Dark Shadows DVD Collection 4
|
List Price: $59.98
Our Price: $41.89
Your Save: $ 18.09 ( 30% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Mpi Home Video
Starring: Jonathan Frid, Grayson Hall, Nancy Barrett, Joan Bennett, Alexandra Isles
|
Average Customer Rating:  
|
|
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780788604522
Format: Box set
ISBN: 078860452X
Label: Mpi Home Video
Number Of Items: 4
Publisher: Mpi Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2003-02-25
Running Time: 900
Studio: Mpi Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: 1966-06-27
|
|
|
|
|
|
Spotlight customer reviews:
|
Customer Rating:
Summary: Dark Shadows still a good watch
Comment: It's hard to believe a 40 year soap about a vampire can hold up as well as Dark Shadows does. It is still watchable and suspenseful despite its flaws. The dialogue is far more sophisticated than that of today. While I saw many of these shows on the original broadcast, it fun to watch them as an adult.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Best Vampire Series Ever!!
Comment: For anyone hoping to recapture a glimpse of the 60's-70's daytime hit drama, Dark Shadows, look no further than this magnificent DVD Collection. Each Disc takes you back in time and one is transported into television history. With each new episode, one is reacquainted with characters whose individual "oddities" will draw you in as they seem more alive than when the series first aired. If anything, the show is better than one might remember complete with outlandish plots that are littered with twists and turns to keep you glued to the TV--and ready to purchase the next volume. Never before, and probably never again, will there be such a tremendous vampire drama, one that from the start the Producers of the series ear-marked to fail.
Thankfully this amazing DVD Collection is available to those of us who loved it the first time around as well as to pass on this legendary experience to a whole new generation.
Do yourself a favor, buy it and see for yourself!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: TRAVEL BACK TO 1795. . .
Comment: Collection 4 offers more twists and turns to the viewer. Barnabas' secret is threatened by David Collins'suspicion. Dr. Julia Hoffman gets more tangled up as she tries to help Barnabas. The best part of this collection is when Victoria Winters accidentally goes back in time to the year 1795 during a seance to contact Sarah. The viewer is also transported back in time along with Ms. Winters. It's so interesting to see the characters in 1795 come alive after hearing about them from their descendants in the present time. The interviews must also be noted. I especially enjoyed listening to the talented make up artist Dick Smith and to Lara Parker, the actress who effectively played the witch Anjelique.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Another solid set of episodes, this time spanning the centuries
Comment: Dark Shadows Collection 4 delivers forty more episodes of involving, effective gothic melodrama, made more potent by the inclusion of a couple of especially dramatic developments: Barnabas moving beyond his frequent empty threats of violence and actually killing someone to keep the truth of his existence a secret, and, later in the set, a sudden and unexpected trip to the past to show us the origin of the undead Barnabas. All great stuff.
But first, a playful, minor quibble. It's actually kind of cheesy that when we shift to the past, members of the 18th century Collins family are played by the same actors who perform in the present-day storylines. In actuality, only Jonathan Frid as Barnabas should have appeared in both time frames, due to the fact that he's playing the same (ultimately immortal) character in both storylines! But I guess budget limitations prevented the use of a fresh batch of actors for the earlier sequences. At least Victoria Winters, after she goes back in time, DOES think it is curious that everyone looks the same as their 20th century descendents, but then no further explanation is given as to why they look the same. Oh, well.
In any event, viewers quickly get caught up in the colonial-era proceedings as we meet a much more innocent and likable Barnabas and the love of his life, Josette. We also see the memorable introduction of Angelique, a servant of Josette's who Barnabas briefly had a dalliance with in the past but who isn't interested in just quietly stepping aside now that he's involved with the much more "proper" Josette. So, we learn that the pre-vampiric Barnabas wasn't COMPLETELY innocent, as we actually feel a little bad for the jilted Angelique, even though she turns out to be truly diabolical in her revenge.
The lion's share of episodes in this batch takes place in the present (well, the 1960's "present", but you know what I mean), with a small handful of episodes toward the end of the set shifting to the earlier era story, which will play out through all the discs of Collection 5 and a bit beyond.
