Dark Shadows: DVD Collections 1 & 2
October 2002 Reviewed by: Rad Benett Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

The first episode of Dark Shadows aired June 27, 1966. It was the first daily gothic soap opera on American television. Its ratings were initially dismal, perking up slightly when ghosts began to appear. But it was not until the appearance of Barnabas Collins, vampire, on April 17, 1967, that the show really took off. Then it not only became popular, it became a culture phenomenon. The show gained 20 million worldwide fans, gave birth to two feature films, and spawned dozens of commercial products, including paperback novels, comic books, board games, and models. Its audience consisted in large part of teenagers. Aware of this, ABC-TV changed the time of the show to a later position, so kids could watch it after school. The stars, especially vampire icon Jonathan Frid, were immensely popular, rapidly becoming teen idols.

The initial episodes were set at Collinwood, an estate owned by the mysterious Collins family in Collinsport, Maine. The action began with Victoria Winters, a young woman with a dubious past, traveling to Collinsport to work for the Collins family. At the beginning of each episode, one would hear Victoria droning, "My name is Victoria Winters . . . " followed by some homily about evil men or other such dark doings. After Barnabas Collins appeared and the show really gathered momentum, it was put through several time shifts, the actors in the present being required to play ancestors in the past as well. These time travel episodes, engaging at first, became the show’s undoing, since no one could keep track of who was who and when was when! The last episode of Dark Shadows aired April 2, 1971.

The show had recruited some fine actors, both from the world of Hollywood and the pool of New York-based up-and-coming stars. Its scripts and music were excellent. The sets were another story, for often a tombstone in a Collinwood graveyard would fall over, or the closing of a door would cause a wall to shake, but these on-the-cheap effects only seemed to endear the show to fans appreciating its camp appeal. It was shot at a breakneck pace. Being a daily, there was little time for intricate rehearsal. Actors fluffed lines and recovered. Again a plus, increasing a feeling of spontaneity that made the show seem fresh and, pardon the expression in this case, alive.

MPI brought the series to DVD earlier this year by releasing Dark Shadows: DVD Collection 1, a four-disc set containing 40 episodes. It begins with No. 210, the segment in which Barnabas Collins comes to Collinwood and goes through 250 in which Maggie prepares to stake the suave vampire in his coffin. Collection 2, just released, begins at that point and continues through 39 additional episodes, ending at No. 290. And yes, before you ask, MPI has assured me that the company plans to do all 1225 shows eventually! At the current 40 a box, this will take, gasp, 30-and-a-half boxes! A staggering project, just as unprecedented as the original show was in its day.

How does it hold up? Amazingly well. Don’t let the low ratings fool you. It is hard to rate a preserved classic that has been resurrected using the best material available. Dark Shadows comes from an era in which few shows were preserved in first-rate film technology. Not surprisingly, the video quality is extremely variable. Some scenes look like film, crisp and well contrasted. Others look like videotape, a little fuzzy, grainy, and bland. Most is black and white, but occasionally a colorized scene crops up. Presumably, the inconsistencies happen because of a lack of consistently accurate source material. The sound is medium-low-fi, and does well by the dialogue, yet only hints at the ultimate effect of the spooky music. Each set includes more recent, color interviews with various stars, and these are superbly shot. The first volume contains a chapter that catches one up on the first 209 episodes, a welcome touch. And each box contains a collector’s card featuring a Dark Shadows character.

One word of warning: This show works best when viewed an episode each day, rather than viewing too many in a row. The show was constructed, as any soap opera, with one major event per day and a lot of tie-in from the day before. Seen back-to-back, they can seem boring and overly long. Fans will embrace this project. Those unfamiliar with the show are urged to rent it and see what the excitement was about. This is, after all, one of the major shows that paved the way for Buffy!

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