6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.2 |
The story of vampire Barnabas Collins, the possible cure offered by Dr. Julia Hoffman, and his search for love amidst the horror.
Starring: Jonathan Frid, Grayson Hall, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Roger Davis (II), Nancy BarrettHorror | 100% |
Mystery | 15% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
German: Dolby Digital Mono
Italian: Dolby Digital Mono
Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono
BDInfo verified. These are all set-up options on the disc.
English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
One of my very earliest memories is of my maternal Grandmother coming out to spend several weeks with my family for
what must have been the Christmas holiday season. I don’t think I was even old enough to be going full time to school
yet; I could conceivably have been in half day preschool or even kindergarten, but I clearly remember being home in the
afternoons and Grandma insisting that any and all activity cease so that she could watch her “stories”, meaning the
plethora of daytime soap operas that used to fill the broadcast networks back in those days. One of those shows (I
want to say it was either The Edge of Night or The Secret Storm) had a storyline that dealt with a little
boy being kidnapped, something that I didn’t take much heed of until a few days later when my Mother and one of my
sisters brought me along to go Christmas shopping at a Sears store where not so coincidentally my father was the
manager. My Mom and
sister had to go back for something and told me to wait near the front of the store by the cafeteria, and as I stood
there, I suddenly felt a woman behind me who began stroking my head and then said, “Oh, Paul, you’re probably very
tired, aren’t you? Don’t worry, we’re going home soon.”
Suddenly the images of that soap opera were swimming before my four or five year old eyes and I was absolutely
convinced I was about to be kidnapped. I really didn’t know how to react, but I knew I was in “my Dad’s” store, that
most of the salespeople knew me by sight, and I could probably raise quite a ruckus if necessary. But on a very real
level, I was scared beyond belief and barely breathed, let alone moved. Just like that, the woman looked down and
said, “Oh! Good heavens, you’re not Paul,” as if I needed that tidbit of information, and then I heard her (I literally had
not moved an inch since the ordeal began, and wasn’t about to at that point) talk to someone behind me, “Oh, that
poor little boy, I thought he was Paul, he’s probably scared out of his mind.” You think? This little anecdote
from my long ago memory may seem like it's neither here nor there, but it at least points out the visceral impact seemingly
innocuous television story lines can have on kids. If a non-horror plot point like a kidnapping can create such an
imaginary scenario in a child's mind, what could an actual horror story line do, which brings up a salient question with
regard to Dark
Shadows, the long running Gothic soap opera that ran for years on ABC in the late sixties and early seventies. This
was a show that had a devoted younger fan base, and one has to wonder exactly what it was that drew kids and
teens to this often frightening but frankly pretty campy (at least to modern day eyes) outing. Whatever the sociological and/or psychological
reasons were for this
phenomenon, they’ve obviously not changed much through the years, as the current obsession with the
Twilight franchise makes absolutely clear. There’s just something about vampires, werewolves and other
boogie men (and women) that younger audiences find irresistible.
House of Dark Shadows is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Brothers with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is yet another catalog title many fans probably thought they'd never see in high definition, and the results are really quite surprisingly good, especially considering the less than blockbuster budget this film was afforded during its production. Colors are wonderfully saturated, including that "Hammer"-esque red blood that drips from various wounds and fangs throughout the film. Contrast is generally quite strong, though a lot of the darker segments (and there are many of them in the film) suffer from a lack of shadow detail and in a case or two outright crush. Fine detail is quite vivid in close-ups. The higher resolution of the Blu-ray really points out some of the pretty shoddy day for night photography, however— while things are shaded and dusky, there's very obvious bright blue sky in the background of several of these segments. On the other hand, Frid's old age makeup looks remarkably good and convincing.
House of Dark Shadows features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track that is fairly effective, though it's hobbled by an overly shallow sounding midrange and also has some synch problems from time to time that were probably inherent even in the theatrical exhibition. Fidelity is fine, though there is occasional minor distortion when things get overly noisy, as in some sequences featuring obviously looped screams.
House of Dark Shadows is about as close to a Hammer horror title as American films came during this era. It's undeniably campy a lot of the time, but it's also creepy and surprisingly moody as well. The fact that in its day it was played entirely without irony may strike some modern day cynics as unbelievable, and even "true believers" may wonder how someone who looks like Jonathan Frid became such a sex symbol. This Blu-ray offers unexpectedly vivid video but some occasionally problematic audio. Overall, though, if you're in the right mood for some silly scares, House of Dark Shadows comes Recommended.
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