House Of Dark Shadows

Today's Monster Memories are of:

"House of Dark Shadows."
(Click on images to view full-sized.)

The newspaper ad that so enthralled me as a kid!

"Come See How The Vampires Do It," was the tagline for the 1970 movie. What "It" may have been is only inferred, but it must have been blood-sucking, because the sex level was no higher than the TV version, despite it being freed from the restrictions of the small screen. But the romantic aspect of the teen-idol Barnabas was played up so that the girls would flock to it. The appeal of Barnabas as the idol of teenybopper girls was lost on me, as I thought he was too old and not particularly appealing in a physical sense. But, I wasn't a teenage girl or a soap opera fan so I had no frame of reference. I just liked the show because it featured vampires and werewolves! It was a little like a Hammer movie in daily installments. So when the feature movie came out, I was anxious to see it; of course I couldn't. But I finally got the chance when it was shown on TV a few years later, while I was staying over at my Grandma's house, where I had freedom to watch what I wanted. Unfortunately, the TV versions edited out the more graphic gore scenes that the theatrical release allowed them to have.

Below are some of the ads slicks made available to the theaters.

Unfortunately, this movie has not yet been released on DVD, so when I chanced upon a scheduled showing on Turner South last year, I managed to catch it and record it onto DVD as it played. That explains the Turner South logo in the bottom right corner of each screen capture. Sorry for that, but I hope you enjoy viewing them!

The house used for Collinswood was different in the movie from the TV series. Filming took place at Lyndhurst in Tarrytown, New York with additional footage at nearby Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. At the bottom of this post you will see some photos of the location used for it!

Rather than a new story based on the series, it was decided to do a remake that told a condensed version of how Barnabas came to Collinswood, and take the story to it's originally intended conclusion as far as Barnabas was concerned. Not a part of the show's continuity, it was a stand-alone movie that featured the same characters, even killing some of them off. Perhaps a disappointment to the fans of the show, but a good choice for those not so familiar with it.

"Man, this place could use a 'Stick-Up!'"

After the credits, the "dead" Barnabas fades into the mist and a bat flies up out of the frame. He lives... to bite again! But he doesn't show up in the sequel, sadly.

You can see the locations used for "House" if you go to the long-haunted countryside of Sleepy Hollow, NY. Of course, this is where the ghost of the Headless Horseman rides, the very same that tormented poor Ichabod Crane.

You can view pics of all the movie and TV locations here. It's a great DS fan resource.