Dark Shadows and Beyond: The Jonathan Frid Story

It debuted the same year as Star Trek, but for a lot of 1960s kids, this show was their first experience of cult TV fandom. The vampire was a major reason why. In many ways, the classically trained actor was an unlikely teen idol, but he was the first brooding TV vampire, predating Angel and True Blood by decades. The fanbase is still out there and growing, so there should be plenty of interest in Dark Shadows and Beyond: The Jonathan Frid Story, directed by Mary O’Leary, his friend and co-producer of his one-man shows, which releases tomorrow on DVD and VOD.

Dan Curtis’s Dark Shadows was on the brink of cancelation when he introduced a vampire storyline, mostly as a personal lark. Much to everyone’s surprise, Barnabas Collins caught on big, turning the struggling show into a hit and making Frid an overnight celebrity. It took him a while to get used to the run-and-gun production methods of a daily soap opera, but he was always popular with his co-stars. It also took him a while to adjust to his new fame, but there was no question he was the focus of fans’ attention.

Frankly, Dark Shadows didn’t last so long during its initial run, but unlike just about every other soap opera, it enjoyed subsequent lives in syndicated reruns and through healthy multi-million copy sales of its DVD collections. Post-cancelation, Frid appeared in two horror movies (including Oliver Stone’s first film, Seizure), but he was unhappy with his agency, so struck out on his own, largely concentrating on the stage.

If you look at Frid’s IMDb page, there is not much aside from Dark Shadows, but he constantly appeared in regional theaters. He also had a pretty big hit leading an all-star tour of Arsenic & Old Lace (co-starring WKRP’s Gary Sandy). (Actually, I remember enjoying the show as a kid, but I didn’t appreciate who Frid was at the time. We can only hope some long lost tape of the production eventually turns up.)

That sort of leads into what really makes this doc valuable for fans. Unless, you saw him perform readings at Dark Shadows conventions, he sort of disappeared. On the other hand, he largely did things his way. In a way, it is both good and bad that we can’t watch him doing guest shots on Murder She Wrote and the like, because what we have of him on film is pretty high quality.

Dark Shadows: Ep 211-261

The notion of adding a vampire to a struggling TV series sounds almost cliched today, but it was a real Hail Mary pass when Dan Curtis tried it in 1967. His daily soap opera Dark Shadows has been conceived as a contemporary riff on the gothic novels of the Brontës and the like, but when it embraced the supernatural, it became a smash teen sensation. As a result, Dark Shadows probably became the only daytime soap opera to inspire comic books, tie-in novels, a daily newspaper comic strip, and a disappointing Tim Burton movie. It has also remained in syndicated reruns. Currently, Dark Shadows can be seen late-late weeknights on Decades, where they will reset their reruns with episode 211, the introduction of vampire Barnabas Collins, this Friday.

Collinsport, Maine is still dominated by the founding Collins family, but unbeknownst to the outside world, their matriarch, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard is being blackmailed by the slimy Jason McGuire, her unwelcome houseguest. However, McGuire’s con artist crony, Willie Loomis is even more despised by the Collins family and Collinsport at large. It has gotten so bad Stoddard’s business rival Burke Devlin took it upon himself to run Loomis out of town. Before leaving, Loomis believed he could plunder the jewels he suspected were hidden in the Collins family vault. Instead, he roused vampire Barnabas Collins.

Throughout the story arcs introducing Barnabas Collins and his subsequent abduction of Maggie Evans (not exactly “resolved” in episode 261) Loomis’s evolution from scummy cad to tragic victim and occasional reluctant hero is surprisingly compelling stuff. Day-in-day-out, John Karlen (who later played Harvey Lacey on Cagney & Lacey) vividly portrayed the guilt, fear, and compassion of Loomis, the grifter turned into Collins’ slave via several blood sucking sessions.

It is also notable how Curtis and his writers carefully doled out Barnabas Collins appearances in his early episodes, to build up the intrigue. Frankly, during his initial episodes, we see more of the portrait hanging in the Collins’ ancestral home that bears a remarkable resemblance to Barnabas (who introduces himself as a cousin from England), right down to the head of his cane. Indeed, it probably takes a dozen episodes before we even see his fangs.

Jonathan Frid really is terrific as Barnabas. He can be hard and ruthless, but he also projects Byronic angst of the undead you find in vintage Universal monster movies. Veteran thesp Joan Bennett personified grand dame-ness as Stoddard, the head of the Collins clan. Likewise, Dennis Patrick just personifies sleaze as the oily McGuire. You almost need a shower after he slides in and out of a scene. Alexandra Moltke (later Alexandra Isles, who would have a second career as a documentarian, notably directing Porraimos) grows on viewers as Victoria Winters, the former orphan schoolteacher, hired to tutor Stoddard’s nephew David.

Eventually, Barnabas kidnaps Evans, a popular local waitress, with the intention of brainwashing and vampirically “turning” her into his long-dead bride, Josette Collins. Frankly, Kathryn Leigh Scott’s overwrought performance is definitely soap opera stuff, in an unfortunate sense. However, Joel Crothers, David Ford, and the immediately recognizable Mitchell Ryan wear well on the audience, as her boyfriend Joe Haskell, her father Sam, and Devlin, their friend, who form the core of the search party. Episode 261 represents another end of an era for the show, because it marks the end of Ryan’s run on the show (Anthony George would take over the role in 262).

