Lost Footage Hurts the Otherwise Pleasant Night of Dark Shadows
By
Kristin Battestella
This
1971 second film follow up to Dan Curtis’s 66-71 gothic soap opera Dark Shadows mixed the series’ later day
storylines for the big screen with plenty of mood and gothic panache.
Unscrupulous studio enforced editing, however, leaves confusion and a lack of
polish to hamper Night of Dark Shadows.
Artist
Quentin Collins (David Selby) and his new wife Tracy (Kate Jackson) arrive at
his family estate Collinwood, where soon Quentin begins having dreams and
visions of his ancestor Charles Collins. Charles was having an affair with his
brother Gabriel’s (Christopher Pennock) wife Angelique (Lara Parker), who was
tried as a witch about 150 years before Quentin’s time. Housekeeper Carlotta (Grayson
Hall) and handyman Gerard Stiles (James Storm) know more about this history than
they are saying, but neighbors Alex (John Karlen) and Claire (Nancy Barrett) Jenkins
don’t know how to help as Quentin grows more and more obsessed with the past.
Is he reliving the previous scandals as a reincarnation of his ancestor? Will
the same murders and executions repeat themselves, or can this haunting and
possession be defeated?
Less
jammed pack than their predecessors in House
of Dark Shadows, the later, secondary cast from the series does a fine job
playing some familiar but mostly new roles here. Without the expected Collins-Stoddards,
vampires, or Barnabas players and plots, Night
of Dark Shadows director Dan Curtis and writer Sam Hall bring forth some of
the often unseen storylines from the show’s final years. While this absence may
be off putting to some Dark Shadows fans,
it’s nice for new viewers to see that there was more to the show beyond
Barnabas. Fun Rebecca references, and
a pleasant, normal couple in a haunted house feeling also make Night of Dark Shadows a fine bridge to
and from the series for fans of traditional seventies horror. The filmmaking is
a little dark, but that fits this mood and the askew, cramped camera style. These
production values may look old and low budget now, but the design is a step up
from the infamous Dark Shadows sets
falling over, same day tape mistakes, and small television style. The crazy
period flashbacks and dreams may seem out of place, but this dreary, macabre bend
matches the show, and well done car chases and a few scary intense sequences
keep Night of Dark Shadows brooding
as she goes and make for an entertaining finish. While the repetitive, drawn
out soap style simply would not work for the cinema, Night of Dark Shadows is well paced – if Dark Shadows had to retire the Barnabas storyline and move on, this
was the right, fresh step in a nice little ghost story direction.
But
hold your excitement! Night of Dark
Shadows may finally be available on DVD, but this is the 94 minute edited
version rather than Dan Curtis’ full 129 minute vision. Those lovely, silent
dream sequences become confusing by default in this reduced edition simply because
the missing bridge scenes, clarifications, and character development are so apparent.
Maybe two hours plus would have been too long for a gothic soap opera
adaptation, but a few more scenes of explanation would have polished Night of Dark Shadows completely.
Instead, several now cliché horror tropes like killer greenhouses and scary
swimming pools seem unnecessary. Though authentic in tone thanks to the gothic locales
and good old-fashioned witch-hunts, Night
of Dark Shadows isn’t quite a horror movie. House of Dark Shadows took its freedom from the safe TV format and
ran with the blood and vampire gore, but Night
of Dark Shadows stays free of anything saucy or gruesome. It’s refreshing
that the solid atmosphere, slow build of past and present, and the inherent
sense of danger are given time over the shock values – unlike today. Who will
win out – the past recreating itself or the here and now? Night of Dark Shadows uses frightening muted sounds and silent
screams – unlike the often and loud screams and shockers of the series – and I’m
surprised this what you don’t see, easy on the ears technique isn’t used more. The
viewer’s mind imagines how we might sound in terror, personalizing the twists,
turns, and cinematic flair.
He
sounds a little different and has some weird hair, but David Selby (Falcon Crest) is in wicked form as this
edition of his perennial Quentin Collins. Although his appearances in the
flashbacks and dream sequences as his ancestor Charles Collins are confusing,
granted, this is again thanks to the missing or unclarified answers for those
memories and dreams. The past time period itself is never officially dated, and
the ghosts appear to be both in Quentin’s mind and real to others. Is it really
reincarnation or something else? These questions hurt the character motivations,
but Selby works the going crazy as a worthwhile lead. As this something or
other possessed or reincarnated something, Quentin becomes very angry, scary,
and his physical appearance eerily changes in a Jekyll and Hyde style. Though
they have some nice romantic scenes together, Kate Jackson (Scarecrow and Mrs. King) doesn’t seem to
appear enough as Quentin’s wife Tracy. She looks really young, out of place, and
unrefined but this is probably that Rebecca
vibe again. Tracy
investigates where she shouldn’t, creating pleasantly suspicious and angry
moments, yet she inexplicably remains thru some serious violence. People in
horror movies never leave when they have the chance! Lara Parker, by contrast,
is ever enchanting with her wispy white gowns, witchiness, and scandals as this
latest incarnation of Angelique Collins. The paintings of her are as haunting
as she is, and it’s easy to see why Quentin would be captivated by her spectre
over the cold and plain Tracy.
