Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Helloturia I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

moonspinner55 Well, almost... David Selby plays Quentin Collins, a talented young artist who moves his wife and himself into the woodsy estate once owned by his ancestors, who were involved in witchcraft and may still be hanging around; Grayson Hall is the caretaker of the manor, who knows all its dark secrets (she tells the handyman, "Everything's different now!"). Dan Curtis' continuation of themes he began with the television serial "Dark Shadows" has its effective moments, despite MGM forcing cuts to shorten the original running-time (the film is a second-cousin to the TV show out of necessity, not by design, after Jonathan Frid refused to return as Barnabas Collins, forcing Curtis in a new direction). Robert Cobert contributes a spooky score, although there is so much one-finger tapping on a piano that one gets the feeling everyone is walking around with their own keyboard. Cinematographer Robert Shore does excellent work on a tight budget, and nobody stages a creepy nightmare like Curtis (this one has a shuddery funeral in the rain, capped with a lonesome church bell and a woman laughing hysterically). The reincarnation plot isn't much, and Selby is too colorless an actor to be much of presence (or a threat), but the dark, damp location--with spirits around every corner--provides the perfect place for things that go bump in the night. ** from ****

Henry Kujawa As has been pointed out over the years, the 2nd DS feature, "NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS", starts out as a loose variation of the show's "1970 Parallel Time" story. In that, Quentin & his new bride Maggie arrive at Collinwood, where everyone is obsessed with Quentin's late wife Angelique, and are convinced she will return from the dead. That story itself was a variation on "REBECCA"-- right down to a "Mrs. Danvers" character (mentioned in NODS), though with a supernatural twist, in that Quentin's dead wife actually does come back, murders her twin sister and takes her place. On the show, it was one of the best-structured and paced story lines they ever did... until its rather ABRUPT ending, which left me unsatisfied and frustrated.As for this movie... while elements of "REBECCA" and "1970 Parallel Time" definitely find their way in here, I find this is much more of a remake of the Roger Corman classic, "THE HAUNTED PALACE" with Vincent Price & Debra Paget as the married couple who inherit a mansion with a spooky housekeeper (Lon Chaney Jr.). Price's character, Charles Dexter Ward (the film was a very loose adaptation of the H.P. Lovecraft story) sees a portrait of an ancestor who he is a dead ringer of-- and the spirit of his ancestor spends most of the film trying to POSSESS his descendant. (There is a difference between reincarnation and possession, which sometimes got blurred on the DARK SHADOWS TV series.) The scene where David Selby roughly embraces his wife Tracy, leaving her in tears, then says, "I'll touch you ANY way I like, WHENEVER I like, and if you don't like it, you can always LEAVE!", is straight out of the Corman flick, when Price-- POSSESSED-- tells Debra Paget he wishes "to exercise my husbandly prerogative"-- and then almost RAPES her!! (I'm surprised no one else has brought up this blatant comparison before.) Another Corman POE film that found its way into this one is "THE TOMB OF LIGEIA", where Verden Fell (Price again) marries Rowena (Elisabeth Sheppard), but is haunted by the memory of his late wife Ligeia (also Sheppard). The multiple camera shots of the tower where Quentin is drawn by Angelique are almost IDENTICAL to the shots of the tower of the abbey where, each night, without his own knowledge, Fell goes to tend to his DEAD wife-- who placed him under hypnotism before she died.I've always thought "HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS" was too short, and should have been at least 2 hours long, to allow for better pacing and character development of its huge, complex cast. By comparison, the first time I saw "NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS", I thought it was painfully slow, dull and too long for its own good. When I discovered that a full 35 MINUTES had been cut from it before release, I could hardly believe what I was reading. But on further investigation, it appears this film would have been MUCH better if the story as originally written had been allowed to see release without being butchered.Even so, from reading in detail about what was missing, something tells me that EVEN the uncut version of this film is actually missing its "3rd act". If even the uncut version still ends with Angelique coming back, Quentin fully possessed, and everyone else DEAD, what's the point? Try watching this-- then "THE HAUNTED PALACE" back-to-back. The moment Price is about the leave the house-- but then stays for "one last thing"-- and becomes FULLY possessed-- is where that film REALLY starts to get interesting! "NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS", in either form, ends TOO SOON for its own good.

