This movie is a theatrical offshoot from an American daytime soap opera, and it’s got vampires! At the time, Dark Shadows was a major cultural phenomenon and this movie was designed to take advantage of that built-in popularity.
Tagline: “A story of blood relations.”
WTF Factor: ** [one extra for the weirdness of the soap opera]
Notable Quote:
Carolyn: “I’m beginning to wonder, cousin Barnabas, if I shall ever know you at all. There’s so much about you… that I’m dying to know.”
Synopsis: It’s evening and Maggie Evans (Kathryn Leigh Scott) is looking everywhere for young David Collins (David Henesy). She wanders from a mansion to the derelict house next door, running into Willy Loomis (John Karlen), who tries to frighten her [not difficult]. He’s a drunken creep who obviously likes Maggie and won’t keep his hands to himself. He hasn’t seen David, but he shows her an inscription he copied, which supposedly leads to the Collins family’s missing jewels. He offers to cut her in, but then Roger Collins (Louis Edmonds), David’s father, comes in and demands Willy help look for David. Roger fires Willy when he mouths off.
Willy follows the clues to the Collins family crypt. He finds a secret passage to a creepy room with a large ornate coffin-like box wrapped in chains. Willy finally wrestles the chains off, and when he opens the box a hand with a large onyx ring reaches up and grabs him by the throat.
Meanwhile, Maggie is looking in the old house for David, who rushes past her and locks her in.
The matriarch of Collinwood, Elizabeth Stoddard (Joan Bennett), dismisses her secretary Daphne (Lisa Richards) for the night. Daphne has a significant walk through the woods to her car. We hear a wolf howling and other strange noises, then see the approach of someone walking with a cane. Daphne runs to her car, but as she gets in, someone enters through the passenger door and starts to strangle her.
Jeff Clark (Roger Davis) is driving up to the manor when he sees Daphne collapsed by the side of the road. When he goes to her he sees that part of her throat has been torn open.
Maggie is still waiting in the old house. She hears noises in the hall, and we see David sneaking into a house, only to realize that it’s the manor. He hides from the occupants and then sneaks up the stairs. Carolyn (Nancy Barrett) is commiserating with her mother Elizabeth when her fiancé Todd Blake (Donald Briscoe) comes back from unsuccessfully searching for David.
We see the steps of the man with the cane and a cape in the old house. The hand with the ring turns the handle and then unlocks the door to Maggie’s room, but just as Maggie gets hysterical, Jeff, her fiancé, arrives, to her relief. She tells him David has been playing tricks on her, but Jeff points out that David is back at Collinwood in his room.
Daphne is being treated by Dr. Julia Hoffman (Grayson Hall), who says that the gashes on Daphne’s neck seem like bite wounds. Julia tells the sheriff that Daphne has lost a life-threatening amount of blood.
Todd overhears a policeman say that another woman was attacked and killed the same way as Daphne. He and Carolyn see Willy talking to a man they can’t see, although Carolyn notices his distinctive ring. Willy is evasive and tells her he has a new job already.
There are more local attacks similar to Daphne’s.
The man with the cape and cane approaches Collinwood and rings the bell. He asks to see Elizabeth and introduces himself as Barnabas Collins, a “cousin from England.” The family, plus Julia and Professor Stokes (Thayer David), are fascinated by Barnabas’ remarkable resemblance to an old family portrait. The original Barnabas Collins moved to England in 1797, and Julia, who is writing a history of the Collins family, has not been able to trace his activities. Barnabas points out a portrait of Naomi Collins, the original Barnabas’ mother, who is wearing a spectacular diamond and emerald necklace. Barnabas presents the necklace to Elizabeth.
Roger recalls that Naomi also gave her son the “old house,” which interests this Barnabas greatly. Caroline recognizes his distinctive ring.
At dusk the next day, Caroline goes to the old house to see Barnabas, who is moving in. She opens the basement door but is headed off by Willy, who says Barnabas isn’t there. As Caroline questions Willy, Barnabas rises from the coffin, now in the basement.
Barnabas greets Carolyn and says that he and Willy are fixing up the old house. That evening, Carolyn is preparing her dress for a big costume party at Collinwood when Barnabas appears in her room. Barnabas puts the bite on her.
