Dark Shadows The Revival - The Complete Series (1991)

Step inside the romantic but deadly world of "Dark Shadows," where love devours its victims and age-old secrets live to haunt eternity. A complete season of twelve heart-pounding episodes of witchcraft, seduction and revenge will have you thirsting for more…with every bite. DISC ONE - Episode One: Handyman Willie Loomis accidentally releases vampire Barnabas Collins from his tomb. Barnabas introduces himself as a relative from England and begins to romance Victoria Winters, the new governess at Collinwood Manor. Episode Two: After being bitten by Barnabas, Daphne Collins dies and rises a vampire. Dr. Julia Hoffman discovers Barnabas' secret and offers to cure him of his curse. Episode Three: Dr. Hoffman experiments to cure Barnabas of his vampirism. Professor Michael Woodard attempts to uncover the identity of the vampire. Episode Four: The ghost of Sarah Collins leads Victoria to her diary. An evil apparition of Angelique-nemesis from the past-begins to haunt Barnabas. DISC 2 - Episode Five: Learning of Barnabas' affection for Victoria, a jealous Dr. Hoffman decides to sabotage the progress of the cure for Barnabas. Episode Six: When a séance is held to contact the spirit of Sarah, Victoria mysteriously vanishes. In her place appears a stranger from 1790. Episode Seven: Transported to the year 1790, Victoria meets the residents of Collinwood and becomes a tutor for Daniel and Sarah Collins. Abigail Collins suspects Victoria of sorcery. Episode Eight: A jealous Angelique uses witchcraft to prevent the marriage of Barnabas and Josette Du Pres. A deadly duel ensues. DISC 3 - Episode Nine: Josette Du Pres accuses Barnabas Collins of killing her true love. Abigail Collins enlists the aid of Reverend Trask to have Victoria Winters jailed for witchcraft. Episode Ten: The Collins family mourns the apparent death of Barnabas as they move into the new Collinwood mansion. Barnabas rises as a vampire. Episode Eleven: Victoria Winters' witchcraft trial begins. Angelique's spirit seeks to prevent Barnabas from making Josette his vampire bride. Episode Twelve: Barnabas' vampirism is discovered. Peter Bradford attempts to save Victoria from being hung as a witch.

I was wrong, very good 4 stars.

thank you for your service. It was efishent in every way to be expected. i love my new dvds August 25, 2008

A Must for any DS Fan!

I am enjoying Dark Shadows The Revival - The Complete Series. I only wish the Revival series would have lasted longer on the air than just a few episodes. As expected, the story starts from the beginning with Victoria Winters' arrival in Collinsport. There are some new characters, and some of the old characters now have different jobs/interests/relationships than they did in the Original series. The acting is good and believable and it's great to see some familiar present-day actors playing such parts. If you enjoyed the Original series then you'll want to have this selection for sure. July 29, 2008

My early '90's obsession!

In 1966, Dan Curtis introduced the world to an 18th century vampire named Barnabas Collins who shook up daytime television for nearly five years. The show, "Dark Shadows", is unquestionably a cult classic.

In 1991, Barnabas Collins was revived in a completely new version of the show, going from daytime soap to nighttime soap, with a far superior budget and an outstanding cast. Some characters changed, some seemed very much the same. There were similar plot lines and seemingly new ones. There was a lot of romance, a lot of blood, and a lot of drama. It was a great show, and, in high school at the time, I was hooked on it! Horrifically, the popular revival only lasted one season, ending in a mind-numbing cliffhanger! The story is, there was too much playing with the time-slot due to NBC's coverage of the Gulf War. Oh well.

This DVD set, thankfully, brings back the entire 1991 series, from the first episodes that were originally presented as a two-part TV movie, to that never resolved cliffhanger that made the show's cancellation more frustrating than ever. In this set, you'll witness Barnabas Collins' arrival in Collinsport, his taking of the gorgeous Daphne Collins, his pursuit of the Collins family's new governess, Victoria Winters, and his fateful first dealings with Doctor Julia Hoffman. You'll meet troubled David, sweet, haunting Sarah, a bumbling but lovable incarnation of Willie Loomis, super hot but very suspicious acting Carolyn Collins (perhaps she was just supposed to seem rebellious, but I always felt she acted like she had something up her sleeve), the psychic barmaid Maggie Evans, townie-hunk Joe Haskell, and, of course, the family matriarch, Elizabeth, and her brother Roger. Most fantastically though, you'll take a trip back to the 1700's to see how Barnabas Collins became a vampire at the hands of the drool-inducing temptress and part time witch, Angelique.

