Yes they are corney, yes they have some really bad acting (along with some good stuff), but who cares? Its Dark Shadows. The show we used to run home from school to watch every afternoon. For some of us, it was quite a run. Maybe if our kids today did the same running, they wouldn't be so rotund and glued to their video games. There is Barnabus, the vampire with a guilt complex. Quentin, the werewolf who was and is scarrier than Jack Nicholson having a bad hair day. Sister Sarah as a 8 year old ghost stuck in a void between life and death. Then you have the abnormal family members (the above mentioned ones were the normal ones), whose various characters lend a good chuckle as props fall around them. They frequently flub their lines and are often seen reading directly from the teleprompter. Doors would be heard slamming in the background and the child actors frequently forgot their lines alltogether. Sometimes I wonder about the sobriety of some of the camera operators back then. But what the heck, it scared the beejeebers out of us as kids. The best part, is, it's alot better than 90% of the crap they have on today (i.e. reality shows), and given how many episodes there are, you can never run out of something different to watch. Plus the best extra bonus, our kids hate this stuff, and we can finally have some time alone to ourselves if front of our beloved boxes. I recommend starting at the beginning (vol 1) and only watching 2-3 episodes at a time. I only hope that MCI can one day find the copies of the first year (pre-Barnabus) to complete the set. I also hope that one day, the movies House of Dark Shadows and Night of Dark Shadows will be released on DVD (right now they are only out on VHS). Besides, there are over 40 episodes and special features per set. This is only about $1.00 per episode to own and enjoy forever (alike the eternal Barnabus).
