Night of Dark Shadows

Night of Dark Shadows was Dan Curtis' follow-up to the immensely popular movie from the hit soap opera Dark Shadows. This movie reinforces many known facts about sequels. Sequels always have much to overcome. They are invariably compared to the original. If the movie is a carbon copy of the first, it's criticized for being un-original. If it takes a different road, the public laments that it's not what they wanted. Dan Curtis deserves much never received praise for taking an entirely different road to Collinwood this time and risking the public's ire. At the time of it's release, Night of Dark Shadows received undeserved criticism for being slow and disjointed. The probable reason for this was that Dan Curtis was forced to edit Night down to a double-feature friendly running time, so much of it's plot and character explanations landed - guess where - on the cutting room floor. However, if one really watches this film closely, they will be richly rewarded with a delightfully moody and atmospheric haunted house/possession/witchcraft flick that will send chills where they should go during a horror flick. David Selby is stoic and forboding as Quentin and Charles Collins, and Kate Jackson is the embodiment of purity and goodness as Tracy. Grayson Hall plays Carlotta with sheer relish. She's the kind of housekeeper that motivates one to become a better housekeeper, so that we can one day fire her. Lara Parker will make you forget to inhale or exhale as Angelique. Her beauty is indescribable, as is her ability for evil. John Karlen returns as Quentin's best friend Alex, and Nancy Barrett is approachable yet truly seductive as Alex's wife Claire. They are simply a joy to watch together. Once again, the elegant Lyndhurst mansion is the perfect home for the Collins family, this time a haunted one. If you haven't seen Night of Dark Shadows yet, give it a try. If you have and weren't impressed the first time, give it another chance. It deserves that much - and you'll be glad you did.

Late actress Grayson Hall was Oscar™ nominated for her role as Judith Fellowes in John Huston's 1964 film `Night of the Iguana'. But Hall's BEST career performance might well be found in a different 'Night of...' film. We won't know for sure unless/until the current owners of 'Night of Dark Shadows' -- the Turner/Time Warner entertainment conglomerate -- get on board for a fan-requested restoration of the film.

This story begins with the 1970 theatrical release of 'House of Dark Shadows', the first theatrical film based on a TV soap opera, 'Dark Shadows'. Giddy about the unprecedented ability of a TV soap opera to sell movie tickets, MGM executives approved a second DS film. Originally titled 'Curse of Dark Shadows', the film (directed by Dan Curtis) also starred David Selby, Lara Parker, and Kate Jackson, the three actors destined to enjoy the most post-DS mainstream success.

The 93-minute film released to theatres in 1971 as 'Night of Dark Shadows' (or NODS, in fan jargon) was roundly dismissed by critics and audiences alike. Contemporary viewers deemed the film disjointed and difficult to follow: events lacked proper motivation, characters appeared and disappeared without sufficient explanation, and there was no build-up of suspense as the film raced toward its denouement.

In a 1996 cover story he wrote for 'Video Watchdog' magazine, film historian and restorationist Darren Gross explained that a drastic, eleventh-hour editing job forced on Curtis by MGM essentially crippled the film. By all accounts, the hacking-up of NODS was more extreme and bloody than any of the make-believe violence perpetrated by the vampires, werewolves and ghosts that populated the supernatural TV series and films.

In 1999, following a long and frustrating search, Gross located an unexpurgated 129-minute cut of NODS in a studio vault housed in a Kansas City salt mine.

Gross reported that the narrative and thematic focus of the uncut NODS is completely different than that of the 93-minute release version. In 2000, Gross told readers of the 'Louisville Eccentric Observer' ('LEO') that a disturbingly Gothic mood is sustained throughout the entire runtime of the 129-minute NODS, and the emotional and sexual chemistry between the Selby and Jackson characters is brilliantly conveyed in scenes that are completely absent from the shorter version.

