Dark Shadows - Collection 1 (DVD, 2002, 4-Disc Set, Four Disc Boxed Set)

Willie Loomis! He's the one to blame for all the trouble that began this tale of woe. In the 1960s Willie is a typical punk always scheming to get something for nothing. He does some checking and comes to understand that the Collins family ancestors that are buried up at a remote location on Eagle hill may have been buried with their jewelry. Intent on robbing the grave of Naomi Collins, Willie accidentally trips an old hidden room cache and finds a coffin draped with chains and padlocks. To Willie, he believes this may hold treasure. Little did he realize that he would unleash the Collins family secret.
So begins the clever re-introduction of "cousin" Barnabas Collins to the remaining members of the "modern" family. Using Willie as his slave, now hopeless and sullen in the full realization that he has unleashed a monster upon the world, Willie despondently goes about following the Vampires orders. Barnabas adapts quickly and uses his old world charm to keep the ladies dazzled. Secretly he seeks to recapture the life he once knew and finds substitutes for his devotion to love and new enemies to destroy.
Eventually the storyline would return to 1795, the crucial year that began a series of disasters that led Barnabas's father Joshua Collins to chain him up in his coffin and place it in the secret room. This first set however, shows us the return of Barnabas to the modern world and setting himself up in the Old residence with Willie as his faithful servant. A great and interesting story line and series! The discs cover several episodes each and it is very atmospheric. The acting is fair and the plotting and pace are good for a daytime serial. These are in Black and White. Eventually the series was filmed in color and the 1795 timeset of later years is an absolute masterpiece of fiction. Well recommended.

When this series was pitched to the network, it was only suppose to be a gothic romance story. When they added a ghost to the show the rating shoot up. They realize that adding a supernatural element to the show hooked the audience. The character of Barnabus was only suppose to lived a few weeks and be killed. The rating jumped again so he become the main character of the show. This was the first vampire that felt guilt about the terrible things he did. Jonathon Frid was very nervous doing the filming. Somehow it worked to his advantage as the guilty vampire. He was a break throw character for the show.

Also if you watch the show you will see mistakes. They were almost live to the audience. They only had time for a couple takes and the film was edited. They did not have the luxary of reshooting several times like they do today. Today many soaps have a supernatural elements. They are even some vampires but this show was the break through that the other copied. To the best of my knowledges this is the soap from the same time frame that is still watched.

I remember when I was a kids. I would hurry into the door to see that last few minutes of the show every day after school. They are millions of us that did the same thing. You will also see many actors that late become will known after Dark Shadows. One disk usually has ten programs or two weeks on it. They is usually a good cliff hanger as the end.

One of the extra is you see the dates when the programs were aired. Also they have a short interview done years later about the show. They are a number of books about this show in publication. It really has a cult following. Is there another daytime soap with the fan loyalty to the same degree.

I have been a fan of Dark Shadows (the original series) for a long time, really love the show! So I was very excited when I was able to get the DVD Collection 1 of the series which presents the introduction of Barnabas Collins played so wonderfully by Jonathan Frid. It was at a good price on eBay for a brand new set of DVDs. It contains 40 episodes on 4 DVDs and includes special features like an interview with Frid about his time on the show. Overall, I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to others, especially fans of the show for whom it is a must have. Can't wait to get the next set to continue the collection!

Televison, live video tape, in its infancy. Wow how far have we come! I can remember watching this on tv in the 60's. True live stage (well almost) acting and its faults. Noisy stage crews to microphones in the way to stage hands walking across the sets, shaky sets, etc. Misproniunced words and tongue tied actors. True artform watching them "keep it together". Wouldnt want to miss any of it. The full color dvd guide and the different character postcards are great to look at. Bonus interviews are wonderful with the actors, director and producers memories included as trivia. Truley a slice of the past thrust into the present jsut as Barnabas himself.

I am a Dark Shadows freak and to have the series out on DVD now is fantastic. My VHS tapes were taking up way too much room in my apartment and this is a fantastic way to have the whole series in a compact space. I do miss the original cover art of the tapes, but at least I don't have to run into shelves of almost 300 videos every time I turn around.