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Summary: Counting down to 1795.
Review: Dark Shadows was perhaps the most memorable daily soap opera of the era of the 60's. It influenced our culture and brought to teens and stay at home mothers countless afternoons of Gothic horror and romance. There was even a religious tract produced which warned of the dangers of watching this show due to the portrayal of the powers of darkness and use of magic and witchcraft. (These people obviously never saw the bloopers and mistakes that were so frequent on this show that it made you laugh, especially when they were trying to be serious!)This DVD set gets closer to the answers of what happened in the past that so influenced the future concerning the characters at Collinwood. Victoria Winters is still the center of attention and Maggie Evans shares the spotlight as the victim who can't remember her captor, who naturally was our familiar vampire, Barnabas Collins. I would like to note and call your attention to an actor who deserves recognition in this series for an excellent performance in a continuing role. Mr. Karlen, who played the helpless "Willie", Barnabas's slave/servant at the old house, should have received an Emmy award for his believable portrayal of a man heading toward and eventually having a nervous breakdown. I have never seen a better display than Karlan's characterization and he is a standout in this series (apparently others thought so too and he survived later in a role on "Cagney and Lacey" as a husband.) This is also where "color" became a regular for the show, although they still press a black and white show each week. It should be taken as "entertainment" rather than serious gothic horror and Dan Curtis helped give this show atmosphere by inspiring music that is drawn from his early "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" starring Jack Palance (still viewed as the best Jekyll and Hyde ever made!) and the cues before commericals as well as the errie opening melody are memorable and can now never be associated with anything other than "Dark Shadows". Goths will of course, love this series. After all, these characters were the epitamy of "cool" back then and they would certainly be "in" today,though I can't imagine Josette with Purple hair. Or Barnabas sporting tatoos or lip rings.
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Summary: It's Gettin' Creepier!
Review: Here we go! Now things start cookin'! The storylines keep getting more and more interesting and this collection surpasses the last two. Jonathan Frid, now comfortably settled in his role as Barnabas Collins, looks and acts even more menacing than before. In this collection, the color episodes begin after the first
few black & whites. There are many great graveyard scenes and the use of lighting is better, which casts an extra eerieness on Barnabas' face. The plotline surrounding young David Collins' suspicions of Barnabas begins here and you can't stop watching until you're through the whole box! Grayson Hall's hambone overacting as Dr. Julia Hoffman is amusing. She, and some of the other actors, get a mild look of panic on their faces when they forget a line and look off-camera for the cue card. Frid occasionally needs to look at a cue card, but he's so smooth about it and manages to stay in character when he does. The man never ceases to blow me away with his performances! Also look for two classic Dark Shadows bloopers: Willie hits his head coming out of the secret room in the mausoleum and a pesky fly keeps
landing on Barnabas' face. This collection features interviews with Frid, the stoic Louis Edmonds, director Lela Swift and Sharon Smyth, now 44, who played ghost-girl Sarah Collins. A terrific collector's photo of Frid baring his fangs at David Henesy is included.
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Summary: DVD technical review
Review: I finally recieved this DVD and so I will provide a quick technical review of the actual product. The color episodes of Dark Shadows begin on this set (about 5 episodes in). The color is of course not crystal clear as this was early live color video. That being said, it looks better than i expected. The colors do still bleed together a bit, but i do perceive an improvement over the quality of the broadcasts on Sci-fi channel. All the rest of the aspects of this DVD set are consistent with previous releases.
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Summary: DVD technical review
Review: I finally recieved this DVD and so I will provide a quick technical review of the actual product. The color episodes of Dark Shadows begin on this set (about 5 episodes in). The color is of course not crystal as this was early live color video. That being said, it looks better than i expected. The colors do still bleed together a bit, but i do perceive an improvement over the quality of the broadcasts on Sci-fi channel. All the rest of the aspects of this DVD set are consistent with previous releases.
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Summary: Anxiously waiting . . .