Like the earlier sets, each disc in this collection concludes with an engaging interview, usually about 3-to-5 minutes in length, with a member of the cast or behind-the-scenes person.
I remained thoroughly involved in this offbeat series and look forward to soon reporting on Collection 5!
Customer Rating:
Summary: The "Origin of Barnabas" story begins -- after several other significant developments
Comment: DARK SHADOWS is the only daytime soap opera in TV GUIDE's "25 Top Cult Shows Ever." (1) DS made it into that list because of the 175-year-old vampire Barnabas Collins, played by Shakespearean actor Jonathan Frid, introduced a year into DS to save it from cancellation.
The first fifteen episodes in this set eliminate all traces of DS's original plan -- abandoned partly to satisfy the viewers -- to destroy Barnabas. For me, the most effective part of this segment is the murder of Dr. Woodard, in which DS's modern-day, female Van Helsing, Julia Hoffman, is forced to assist. This puts Dr. Hoffman in the position Barnabas has been in since he became a vampire -- that of needing to suppress one's conscience in order to do what's necessary to survive.
In contrast, I'm unimpressed by Burke Devlin's offscreen demise. I question whether a vampire could cause a plane crash -- a warlock, yes, but a vampire? -- and I feel Burke's an important enough character to deserve a nice shocking onscreen death. To be fair, though, Burke was significant in the pre-Barnabas episodes, which many viewers probably hadn't seen.
I'm ambivalent about Barnabas's discrediting of young David Collins. I'm glad Barnabas decides against killing David, and I feel David's growing horror, desperation, and frustration is effective. But I have trouble believing Barnabas could make his coffin disappear and sabotage the door to the secret room, especially on such short notice. Furthermore, the deliberate avoidance of the word "vampire" seems contrived in episode #335. I agree overall that avoiding the word adds verisimilitude and prevents campiness. However, I feel it would have come up in David's session with Dr. Fisher.
Dr. Hoffman's unrequited love for Barnabas -- the other reason for keeping Barnabas alive (2) -- descends into jealousy as she attempts to undermine his relationship with Victoria Winters. And IMHO her using the EXACT same ploy to hypnotize Victoria THREE TIMES IN A ROW verges on unintentional silliness. What saves it is the acting. Everyone on DS takes it very seriously and plays it with depth and sincerity.
However, we can't blame Dr. Hoffman for what goes wrong with her attempt to cure Barnabas medically. It's because Barnabas insists on accelerating the pace that the treatments backfire, causing him to age. Dick Smith's old-age makeup is quite convincing, especially when combined with Jonathan Frid's acting. I agree with those who say the television version is more believable than the HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS version. The bonus interview with Dick Smith includes a fully illustrated presentation on how the makeup was done.
Another significant event is the long-awaited confrontation of Barnabas by the ghost of his little sister, Sarah. We have learned that Barnabas's love for Sarah is one of the few positive emotions competing with his bitterness over his fate. Barnabas knows that Sarah has appeared to others and has implored her to appear to him. But he dreads her appearance, because he's certain she's angry with him for his evil behavior. He is quite correct, and in fact, Sarah only appears to him to stop him from killing Dr. Hoffman. Sarah tells Barnabas that she'll never appear to him again until and unless he learns to stop being evil.
Alas, although child actress Sharon Smyth does a good job of LOOKING angry, she fails, on the whole, to pull it off. Her performance is just too flat and wooden for this extremely emotional and significant moment. Fortunately, Jonathan Frid and Grayson Hall's performances menage to sell the scene after the fact.
The question of whether Barnabas reforms is almost immediately put on hold because of what may be the most significant milestone in the series -- the "Origin of Barnabas" story. DS fans had kept Barnabas alive, but now they wanted the whole story of Barnabas's past. To comply, DS sends Victoria Winters, via a seance, back to 1795. Once there, we see the story of the entire Collins family of that time -- focusing on the human Barnabas and the events that led to his present-day condition.
