Cast: Jonathan Frid, Grayson Hall, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Roger Davis, Nancy Barrett, David Selby, John Karlen
Director: Dan Curtis
Studio: Warner Bros.
MPAA Rating: PG
Running Time: 97 / 95 minutes
House of Dark Shadows: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Night of Dark Shadows: 3 out of 5 stars
Extras: 1/2 out of 5 stars
“Dark Shadows” is the longest running horror soap opera, actually I think it is also the only. I never saw this show on TV but I have watch many many episodes courtesy of Netflix Instant over the years. The original series had actually ran for over 1200 episodes. With Tim Burton/Johnny Depp’s recent reboot recently released on Blu-ray, it is prime-time to finally release these movies for the first time ever on DVD, let alone Blu-ray. These films are definitely a bit campy, but they also have a few decent creepy moments. “House of Dark Shadows” features Jonathan Frid in the lead as Barnabas Collins and is my favorite of the two. “Night of Dark Shadows” was originally supposed to bring back Barnabas, but the show ended before the film started production and Jonathan Frid had moved on. It is still a decent installment to the series.
Warner Brothers delivers the good with both of these 1080p transfer presented in 1.78:1 aspect ratio. They also look good since these were just low-budget movies and weren’t large productions at the time. They are still catalog release quality but are much more impressive that I would have expected. Both films also have DTS-HD Master Audio Mono audio tracks, which work well for each. It setups up the mood and works well with the dialogue. If you are a fan of the “Dark Shadows” series, I would definitely recommend picking up these reasonably priced Blu-rays. They are a nice upgrade since the films were only previously available on VHS and Laserdisc. So if you are looking for a flashback to the 70’s to meet up with the Collins again, then this is a no-brainer.
Official Premises: “House of Dark Shadows”: Rejoice, night creatures! Collinwood’s affected Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) hopes a series of serum injections will make him normal. Alas, nothing can be normal at eerie Collinwood! “Night of Dark Shadows”: One bite is never enough! New blood comes home in Night of Dark Shadows, as Quentin Collins (David Selby) arrives with his bride (Kate Jackson).
House of Dark Shadows + Night of Dark Shadows both available on October 30th! http://bit.ly/QYt7ht
Like us on Facebook – http://on.fb.me/WBEntFB
Follow us on Twitter – http://bit.ly/WBHETW
.