Of course, the character wither tos and why fors are confusing – since when did
a witch having an affair become hanging proof of said craft? Cough thanks
missing footage not cough.
Longtime
Dark Shadows players Nancy Barrett and
John Karlen also suffer character inexplicability in this truncated Night of Dark Shadows. While Barrett
looks really fresh faced and colorful compared to an often drab regular series style
and Karlen has fine moments of action and intelligence, we never really learn
who Alex and Claire Jenkins are and why they are at Collinwood. They are
novelists and friends of Quentin, is that all? Alex maybe witnesses Angelique’s
ghost and Claire serves tea. They go to New
York and confusingly see and learn enough about the
Collins’ past to be worried and insist Quentin and Tracy flee the estate. So, somehow
the Jenkins have no purpose and all the critical plot points at the same time?
Their role in Night of Dark Shadows may
be most confusing of all – if not for Grayson Hall’s perfectly creepy housekeeper
Carlotta Drake. Her keeping the spirit alive and reincarnation talk comes too
few and far between because of those deleted scenes, and while such talk is
believable nay even expected by regular Dark
Shadows fans, this meta physical crutch is too big a leap for film
audiences. Hall is wonderfully mysterious in what she does and doesn’t share
about Collinwood’s history and has some weird game with that spooky tower, but
she has no room to be as Mrs. Danvers nasty a maid as she could be – like her 1970
Parallel Time Hoffman character on the series.
I
really like the lesser seen James Storm and his Gerard Stiles scares in the
1840 Dark Shadows storyline, but his
modern Gerard Stiles looks a little out of place in Night of Dark Shadows – not to mention that he disappears for half
the film. Despite his best menacing henchman caretaker spin, we don’t see him
enough to understand why he’s battling Quentin and threatening the ladies.
Christopher Pennock also appears too briefly in the hazy dreams and flashbacks
as Charles Collins’ brother and Angelique’s wronged husband Gabriel, yet he’s
still so over the top. Thayer David also has a mini good time as the witch
hunting Reverend Strack, but surprise, surprise, he and Clarice Blackburn are
little more than cameos. There’s no room for Phoenix talk in Night of Dark Shadows, either, but Diana Millay does get to mention
the word fire as Charles’ scorned wife Laura Collins, just for good measure.
She looks very young and beautiful instead of being so overly made up on the
soap proper, and all the costumes from the empire waste gowns to cozy oversized
seventies sweaters look great. Dark
Shadows composer Robert Cobert’s themes accentuate the horses, superb
grounds, abandoned places, and stunning Lyndhurst Castle
locales. If you can go to the Sleepy
Hollow filming locations, I highly recommend it!
Unfortunately,
not only does Night of Dark Shadows suffer
from its original forced editing crisis, but this new video release is
decidedly cruel to those expecting any restoration love and may actually anger
longtime fans. The volume and voices are low, with music cues out of place
thanks to that missing footage job. Subtitles are a must, but the only other
feature on the DVD is a vintage trailer. The menu interface is awkward, too,
dated, and, well, nineties or something. Yes, it would be expensive and
difficult to reinstated the recently found but without sound lost footage. One
with some Dark Shadows passion,
however, would find a way to make voiceovers, theme music, and cast re-records
work. Vocal clips from the late Grayson Hall can’t be accrued from almost 500
appearances on Dark Shadows? It’s nice to see Night of Dark Shadows made available, but this release feels lazy,
a bottom of the barrel appeasement for fans – way to slight the audience you
are directly targeting for your video sales! Regardless of its condition or
expense, the excised content should have been included on the video release. Night of Dark Shadows is a good gothic
and moody little film – it just needs polish or a kick it up a notch edge –
which that cropped material most likely delivers. Viewers will certainly look
at this and think they skipped an explanation or wonder if there is a video
jump, mistake, or missing scene – the lost material is that obvious in some
sequences.
Can
you imagine how cool it would have been if more of
Dark Shadows films had been made? There are a lot of neat possibilities in
the titles alone. I dare say if one really wants to bring Dark Shadows to the big screen – %#@$ that Tim Burton shit – they
should remake this Night of Dark Shadows script
in its entirety. From the Cobert music and Lyndhurst
setting to original cast cameos and an unmistakably R rating, the original “My
name is Victoria
Winters…” mysterious tone and paranormal gothic style of the series is all
here. I’ll even give a pass for a cut theatrical release – so long as there is
a dang extended edition! Flaws and all, Night
of Dark Shadows is not a bad little film for its million dollar budget.
Unlike House of Dark Shadows’ cinematic
consolidation of the vampire storylines – meant for fans of the show or bloody
horror audiences – this is actually a good starter piece for gothic ghost tale
lovers curious about Dark Shadows beyond
the Barnabas plots. Wise audiences will be able to see the editing
errors, and understandably, some fans of the series may disown this botched
work. However, once forgiven for its apparently ongoing lack of studio love, Night of Dark Shadows is an entertaining
and spooky good time.
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