Later at the party, Caroline blows off Todd and follows Barnabas’ every move. Then Barnabas spots Maggie across the room. Caroline is not pleased. Julia says Maggie is David’s governess, but she will be going away tomorrow.
Barnabas pursues Maggie into another room and introduces himself when Jeff steps out for a moment. Barnabas recognizes Maggie’s dress, which she got from the attic, as one worn by Josette du Prés, the original Barnabas’ fiancée. Maggie is immediately drawn to him.
Later at the party, Barnabas convinces Maggie that she must stay at Collinwood.
Barnabas: “Things will be different, very different.”
Maggie: “You almost make me believe they can be.”
Barnabas: “I’ll see that they are.”
Caroline intrudes and is really not happy to hear that Maggie is staying. Barnabas is, though.
Barnabas [in private]: “Josette! Josette, you have come back to me.”
Back at the old house, Barnabas shows Willy a music box that he gave to Josette 180 years ago. They have restored Josette’s room to exactly how it was on their wedding eve. Barnabas explains to Willy that when he and Josette fell in love, he was still a normal human, but then he fell under a curse. When Josette found out what he was, she killed herself. Then Barnabas himself was found, and his father chained him in the coffin forever rather than kill him.
Now Barnabas has found ‘Josette’ again and he plans to marry her. Willy figures out that he means Maggie, and he’s not pleased. Suddenly Caroline appears and Barnabas is enraged that she has followed him. She threatens to tell Maggie everything. Bad move, Caroline.
Barnabas loses control and drains her blood, while Willy tries to stop him. Barnabas orders Willy to take her home. Caroline makes it to the door of the manor and dies.
After a rainy funeral, Caroline is carried to the family crypt. Later, Stokes visits Julia, who is studying blood samples from the blood loss victims. Julia has found a new cell type in the victims’ blood. Stokes asks if she believes in vampires, which she does not [yet]. They briefly run through the usual characteristics of vampires. Julia speculates that the new cells she found might mean the condition is curable.
Stokes: “Vampirism is not a disease, Julia. Vampires are the living dead.”
David is very disturbed by Caroline’s death. He plays ball in an abandoned swimming pool with a spooky echo.
David [sing-song]: “If I catch this one, Caroline isn’t dead.”
Well, he misses it completely, and falls and hits his head trying to retrieve the ball. The family thinks he’s sleeping in his room. It’s dark when David wakes up and hears a ghostly voice calling him.
David follows Caroline’s voice, and she appears out of the mist. At first he is overjoyed, but then he catches a clue. He runs away and breaks into the family dinner. Unsurprisingly no one except Stokes takes his tale of Caroline being alive seriously. Once David has left, Stokes suggests that they all go look for Caroline. Roger and Elizabeth are particularly horrified by the suggestion. Stokes goes all in and says that Caroline was killed by a vampire and is now one herself. Everybody walks out except Julia.
Stokes warns Todd that he is the most likely target for Caroline. Naturally Todd decides to go out to the crypt by himself and naturally Caroline shows up too. He doesn’t put up any fight. Next we see Todd, he’s getting a blood transfusion.
Caroline’s coffin is now in the basement of the old house. Barnabas orders her to leave Todd alone and proclaims that everyone at Collinwood is off-limits. He tells Willy to make sure Caroline doesn’t leave the basement while Barnabas goes to Collinwood to find out what’s going on. While he’s there, Julia is fixing her makeup with a compact but then realizes that Barnabas has no reflection in the mirror.
Barnabas returns to the old house to discover that Caroline has bitten Willy and taken off. The police are guarding Todd at Collinwood. Apparently all of the deputies have been armed with crosses in case Caroline shows up. There’s a police car crash when Caroline appears in the car’s path and in the confusion, Todd escapes and goes to Caroline. The police discover their whereabouts and close in with their crosses, while Todd tries to protect her.
The men drag her onto a sofa and Stokes puts a stake through her heart. Todd is not pleased [I guess he survives? We never see him again.]
Julia goes to the old house to see Barnabas. She pulls a cross on him and says she can cure him. She explains about the special cells and Barnabas is intrigued.
Julia: “If you could have a different life, wouldn’t you want it?”
Barnabas: “Do you think anyone could enjoy an existence like mine?”
Julia starts the injections immediately.