A promo for the 1795 sequence is included, but placed between episodes 336 and 337 -- way ahead of where it belongs, given that it promises the sequence to begin "this Friday."
As the 1795 story unfolds, continuing through set 7, you'll see it's inconsistent with the accounts we've gotten from the present-day Barnabas, particularly in episode 345. I'm told this is because Anthony George left the show, forcing a reworking of the storyline.
This trip back in time seems a risky move because it breaks, to some extent, one of the cardinal rules of soap operas -- thou shalt not disorient viewers who miss episodes. If you missed 365, wherein occurs the seance that sends Vicki back to 1795, you're never going to completely understand how everything "went down," despite the verbal account that opens every 1795 episode.
And now, we meet Angelique, the witch who will be Barnabas's most significant adversary during the remainder of DS. We also learn that Barnabas isn't a completely innocent victim. In episodes 368 and 369, we learn Barnabas had an affair with Angelique, who is the maid of the woman he's now going to marry, Josette. The most charitable view is that Barnabas acted in a moment of weakness and wants to be let off the hook. If you're not feeling so generous, you might say that Barnabas decided the hot little servant was fine to have a fling with, but only her high-class mistress was worthy of a serious commitment. Either way, Angelique's anger is understandable --
-- although it certainly doesn't justify the pain and destruction Angelique will bring to the Collins family in general and Barnabas in particular. To find out more, you'll have to watch set #5.
(1) May 30-June 5, 2004 issue.
(2) In Sam Hall's interview, he says that Grayson Hall liked the unrequited love angle.
|
|
|
Editorial Reviews:
|
Customer Rating:
Summary: Dark Shadows still a good watch
Comment: It's hard to believe a 40 year soap about a vampire can hold up as well as Dark Shadows does. It is still watchable and suspenseful despite its flaws. The dialogue is far more sophisticated than that of today. While I saw many of these shows on the original broadcast, it fun to watch them as an adult.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Best Vampire Series Ever!!
Comment: For anyone hoping to recapture a glimpse of the 60's-70's daytime hit drama, Dark Shadows, look no further than this magnificent DVD Collection. Each Disc takes you back in time and one is transported into television history. With each new episode, one is reacquainted with characters whose individual "oddities" will draw you in as they seem more alive than when the series first aired. If anything, the show is better than one might remember complete with outlandish plots that are littered with twists and turns to keep you glued to the TV--and ready to purchase the next volume. Never before, and probably never again, will there be such a tremendous vampire drama, one that from the start the Producers of the series ear-marked to fail.
Thankfully this amazing DVD Collection is available to those of us who loved it the first time around as well as to pass on this legendary experience to a whole new generation.
Do yourself a favor, buy it and see for yourself!
Customer Rating:
Summary: TRAVEL BACK TO 1795. . .
Comment: Collection 4 offers more twists and turns to the viewer. Barnabas' secret is threatened by David Collins'suspicion. Dr. Julia Hoffman gets more tangled up as she tries to help Barnabas. The best part of this collection is when Victoria Winters accidentally goes back in time to the year 1795 during a seance to contact Sarah. The viewer is also transported back in time along with Ms. Winters. It's so interesting to see the characters in 1795 come alive after hearing about them from their descendants in the present time. The interviews must also be noted. I especially enjoyed listening to the talented make up artist Dick Smith and to Lara Parker, the actress who effectively played the witch Anjelique.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Another solid set of episodes, this time spanning the centuries
Comment: Dark Shadows Collection 4 delivers forty more episodes of involving, effective gothic melodrama, made more potent by the inclusion of a couple of especially dramatic developments: Barnabas moving beyond his frequent empty threats of violence and actually killing someone to keep the truth of his existence a secret, and, later in the set, a sudden and unexpected trip to the past to show us the origin of the undead Barnabas. All great stuff.
But first, a playful, minor quibble. It's actually kind of cheesy that when we shift to the past, members of the 18th century Collins family are played by the same actors who perform in the present-day storylines. In actuality, only Jonathan Frid as Barnabas should have appeared in both time frames, due to the fact that he's playing the same (ultimately immortal) character in both storylines! But I guess budget limitations prevented the use of a fresh batch of actors for the earlier sequences. At least Victoria Winters, after she goes back in time, DOES think it is curious that everyone looks the same as their 20th century descendents, but then no further explanation is given as to why they look the same. Oh, well.
