House of Dark Shadows

House of Dark Shadows is a 1970 feature-length horror film produced and directed by Dan Curtis (Trilogy of Terror), based on his Dark Shadows television series. It stars Jonathan Frid, Grayson Hall, Kathryn Leigh Scott, David Henesy and Roger Davis.

This MGM film had a budget of a mere $750,000 and was a box office success, spawning a sequel, Night of Dark Shadows. Tim Burton’s supercilious remake, Dark Shadows, cost a whopping $150 million…

Seeking a legendary fortune in jewels, troublesome Collins family handyman Willie Loomis opens a hidden coffin in the Collins family crypt, releasing vampire Barnabas Collins from his 150-year confinement. Barnabas makes Willie his slave, then presents himself to the modern day Collins family (Roger, Elizabeth, Carolyn, and David) as a “cousin from England.” Barnabas moves into the “Old House” on the Collins estate, where the “first” Barnabas had lived. Elizabeth and Roger host an elaborate costume ball to honor Barnabas Collins. Barnabas becomes attracted to the family governess Maggie Evans, who looks just like his long-lost love, Josette. When Carolyn, who has become one of the vampire’s victims, threatens to reveal his secret out of jealousy, Barnabas kills her. Carolyn rises from the grave as one of the undead…

Wikipedia | IMDb | Rotten Tomatoes

“It positively oozes with gothic atmosphere and is crammed with derivative but extremely well crafted and memorable set pieces. It succeeds on two fronts, first in its transition to the big screen it avoids the visual blandness of most theatrical features adapted from concurrently airing TV series (Batman, Munster, Go Home!, etc.). Secondly, it accomplishes something done by almost no one else: all but inventing a style as effective as Britain’s and the European continent’s best horror films yet also one distinctive from those and even singularly American. In short, it’s one of the best horror movies of its era.” Stuart Galbraith IV, DVD Talk

“It’s also better than Burton’s film. The tone isn’t as erratic, the finale is more exciting (and less prone to out of nowhere idiocy), and Barnabas is much more interesting here. Depp’s version didn’t manage to be scary, so when he had to be a vampire it didn’t work, but Jonathan Frid really sells his character’s conflict of a guy who doesn’t want to be the monster he has to be in order to live. Production value is obviously diminished (being that the new film had roughly 40 times as much money with inflation factored in), but at least it feels like a singular vision instead of the result of a dozen producers, a major star, and an increasingly lazy “visionary” trying to have their say.” Horror Movie a Day