House of Dark Shadows (1970)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Dan Curtis

Writers:

Sam Hall (writer)
Gordon Russell (writer)

Release Date:

6 March 1971 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Romance

Tagline:

Barnabas Collins, vampire, takes a bride in a bizarre act of ultimate lust.

Plot:

The story of vampire Barnabas Collins, the possible cure offered by Dr. Julia Hoffman, and his search for love amidst the horror.

Plot Keywords:

Vampire | Cure | Love | Blood | Gothic

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Jonathan Frid	...	Barnabas Collins
Grayson Hall	...	Dr. Julia Hoffman
Kathryn Leigh Scott	...	Maggie Evans
Roger Davis	...	Jeff Clark
Nancy Barrett	...	Carolyn Stoddard
John Karlen	...	Willie Loomis
Thayer David	...	Professor T. Eliot Stokes
Louis Edmonds	...	Roger Collins
Don Briscoe	...	Todd Blake
David Henesy	...	David Collins
Dennis Patrick	...	Sheriff George Patterson
Lisa Blake Richards	...	Daphne Budd, Elizabeth's Secretary (as Lisa Richards)
Jerry Lacy	...	Minister
Barbara Cason	...	Mrs. Johnson
Paul Michael	...	Old Man

Also Known As:

Dark Shadows (USA) (pre-release title)

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:(Banned) (1971) | Norway:16 (1971) | UK:18 | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Lockwood-Mathews Mansion - 295 West Avenue, Norwalk, Connecticut, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Quotes:

Professor T. Eliot Stokes: Vampirism is not a disease, Julia. Vampires are the living dead.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Fantastic Fantasy Fright-o-Rama Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

Little known, off beat vampire classic.

HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS (1970) is the movie-house version of the then popular Gothic Soap Opera. The film's plot is a re-tracing of the TV series. Willie Loomis (John Karlen), while robbing a New England crypt, accidently awakens 200 year old vampire Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid's moment of immortality!) Barnabas comes upon his modern descendants as a "long lost relative from England" leaving out the one little detail about being 200 years old. In the meantime, he is secretly feasting on victims. He enjoys a temporary cure, via a local doctor. What makes this film unique is how this murderous vampire is worthy of sympathy, the tender but extremely haunting encounter the pre-teen Collins boy has with his dead sister, and the rather doomsday style climax. This gem came at a time when decent horror films were a rarity. (Relaxed censorship let about 90% of the horror directors depend more on gore and sex).