Some major hurdles remain to the planned restoration and DVD release of NODS, not the least of which is convincing the film's owners that the never-before-seen 129-minute version has significant commercial viability.

The following facts should help settle that argument: 1) The 1966-71 ABC series 'Dark Shadows' now boasts several generations of fans across the globe, and their interest and dedication have kept the show in syndicated reruns since shortly after its network cancellation; prior to the advent of a cable channel programmed almost exclusively with soap reruns, it was the only soap to receive such treatment; 2) NODS features Oscar™ nominee Grayson Hall, which lends the film importance from the perspective of cinema history; and, 3) the release version of NODS made no real sense, while the restored version does.

I invite and encourage all would-be fans of the uncut NODS to join me in voicing support for this worthwhile restoration and release project.

Quentin Collins (David Selby) and his wife Tracy (Kate Jackson) take over the ancestral Collinwood Mansion in Collinsport, Maine. He starts being haunted by nightmares of the persecution of his ancestor Charles Collins with his mistress Angelique. Their friends Alex and Claire move into the guest cottage. Carlotta Drake is the brooding housekeeper.

I don't know much about the Dark Shadows series other than that it exists. This is a sequel to the movie based on the TV series. As such, I don't bring along any baggage but also I don't bring along any knowledge. As a stand alone movie, it suffers from too many dream sequences. They don't connect since I don't know who the old characters are. It's too slow and too static. Mostly, I'm intrigue about Kate Jackson who started her career on the TV show. I would have liked more danger and more tension for her. The obvious move is for Quentin to go insane and start hunting Tracy like The Shining. It goes there but it does it weakly. She should be alone against everyone and it should go all the way to the end. Alex and Claire diffuses the tension by helping Tracy. For some reason, there is a car chase in this and it's not shot terribly well. This is not a good horror.

I think all the fans agree on one thing about this movie: it's the deleted scenes and the horrible editing job that prevent this movie from being the great ghost story it should be. But for me, having seen it just once on television, it could also do something about the extrenuous extra characters in the movie with vague connections to the ghost. The best ghost story only really needs the people who see the ghost and the ghost itself/herself. All the extra roles, the handyman, the psycho maid, the neighbors just barely provide the Collins some breathing room from the ghosts. Lara Parker does a very good job playing etherial and ephemeral as she portrays the ghost lurking just out of your mind's eye. David Selby and Kate Jackson have a wonderful chemistry, but the hestiant romance as well as the unnecessary flashbacks also do much to impair the flow of the story. John Karlen and Nancy Barrett, two of my faves from the series (John has a wonderful voice for mimmickry and Nancy's beauty has no bounds), seem to be only present to remind the watcher that this movie is based on a television series. Grayson Hall, much like Bette Davis, does a wonderful job playing a sinister and unpredictable old bat of a housekeeper. As a whole, the film is rather fair, but what it lacks in the style of a ghost movie such as The Legend Of Hell House, it more than makes up in atmosphere.

In 1975 I was a freelance writer in New York. During that year I was honored to interview stage and screen actress and one of the stars from Dark Shadows, Grayson Hall. It was during this interview that I learned why NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS was such a bad film.

The late Ms. Hall related a story which told of how MGM called her husband, "Dark Shadows writer" Sam Hall and told him that he would have to fly out to California and edit out nearly 30 min. from his latest film. After his sad task was done he returned home and shortly thereafter the film was released. It was not up to the standards the the series nor MGM's hit from just the year before "House of Dark Shadows" had. The idea was excellent. Dialog well written, stylishly photographed and wonderful performances from the cast. The problem was the fact that the feature made little sense. It plotted along for 90 min's filled with questions and vagueness.

However, the good news is that most of the edited footage has been found and is now in the process of being re-edited. Night of Dark Shadows, through the popularity of the series, is in a sense going to be re-born. Sam Hall's work shall now be seen as it was created. Perhaps then we will be able to appreciate this classic haunted house story, the way it should be, without studio butchering.