Master of Dark Shadows: The Dan Curtis Doc

Dan Curtis’s cult-favorite TV show, Kolchak: The Night Stalker has yet to get the credit it deserves as a forerunner to the X-Files. He gave us a true-believing investigative muckraker, who was constantly warning a skeptical and scornful world of supernatural dangers. Apparently, the late Curtis will have to wait a little longer for that overdue acknowledgement, because Kolchak is only mentioned in passing during a new documentary profile of the TV horror maestro. Instead, it is his two greatest hits, The Dark Shadows and Winds of War that dominate his career survey in David Gregory’s documentary Master of Dark Shadows, which releases today on DVD and VOD.

He started in sales, but Dan Curtis knew he could produce better programming than the syndicated packages he was peddling. The first production he sold was a golf show that nobody really remembers, but his biggest and unlikeliest success was the gothic horror daytime soap opera, Dark Shadows. Like most cult crossover hits, the ratings started out modest, but when Curtis fully embraced the horror elements, kids started flocking to the show. It really hit its stride when Jonathan Frid was cast as reluctant vampire Barnabas Collins.

Decades later, the show maintains a loyal following, having spawned two movie spin-offs, an early 1990s prime time TV remake, and Tim Burton’s lackluster feature film reboot. Books continue to be published and fans still flock to conventions. Yet, nobody would argue the high-point of Curtis’s career came when he produced and directed the blockbuster Emmy-winning mini-series The Winds of War. The subsequent War and Remembrance was also a major prestige production, but it did not match the lofty heights Winds reached.

It makes perfect sense that Dark Shadows would be the central focus of Gregory’s doc, with the Herman Wouk mini-series getting the most secondary attention. However, a lot of great horror television gets glossed over, such as the original Kolchak TV movies, the Jack Palance Dracula, and Trilogy of Terror, features the fetish doll that attacks Karen Black. Frankly, it is pretty problematic the great Richard Matheson (who wrote or co-wrote all the above fan favorites) is never mentioned.

Still, there is definitely some good material for Dark Shadows fans. Watching Gregory’s film will make viewers want to revisit Curtis’s signature show, which is a crucial test of its effectiveness. It is also nice to see Curtis get the recognition he deserves. Master is definitely intended for true blue fans, but any regular genre consumer will be entertained by the deep dive into Collinwood Mansion. Recommended for those who remember 1960s television nostalgically, Master of Dark Shadows releases today (4/16) on DVD and VOD.

Burtonized Dark Shadows

Fans of The Adams Family get psyched.  Tim Burton has revived your favorite franchise.  He is calling it Dark Shadows now, but the goofy vibe remains the same.  Die-hard devotees of the ostensive source material, Dan Curtis’s cult television show, might not be overwhelmed by the results though.  Burton and his regular repertory players certainly do their thing in the latest reboot of Dark Shadows (trailer here), openly widely today.

Barnabas Collins was the privileged son of an English fishing magnate, who built the coastal Maine town of Collinsport largely through his industry.  Despite his fascination with the occult, the arrogant Collins spurns the love of Angelique Bouchard, a domestic servant who also happens to be a powerful witch.  In retrospect, this was a mistake.  Seething in fury, Bouchard bewitches Collins and his true love, compelling her to throw herself from the impossibly Burtonesque cliffs and turning him into an undead vampire. 

Whipping the village rabble into a frenzy, Bouchard entraps Collins in a coffin, secretly burying him, so he can feel the anguish of his loss and unquenched thirst for all eternity.  Then one fateful 1972 night, workmen discover Collins’ burial site.  A spot of blood-letting and a liberal supply of fish-out-of-water gags soon follow.

It turns out the Collins family fortunes have suffered during the centuries Collins was away.  Of course, the prodigal patriarch sets about righting matters, through the help of his supernatural powers.  As per the rules of Tim Burton films, Sir Christopher Lee duly appears in a cameo as a salty dog sea captain falling victim to Collins’ mesmerism.  Yes, that is one Burton tradition well worth maintaining.

Granted, Shadows looks great.  Burton is clearly in his element when exploring spooky old houses and the 1970’s era wardrobe and soundtrack adds the right kind of kitsch.  If only the script had benefited from the same attention to detail lavished on the banister in Collingwood, the Collins family manor.  Instead, the story is really just a clothesline on which to hang Adams Family-style jokes, while Collins and Bouchard act like the Tracy and Hepburn from Hell.

As Collins, Johnny Depp basically does his shtick.  In spite of viewer resistance, he gets laughs (particularly with his old school swearing invoking all manner of hellfire invective), but this is very definitely a one-note performance.  At least Eva Green seems to get it.  She is gleefully wicked as Bouchard.  The fact that she looks like she was poured into her wardrobe does not hurt either.  Michelle Pfeiffer also looks great as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, the living head of the Collins household.  Still, aside from Depp and Green getting their supernatural groove on, the talented ensemble does not have much to do.

While the original cast members, including the recently deceased Jonathan Frid, briefly appear as party guests, the film’s truly inspired cameo features Alice Cooper as himself.  Bizarrely, Burton tries to offer olive branches to the traditional fan-base by shotgunning about a half dozen of the revelations from the original show into the final climax.  However, it would have worked much better had he sprinkled more of that plot throughout the film. 

To some degree, Bruno Delbonnel’s dark and stormy cinematography combined Burton’s typically eccentrically baroque sets and costumes help compensate for a thin screenplay and repetitive jokes.  Overall, it is just a mildly diverting summer confection filled with empty cinematic calories.  For Burton fans, it opens today (5/11) in theaters across the country, including the Chelsea Clearview here in New York.