[Time passes.] Stokes thinks the vampire has disappeared since there have been no attacks recently. Barnabas thanks Julia, who is clearly in love with him. Julia admires Josette’s music box and Barnabas says he will soon give it to someone he loves. [Oops.]
Barnabas and Maggie have a romantic dinner, while Willy lurks around looking unhappy. Barnabas gives Maggie the music box. Willy asks Barnabas to leave Maggie alone, but that’s not going to happen. Barnabas has arranged for Jeff to be out of town for several days.
The next day, Willy warns Maggie to get away from Collinwood, but he won’t explain why. Maggie blows him off.
That night at dinner Maggie tells Barnabas that Willy tried to warn her about something. Barnabas convinces her that there’s nothing to worry about. Barnabas goes back to the house and beats Willy severely. Willy admits that he also spoke with Stokes.
The next day Stokes visits the old house and is shocked to see Barnabas during the day. Stokes accuses Barnabas of being a vampire and Barnabas doesn’t exactly deny it. Returning to Collinwood, Stokes confronts Julia, who denies helping him. However, she gets upset when Stokes calls Barnabas a monster and Stokes realizes she’s in love with him. He taunts her about Maggie being Barnabas’ choice and Julia is not pleased.
Barnabas and Maggie go for a walk in the daylight and he is delighted by the experience. Maggie is clearly infatuated. At a distance Julia watches them walking hand-in-hand.
Barnabas comes to see Julia and tells her of his plan to propose to Maggie. From Julia’s expression, he finally figures out what her problem is. Julia prepares a special injection for him.
Julia is packing to leave when Barnabas returns in a panic, saying something is wrong. He realizes that she has betrayed him as he turns into an old man. He promptly strangles Julia. Maggie bursts in and old Barnabas bites her.
Barnabas promises to come back for Maggie, but Jeff returns to watch over her. Stokes goes to the old house but Barnabas and Willy are gone. Stokes expositions to Jeff, Roger, and the sheriff about the vampire situation and Julia’s search for a cure. He and Roger have been going over family histories and have uncovered the stories of Josette’s mysterious death. Tomorrow is the anniversary of Josette’s death and Stokes believes that Barnabas intends to “wed” Maggie then.
Meanwhile, Maggie lies surrounded by crosses and garlic flowers, with a police guard.
Old Barnabas enters Maggie’s bedroom through a secret door and strangles the deputy. Maggie removes the cross on her chest and Barnabas bites her. He de-ages to his normal self. When Jeff arrives, they are gone.
The next day, the sheriff hands out vampire gear, including silver bullets, to all the deputies and family members. The secret passage leads to the beach, and Roger and Stokes head north.
Jeff gets a note from Roger and Stokes telling him to head to St. Eustice Island. It’s almost dark as Jeff rows to the island. He finds Stokes, who says that his hunch was wrong and Barnabas is not there. It turns out that Stokes is now a vampire, and Jeff shoots him with the silver bullets.
Jeff heads inland to a large house and he finds Roger’s body. Jeff drives a stake through his heart. He also finds a crossbow and rifle.
As Jeff searches, he hears Josette’s theme music. Maggie is dressed in Josette’s wedding gown with Willy watching over her. She is in a trance. Willy tells Jeff that Barnabas is waiting in the chapel and will summon Maggie when it’s time. Jeff tries to wake Maggie but Willy knocks him out.
Willy and Maggie head to the chapel where Barnabas waits for his bride.
Jeff arrives at the balcony overlooking the chapel as Maggie lies on the altar. Jeff fires the crossbow but Willy flings himself at Barnabas and takes the stake himself.
Barnabas is not pleased with the interruption. He hypnotizes Jeff into dropping his weapons and coming to him. Barnabas forces Jeff to be a witness to the “marriage.” Just as Barnabas goes in for the marital bite, Willy [“I’m not dead yet!”] stakes him and Jeff finishes the job.
Maggie wakes and Jeff carries her away. Cast credits and then The End. Finally, we see a bat fly away from the chapel. Could it be…?
Thoughts:
Here’s a “cult” movie that is unlikely to increase its viewership as time goes on. House of Dark Shadows is, of course, based on 1966-1971 ABC network daytime soap opera Dark Shadows, a major pop culture touchstone of its time. In its earliest days, Dark Shadows was a straight Gothic romance soap opera, with mediocre ratings. Then the producer, Dan Curtis, started to introduce supernatural elements. The show took off in popularity from episode 211 (1967), when the vampire Barnabas Collins introduced himself to the Collins family as a “cousin from England.” Suddenly middle aged Canadian actor Jonathan Frid, who played Barnabas until the show’s cancellation, found himself an unlikely sex symbol. The show benefited from its afternoon time slot; just about the time when kids got home from school.
