power, Jeff forces the arrow deeper until Barnabas is dead. He takes Maggie and the two of them leave Collinsport forever. But as the mist clears, a bat is seen flying away from near Barnabas' body. So maybe its not over after all.
After two years of trying to convince ABC to back a movie based on Dark Shadows, Dan Curtis gave up and went to MGM. They agreed, and he promised them the movie in five weeks, half the time of normal filming. Though the weather seemed to work against them, and the schedule was greuling for the actors, he did it...and under budget, too. Though it meant pulling most of the major characters from the series for several weeks, leaving Selby, Parker and Pennock to carry the plot, the movie was eagerly anticipated by viewers.
Doing a movie based on a daytime television serial had never been done before, but now Curtis had the chance. Using a revamped version of the Barnabas story (although one might say the original version, before Barnabas got too popular to kill off on the series) gave Curtis the chance to do things he could never do on television. First, it gave him the chance to show the monster vampire he had planned on in the first place. The Barnabas of the film is not the sad, tormented creature of the series. He is a ruthless killer, not brooking any interference to his plans. And we see his killing in all its bloody realism. Unlike the television version, the movie is filled with blood and gore at every turn. The dramatic vampire staking at the end was the original plan for Barnabas on the series, and now it happened. Julia Hoffman, also slated for killing on the series, finally gets to die here, though she also lets Barnabas know of her feelings for him, something her television incarnation never got to do. Louis Edmonds and Thayer David get their only chance to be vampires, a coveted role on the series.
But the movie, for some unknown reason, also marked the beginning of the end for the series. Hyped beyond belief, including a Miss Vampire Beauty Pagent, the film opened to rave critical reviews and packed theaters, practically saving MGM from bankrupcy. But after, the ratings on the series started to decline. No one knows the precise reason for this, but it was true. Never again was Dark Shadows to be as popular, and was only months away from cancellation.
Credits and characters of House of Dark Shadows
Portrait Gallery for House of Dark Shadows