In any event, viewers quickly get caught up in the colonial-era proceedings as we meet a much more innocent and likable Barnabas and the love of his life, Josette. We also see the memorable introduction of Angelique, a servant of Josette's who Barnabas briefly had a dalliance with in the past but who isn't interested in just quietly stepping aside now that he's involved with the much more "proper" Josette. So, we learn that the pre-vampiric Barnabas wasn't COMPLETELY innocent, as we actually feel a little bad for the jilted Angelique, even though she turns out to be truly diabolical in her revenge.
The lion's share of episodes in this batch takes place in the present (well, the 1960's "present", but you know what I mean), with a small handful of episodes toward the end of the set shifting to the earlier era story, which will play out through all the discs of Collection 5 and a bit beyond.
Like the earlier sets, each disc in this collection concludes with an engaging interview, usually about 3-to-5 minutes in length, with a member of the cast or behind-the-scenes person.
I remained thoroughly involved in this offbeat series and look forward to soon reporting on Collection 5!
Customer Rating:
Summary: The "Origin of Barnabas" story begins -- after several other significant developments
Comment: DARK SHADOWS is the only daytime soap opera in TV GUIDE's "25 Top Cult Shows Ever." (1) DS made it into that list because of the 175-year-old vampire Barnabas Collins, played by Shakespearean actor Jonathan Frid, introduced a year into DS to save it from cancellation.
The first fifteen episodes in this set eliminate all traces of DS's original plan -- abandoned partly to satisfy the viewers -- to destroy Barnabas. For me, the most effective part of this segment is the murder of Dr. Woodard, in which DS's modern-day, female Van Helsing, Julia Hoffman, is forced to assist. This puts Dr. Hoffman in the position Barnabas has been in since he became a vampire -- that of needing to suppress one's conscience in order to do what's necessary to survive.
In contrast, I'm unimpressed by Burke Devlin's offscreen demise. I question whether a vampire could cause a plane crash -- a warlock, yes, but a vampire? -- and I feel Burke's an important enough character to deserve a nice shocking onscreen death. To be fair, though, Burke was significant in the pre-Barnabas episodes, which many viewers probably hadn't seen.
I'm ambivalent about Barnabas's discrediting of young David Collins. I'm glad Barnabas decides against killing David, and I feel David's growing horror, desperation, and frustration is effective. But I have trouble believing Barnabas could make his coffin disappear and sabotage the door to the secret room, especially on such short notice. Furthermore, the deliberate avoidance of the word "vampire" seems contrived in episode #335. I agree overall that avoiding the word adds verisimilitude and prevents campiness. However, I feel it would have come up in David's session with Dr. Fisher.
Dr. Hoffman's unrequited love for Barnabas -- the other reason for keeping Barnabas alive (2) -- descends into jealousy as she attempts to undermine his relationship with Victoria Winters. And IMHO her using the EXACT same ploy to hypnotize Victoria THREE TIMES IN A ROW verges on unintentional silliness. What saves it is the acting. Everyone on DS takes it very seriously and plays it with depth and sincerity.
However, we can't blame Dr. Hoffman for what goes wrong with her attempt to cure Barnabas medically. It's because Barnabas insists on accelerating the pace that the treatments backfire, causing him to age. Dick Smith's old-age makeup is quite convincing, especially when combined with Jonathan Frid's acting. I agree with those who say the television version is more believable than the HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS version. The bonus interview with Dick Smith includes a fully illustrated presentation on how the makeup was done.
Another significant event is the long-awaited confrontation of Barnabas by the ghost of his little sister, Sarah. We have learned that Barnabas's love for Sarah is one of the few positive emotions competing with his bitterness over his fate. Barnabas knows that Sarah has appeared to others and has implored her to appear to him. But he dreads her appearance, because he's certain she's angry with him for his evil behavior. He is quite correct, and in fact, Sarah only appears to him to stop him from killing Dr. Hoffman. Sarah tells Barnabas that she'll never appear to him again until and unless he learns to stop being evil.
