'Dark Shadows' is one of those shows that wholly deserves its popularity and its reputation as a classic. There are a few films based on it, and while they're all watchable in varying ways quality-wise they're mixed.

By far the best of them is this, 'House of Dark Shadows'. To me also, it's the only film to be as good as the show, not quite on the same level but almost as good. Its only real problems are some characters not given enough screen time or development, especially Elizabeth and Maggie, and Joan Bennett being very underused as Elizabeth that she doesn't shine anywhere near as much as in the show.

'House of Dark Shadows' however is visually an improvement over the show's production values, with the exception of a couple of goofs and bloopers which didn't hurt the film at all. The production and costume design are lavish and splendidly Gothic, and it's all photographed stunningly and boasts some surprisingly good special effects. The music is suitably moody, and evokes a real eeriness.

The script has a good balance of the funny and the tense, and the story is never dull, is always fun and has some real nerve-shredding tension and bone-chilling shock. The highlight was the somewhat poetic ending, which is also a masterclass in sheer galvanising horror and incredible Gothic imagery. There is a good deal of gore, but it's used chillingly and is never overused or gratuitous. Dan Curtis directs beautifully and intelligently, never once undermining the tension, suspense or horror and doesn't make the mistakes of not having enough of either or over-crowding the film with them.

Most of the characters are interesting, particularly Barnabas and Julia, and the wonderful chemistry between the actors in the show translates every bit as wonderfully here. The acting is uniformly good, with only Bennett not shining as much as she could have done due to being so underused. Jonathan Frid is terrifyingly magnetic, while Grayson Hall, Thayer David and Nancy Barrett are particularly strong in support.

All in all, by far the best of the 'Dark Shadows' films and the only one to be as good as the show. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Most of the major characters are back for those who did not get to watch the daily serial "Dark Shadows" in this big screen version of that Dan Curtis campfest. Looking like a cross between a Hammer horror film and an American International gothic melodrama, this lacks a strong continuity which results in this being a disappointment as a big screen condensed synopsis of what had happened in Collinwood just a few years before. Unfortunately, the script starts off with a wimper, never fully develops all of the important characters, so you feel like you are getting an empty egg shell of the show's bible without the all important yolk. Joan Bennett, still glamorous and commanding as matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, doesn't really get to do much but be regal and grieving, as people around her begin to die off one by one thanks to a vampire curse that goes back several centuries. Coming to Collinwood in the midst of this is Jonathan Frid's Barnabas Collins, a look-alike descendant to a long forgotten branch of the family that left centuries before supposedly for England. Frid quickly moves into the abandoned ancestral home which becomes quickly filled with the graves of his victims, revealing the truth about his real identity. Along comes the genius Dr. Julia Hoffman (Grayson Hall) who by chance discovers the secret and offers to cure him, but at what cost is yet to be determined. When her treatments take a nasty turn, you want to break into a variation of that Leslie Bricusse classic, singing "What Kind of Ghoul am I?"

Of course, every long dead vampire must have an unrequitted love, and in this case, it's Kathryn Leigh Scott's Maggie, whom Barnabas wants to join together with to be gloriously undead forever. Louis Edmunds as Elizabeth's brother, Roger, deals with unruly son David Hennessy, while Bennett's daughter, Carolyn (Nancy Barrett) becomes obsessed with Barnabas even though she's in love with local hero Roger Davis. It becomes a battle of wills between those who want to destroy whoever is killing local residents in this brutal manner, the fanged Barnabas himself, and of course, Dr. Hoffman who gets the shock of her life when her jealousy over Barnabas's love for another woman makes her (quoting Hall in "The Night of the Iguana") "take steps". There are far too many characters, so little development, and the motivations are clearly missed, having been written out on a daily basis. With vampire movies coming out by the dozen through Hammer horror (starring the far more dashing Christopher Lee),this seems like a cheap imitation. As a soap historian, I have enjoyed the parts of the series I have seen, and would have liked for this to have been better. Still, it's campy fun (especially Frid's sudden change into a ghoulish looking old man),much better than the pathetic Tim Burton remake, but the ending battle for the souls of the living and newly dead, goes on far too long.

Vampire Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) is released from his prison and searches for a cure to his affliction, so he can marry the incarnation of his lost love (Kathryn Leigh Scott).

When you have something directed by Dan Curtis, you know it will be good. And then when you know the film is far more graphically violent than its television counterpart, with dripping vampire bites and bloody deaths... that is a guaranteed win.

I am not overly familiar with the television show, but only because it has like 1000 episodes. I have been meaning to get to that. If it is anything like this film, though, it is well worth watching.