Early Review: Dark Shadows 2012

Warning: minor spoilers below.  I had the great good fortune of attending the premiere of Tim Burton’s new film based on the cult t.v. show.  Being a fan of the original t.v. show, I may have enjoyed the new film version of Dark Shadows a little bit more than others.  Just a tiny bit.  When…

Looking Back: Dark Shadows 1991

Amid all the debate and anticipation surrounding the new Tim Burton/Johnny Depp film version, the previous revival of Dark Shadows ends up forgotten. It premiered in 1991, an hour-long weekly show in primetime on the NBC network.  That alone changed a great deal.  Whereas the original was a daily half-hour, the new program had to…

Dark Shadows: The Trailer!

At long, long last a trailer for the upcoming vampire film starring Johnny Depp has seen the light of day!  (Pun intended) Earlier this week, the word came out that the trailer would debut on the talk show Ellen.  Sure enough, as fans eagerly waited, said trailer did indeed give us our first real glimpse…

Christopher Lee in Dark Shadows

So much news about the upcoming “Dark Shadows” film! Some confirmed, some not. To begin, there was indeed a panel at ComicCon about the new movie, hosted by Hermes Press and including Lara Parker and Kathryn Leigh Scott (the original Angelique and Maggie respectively). They were able to confirm that not only is Jonathan Frid…

The Lost Dark Shadows

Way back in 2004, the then-WB network commissioned a pilot which would try to update and re-imagine a classic 1960s t.v. series. It was a genre show, all about an American family facing extraordinary challenges. Its still-loyal fan base included many who considered the so-called villain of the piece their favorite character. Network executives hoped…

The Very Many Faces of Mina Murray

Adaptations of Bram Stoker’s most famous novel often reveal more about the adapters — and about their times — than they do about Stoker or his work. Case in point: Mina Harker, nee Murray. Looking at the novel itself, we find a character who seems very much a yin to her best friend Lucy Westenra‘s…

Dark Shadows – Ahead of its Time?

Fans of haemovores everywhere probably already know that Johnny Depp has plans to reunite with Tim Burton in a motion picture adaptation of the cult t.v. series “Dark Shadows.” The whole idea of Depp as a vampire no doubt has sent many a heart aflutter. Quite understandably! It is one of those ideas that seems…