When Jonathan Frid refused to play Barnabas in the sequel to HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS for fear of being typecast, Dan Curtis and his production team had to come up with another plotline without him. The result was NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS and this time the focus was on Quentin Collins (David Selby) and his hapless bride Tracy (Kate Jackson) and the plot centered around possession instead of vampires.
This entry into the DARK SHADOWS franchise was not as successful at the box office as its predecessor and I'll give you three tries to figure out why and the first two don't count -- duh! No Barnabas! Whether he liked it or not, he had been typecast way before these movies were filmed. Plus, it's a huge gamble to spend the money on making a feature film without your top star, but Curtis banked on the show's title and popularity, thinking it was enough.
What follows here are examples from MGM's press kit for the film, issued by their publicity department for the news media. You will notice that it was also referred to CURSE OF DARK SHADOWS, the title that was used before it was released on August 3, 1971. Some interesting stuff here, including a sheet about Lyndhurst the 110-year-old New York mansion that was rented for the Collinwood setting.
| These are the captions that coincide with the photos below. |
EXTRA! Here's a feature article on NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS from FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND #88 (January 1972). You can see that Forry put the press kit to good use.