Review: I have Dark Shadows volume 1 & 2, went through a period of time for awhile when I was trying to tape them off the Sci-Fi Network but these dvds are the answer to a prayer - I canNOT wait for collection #3, and in all sincerity I am glad they are spacing them apart as they are - easier to afford each one as it's released, as I buy a LOT of dvds as it is!!The amazing thing about "DS" is that it is so addictive; no matter your opinion on soap operas, or horror yarns, there is NOTHING like "Dark Shadows" to keep you enthralled and always waiting for the next chapter - I know some have complained that the quality of the dvds isn't prime, but to me the fact that each show looks as it did when it was on television adds to the sense of nostalgia and creepiness the show had for me as a child - but with the everlasting dvd quality! I applaud MPI and their WISE decision to bring us the best of all soaps in dvd form! My only "negative" is, I hope that, when done, MPI will go back and release the individual first 200 episodes, as well. Oh, and to the person complaining that they're only putting on two months per set - Good Lord, we are talking 40 episodes each, about 14 HOURS per set!! As someone with a busy schedule and tons of dvds and tapes, that's plenty for me between sets - and the only way to keep the cost per set even as low as it is! LONG LIVE BARNABAS!!
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Summary: Dark Shadows Lives!
Review: I received Collection 3 on Thursday and can't wait for Collection 4 which is tentatively set for February 25 according to Shadowgram. The quality of the dvd's is more than I expected. As a long time Dark Shadows fan, I am looking forward to future releases. MPI is doing an admirable job with their dvd release of Dark Shadows. For anyone contemplating buying the series on dvd-GO AHEAD AND DO IT! You will be happy you did. I have all the episodes on vhs and the dvd's are worth it. LONG LIVE DARK SHADOWS!
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Summary: Dark Shadows Lives!
Review: I received Collection 3 on Thursday and can't wait for Collection 4 which is tentatively set for February 25 according to Shadowgram. The quality of the dvd's is more than I expected. As a long time Dark Shadows fan, I am looking forward to future releases. MPI is doing an admirable job with their dvd release of Dark Shadows. For anyone contemplating buying the series on dvd-GO AHEAD AND DO IT! You will be happy you did. I have all the episodes on vhs and the dvd's are worth it. LONG LIVE DARK SHADOWS!
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Summary: The ultimate American gothic
Review: If you're into gothics, the worst part is when a movie is really good but it's over a little over an hour. Not THIS time! There's something simultaneously so fascinating and addictive about the original Dark Shadows series. With Dark Shadows the gothic pleasure just goes on and on. Sure some might criticize the sound and picture quality; but one has to realize that Dark Shadows is a story in the old-fashioned style that was filmed the old fashioned way and has been in storage for decades. Besides if you really LOVE this kind of genre you get so engrossed in the whole thing that you don't even notice the visual and/or acoustic imperfections. If those kinds of glitches REALLY bother you then look elsewhere. If you like an old fashioned gothic that's heavy on mood, atmosphere, dialog and that's decidedly LOW tech and relies more on subtlety and understatement in lieu of blood and gore then this series is certainly for you. I look forward to the next releases.
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Summary: NOT ANOTHER DISAPPOINTMENT!!??
Review: just checked out darkshadowsdvd.com, to find this set is August and September 1967 ONLY!!! set 2, was June and July 1967, ONLY!....WHAT A JIP!!! And these sets are going to be released Quarterly, with only (2) months of shows!!!....Why not just release ALL episodes AT ONCE!!! UGHHHHHHHHHH!!! I'm thinking about CANCELLING my pre-order of collection 3. Dan Curtis is a JIP-Master!!!
Rating:
Summary: Great.
Review: Like many other reviewers, I grew up watching this series. I remember not being able to wait until school got out so I could run home and watch the latest show. Where the quality of the films are lacking, the story-line more than makes up for it. Highly recommended for anyone who likes gothic suspense/horror. If you watched this show as a kid, watching it as an adult is both nostalgic and at frightening -- and remember this was produced more than 30 years ago. Television's golden era?
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