When Curtis was offered the opportunity to make a Dark Shadows theatrical movie, he jumped at it. Suddenly he had money and freedom from the censorship concerns of daytime television. Curtis chose to make the movie a linearization of Barnabas’ original storyline from the soap, with a movie-appropriate ending. Some characters’ relationships are altered, although the Collins family remained intact. One major advantage for the movie was the use of all of the original actors from the soap; they were each written out of the television show for however many weeks they were needed for filming. As a consequence, all of the central characterizations feel “lived in,” as they should when the actors have played the parts for years. In particular, Jonathan Frid and Kathryn Leigh Scott (Barnabas and Maggie) have some easy chemistry in their happy scenes.
One of the biggest pleasures of the movie is Jonathan Frid’s portrayal of Barnabas Collins. He invokes just the right balance of scariness and anguish. One running theme in the soap opera was Barnabas’ desire to be released from his vampire state, which is used to good effect in the movie. The majority of Frid’s career was spent in theater rather than movies, but then he had the burden of typecasting to deal with. Much of the cast had New York theater backgrounds. Of special note is Grayson Hall (Julia), who was a well-respected avant-garde stage performer and had been nominated for an Academy Award in 1964 for Night of the Iguana. Sadly, she doesn’t have enough to do in the movie.
For the most part, the movie benefits from a decent (although not large) budget; at least the walls don’t wobble constantly. There are some genuinely spooky Gothic scenes in the movie; for example, the swimming pool sequence and Barnabas summoning Josette to their “wedding.” Curtis takes advantage of the opportunity to show a lot more (as in, any) practical gore effects, some of which are more convincing than others. Perhaps most wince-inducing is the shot in the finale where Barnabas removes the crossbow bolt from Willy’s back. For some reason, the blood here looks like red tempura paint; I wonder if this shot is a tribute to Hammer.
The movie walked a tight line between catering to obsessive fans and welcoming newcomers. This is a challenge that wasn’t well met. Fans had the advantage of “knowing” the large cast of characters, each of whom has their brief moment to shine. However, there simply isn’t enough opportunity for a newcomer to fully understand the relationships and fill in the gaps that aren’t covered by exposition (which is kept to a minimum). What they are left with is a passable vampire movie with thinly drawn characters. It doesn’t help that the movie speeds between subplots without providing resolution. For example, Daphne and Todd are each bitten by vampires, but we never see how that turns out (Daphne apparently died, but I guess Todd survives?). Neither character appeared in the original storyline.
If you were a fan of the soap opera, you probably watched this movie already. If you can fill in the gaps a bit, it’s not an embarrassment to watch again. If you never experienced the soap opera, House of Dark Shadows is not a terrible vampire movie, but you’ve seen it done better.
Quick bits:
- Barnabas’ old age makeup was created by Dick Smith, who made this something of a specialty. He did David Bowie’s makeup in The Hunger (1983) and won the Academy Award for Best Makeup primarily for his work on Salieri’s old age makeup in Amadeus (1985).
- In the preview version of the movie, David pretends to hang himself at one point to scare the family (what a kidder). This footage was removed to prevent copycats.
- There was a sequel, of sorts, called Night of Dark Shadows (1971), but while it featured actors from the soap opera (including Kate Jackson), they were in a completely different storyline that did not include characters from the original. Without Barnabas, the movie tanked.
- There was a short-lived revival television series in 1991, starring Ben Cross as Barnabas and Barbara Steele (!!!) as Julia.
- We won’t discuss the 2012 monstrosity of an adaptation. If you were there for the original, you hated this movie, and if you weren’t, you didn’t care to see it. One thing the real Dark Shadows never was, was a parody, except for the campy movie trailer, which fans hated for that reason.
Suggested double feature: How about Black Sabbath (1963), specifically the Boris Karloff-starring story, The Wurdulak, where a family is decimated by a vampire in their midst?
Tagline for Coming Attraction: “Who Will Survive The Terror?”