No doubt, it's Ben Cross as Barnabas and Lysette Anthony as Angelique that rule the show here, but all the characters are fascinating and memorable. Hard to say that this version of the show was better than the original or not, as it was so short-lived, but it definitely is a classic in its own right. The DVD is a must-own, though I'll throw in my complaint about it being cropped to make a fake widescreen version. It's still better quality than watching my old tapes though. The only other thing to complain about is a complete lack of extra features, but maybe we're lucky to get short-lived shows like this on DVD at all.

And, if you're a true Shadows fan, yeah, it stinks that the recent pilot with Marley Shelton (mmmm Marley Shelton, she's about as perfect as it gets) didn't get picked up, but I'm even more psyched that a bigscreen feature is in the works with Burton and Depp behind it (long as they don't screw up Barnabas like they did Wonka; I hope it will be more in the vein of Sleepy Hollow; More in the vein of Dark Shadows, actually). I had always hoped to be able to bring Dark Shadows to the bigscreen myself one day, but my plan was to do it as two trilogies, a Barnabas Collins trilogy (the first two films running a plot similar to this show, the third involving the resolution) and a Quentin Collins trilogy (Hugh Jackman, anyone? Quentin's trilogy would pick up from Barnabas's, include Barnabas as a heroic character now, and involve Quentin's werewolf condition). Anyways, we'll have to wait and see what Burton and Depp cook up, and it'll be cool if Depp stars as well, but in the meantime, we have this and the DVD sets of the original show (if you can afford to collect all of those! I haven't even dared to start...YET).
July 25, 2008

Bought by accident...but to my surprise!!!!

I bought the 'Dark Shadows: The Revival', as a joined bonus for buying the 'Dark Angel' (starring Jessica Alba) series. What I thought I was buying was the 1960's 'Dark Shadows' series, what I got...was something quite different. At first, I was a little bit disappointed, I have always loved the 'Dark Shadows' series from the '60's (I caught the DVD version about 5 years ago, as, I am not old enough to remember the series on TV itself). I did decide to keep the series though, because I felt that it should be given a chance, and after looking at the reviews that it got on Amazon, I felt that I may have discovered something quite amazing.....I was right.
I am at a loss of words on how to describe this series; maybe a good way to describe it is simply...gripping! This series is far, far better than the '60's 'Dark Shadows'. The storyline is amazing, he casting crew really knew what they were doing when they casted Barnabas, Victoria and the rest of the family...it is completely believable! Never have I been so hooked on a TV series, as I am on this one. I am so sad that it did not go on for longer, as I am now in love with the Collins Family! The acting is very well done too, surprisingly!
This will continue to be my all time favorite TV series..I just wish I could find other series that were comparable to this one....so far, I haven't.
Buy this series...you WILL NOT be disappointed....well, only that it isn't much, much longer.
Enjoy! July 14, 2008

Dark Shadows Revival - SUPERB!

Having been a huge fan of the original series I had a hard time watching the revival, when it first came out in 1991. Ben Cross as Barnabas was a tough one. But after episode 1, the revival was the series to beat.

I have no idea why this series was canceled! It had all the ingredients for success - absolutely stellar casting. In some cases better than the original(Ben Cross, Roy Thinness, Stefan Gierasch) - I mean it just doesn't get any better! I thought the plot through-line was much more understandable, accessable and concise than the original.
The plot through-line is the eternal love affair of Barnabas and Josette, and Barnabas as victim of a jealous lover, the battle of good and evil, and ultimately, the battle between victim Barnabas and the evil Angelique. Unfortunately this last part never is developed. But I see this series as a predessesor to shows like Ghost Whisperer. I think in today's market, either a movie or a new series like the revival would be a huge success.

I've watched the entire DVD collection a few times already and each time I appreciate it more.

For any future DS material, this revival series is the one to match.
This is a must for all DS fans.

Pete Pantelis July 7, 2008

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