Alas, although child actress Sharon Smyth does a good job of LOOKING angry, she fails, on the whole, to pull it off. Her performance is just too flat and wooden for this extremely emotional and significant moment. Fortunately, Jonathan Frid and Grayson Hall's performances menage to sell the scene after the fact.
The question of whether Barnabas reforms is almost immediately put on hold because of what may be the most significant milestone in the series -- the "Origin of Barnabas" story. DS fans had kept Barnabas alive, but now they wanted the whole story of Barnabas's past. To comply, DS sends Victoria Winters, via a seance, back to 1795. Once there, we see the story of the entire Collins family of that time -- focusing on the human Barnabas and the events that led to his present-day condition.
A promo for the 1795 sequence is included, but placed between episodes 336 and 337 -- way ahead of where it belongs, given that it promises the sequence to begin "this Friday."
As the 1795 story unfolds, continuing through set 7, you'll see it's inconsistent with the accounts we've gotten from the present-day Barnabas, particularly in episode 345. I'm told this is because Anthony George left the show, forcing a reworking of the storyline.
This trip back in time seems a risky move because it breaks, to some extent, one of the cardinal rules of soap operas -- thou shalt not disorient viewers who miss episodes. If you missed 365, wherein occurs the seance that sends Vicki back to 1795, you're never going to completely understand how everything "went down," despite the verbal account that opens every 1795 episode.
And now, we meet Angelique, the witch who will be Barnabas's most significant adversary during the remainder of DS. We also learn that Barnabas isn't a completely innocent victim. In episodes 368 and 369, we learn Barnabas had an affair with Angelique, who is the maid of the woman he's now going to marry, Josette. The most charitable view is that Barnabas acted in a moment of weakness and wants to be let off the hook. If you're not feeling so generous, you might say that Barnabas decided the hot little servant was fine to have a fling with, but only her high-class mistress was worthy of a serious commitment. Either way, Angelique's anger is understandable --
-- although it certainly doesn't justify the pain and destruction Angelique will bring to the Collins family in general and Barnabas in particular. To find out more, you'll have to watch set #5.
(1) May 30-June 5, 2004 issue.
(2) In Sam Hall's interview, he says that Grayson Hall liked the unrequited love angle.
With its alluring tales of Gothic mystery and supernatural intrigue, Dark Shadows became one of the most popular daytime series of all time. Since first airing on ABC-TV from 1966-71, Dark Shadows has earned the reputation as being one of the most unusual and enduring programs in television history. The character of Barnabas Collins, a guilt-ridden 175 year-old vampire, brought the show tremendous success. Barnabas' secret is threatened by David Collins' curiosity. Anxious to become human again, Barnabas orders Dr. Julia Hoffman to accelerate her treatments to cure him, but the experiment backfires, causing Barnabas to age rapidly and assume the appearance of a 200-year-old man. During a seance at Collinwood to contact the spirit of Barnabas' young sister Sarah, Victoria Winters mysteriously disappears and finds that she has traveled back in time to the year 1795. Bonuses: Exclusive interviews with series producer Robert Costello, writer Sam Hall, special make-up artist Dick Smith and actress Lara Parker. Starring: Joan Bennett, Jonathan Frid, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Louis Edmonds, Nancy Barrett, David Henesy, Clarice Blackburn, Anthony George, Grayson Hall, Joel Crothers, David Ford, Robert Gerringer, Jerry Lacy, Lara Parker, Sharon Smyth, Peter Turgeon, Vince O' Brien, Angus Cairns, Peter Murphy, William Shust, Dorrie Kavanaugh and Alexandra Moltke
|
|
|
- Ask about this healthcare product "Dark Shadows DVD Collection 4" in the forum
- Give review on this healthcare product "Dark Shadows DVD Collection 4" in the forum
- Search related information in the forum
|
|
|
|
|
|