ersinkdotcom "House of Dark Shadows" is an abridged version of the Barnabas Collins storyline of the popular television show. However, creator / director Dan Curtis was forced to explore different plot avenues with "Night of Dark Shadows.""Night of Dark Shadows" focuses on the arrival of artist Quentin Collins (David Selby) and his wife, Tracy (Kate Jackson), to his newly inherited home, Collinwood. He's greeted by the mysterious housekeeper, Carlotta Drake (Grayson Hall), and the caretaker, Gerard Stiles (Jim Storm). Quentin begins having visions of a past existence in which he's having an affair with his brother's wife, Angelique (Lara Parker).As he digs deeper into the family history, he discovers Angelique was hung on the property for accusations of being a witch. Are his trances truly memories of a former life? Can he keep the evil spirit of Angelique from destroying his family and friends and driving him insane?Where "House of Dark Shadows" is quickly paced, this indirect sequel plods along nicely and establishes a storyline and a sense of fear and creepiness. The problem is what it builds up to. The conclusion of the film is rather abrupt and unsatisfying. There's also a similarity to director Curtis's ending of his 1976 film "Burnt Offerings," which I find interesting in hindsight.It's obvious when viewing the movie that it suffered some final cuts in the editing room. Long-time enthusiasts of the show know the history behind the making of the film and the existence of lost footage. Director Curtis was given 24 hours to re-cut the movie from 129 minutes to 94 minutes by MGM.Fans of the film petitioned to have the chopped sequences restored and a director's cut released. The footage was found in 1999, but it was without sound. The scenes are said to give "Night of Dark Shadows" a darker mood and reinstate the original cohesion and framework of the film. It's unfortunate that what we get here is still the 94-minute version released by the studio in 1971. However, beggars can't be choosers. The movie might have some problems, but it's still an entertaining watch.

InjunNose ...Especially considering how terrible the "Dark Shadows" television series could be. Sure, there were lots of talented people (Jonathan Frid, Louis Edmonds, Joan Bennett) involved with the show, and at times it worked. But when "DS" was bad it was *breathtakingly* bad: flubbed lines galore, actors and crew bumping into flimsy sets that were little more than cardboard, and laughable story lines. That's why "Night of Dark Shadows" comes as such a frightening, refreshing surprise! Quentin Collins (David Selby) inherits the Collinwood estate in Maine and moves into the rambling, creepy-looking mansion on the grounds with his wife, Tracy (Kate Jackson). Quentin is a painter and Carlotta (Grayson Hall), the housekeeper, informs him that Charles Collins--Quentin's ancestor and an inhabitant of the house during the nineteenth century--was a painter, too. Quentin falls in love with Collinwood, but it isn't long before Tracy begins to notice that the house and its troubled history (which revolves around a witch named Angelique, played by the gorgeous Lara Parker) are exerting an unhealthy influence on her husband. It's up to Tracy and Alex and Claire Jenkins (John Karlen and Nancy Barrett), friends of the Collinses, to wrest Quentin's soul from the grip of Angelique. All the actors do a terrific job, as does director Dan Curtis. I believe cinematographer Richard Shore should be singled out for particular praise; he mounts a number of eerily effective shots, the best of which is Quentin's first fleeting, unsettling glimpse of Collinwood as it once was (when he sees Angelique's corpse hanging from a gnarled oak in front of the house). Robert Cobert provides a first-rate musical score that ranges from ethereal to harsh and grating, as needed. When it was completed, "Night of Dark Shadows" ran for 129 minutes. MGM demanded extensive edits and by the time the film was released to theaters, it had been whittled down to just 95 minutes. Over the years many fans have expressed scorn for this editing process, calling it clumsy and inept, but I think "Night" works beautifully as it is (though I'd certainly be interested in seeing the unedited version). The film is loaded with atmosphere, and the scares build steadily until "Night of Dark Shadows" reaches its inevitable, bone-chilling conclusion.