Customer Reviews

Dark Shadows: DVD Collection 2 (Full Screen) [4 Discs]

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4 star:		(2)
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2 star:		(2)
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I am trying to collect the whole tv series, so it would have been helpful if the seller had advertised the episodes. I have forty episodes, but in the 200's, I was hoping to start with episode one through forty, Jill Cockerell

The Story of the Greatest vampire since Dracula, Barnabas Collins continues with his evil plot to Kidnap the Lovely Maggie Evans who he believes is the Re-incarnation of his lost love from 200 years ago, Josette. He Locks Maggie up in the Old House, inwhich Barnabas has moved in and hired caretaker Willie Loomis to restore the house to its orginal state. The plot thickens when Dr. Julia Hoffman arrives at Collinwood to investigate the Disappearance of Maggie Evans.

Barnabas Collins and the rest of the gang return for more on Dark Shadows DVD Collection 2! This Collection, which contains VHS Volumes 5-12 on 4 discs, is more of a transitional set. In these episodes, the storylines from Collection 1 come to a close and the new storylines begin. Right off the bat, we see the conclusion of the Barnabas kidnapping Maggie storyline, and then we focus on the impending wedding of blackmailer Jason McGuire and Elizabeth Collins Stoddard. Near the end of this Collection, we see the introduction of Dr. Julia Hoffman, who arrives at Collinwood to investigate Maggie's disappearance.

Also on these DVD's we get bonus interviews from Dan Curtis (Producer), Nancy Barrett (Carolyn Stoddard), Dennis Patrick (Jason McGuire), and Alexandra Moltke (Victoria Winters). Once again, the picture and sound qualities are in great shape. Also like the first Collection, these episodes are all in black and white. Looking forward to Collection 3, which will include color episodes!

There are grand operas, horse operas and soap operas. But we're not horsing
around when we say that there's only one grand, gothic soap opera --- the
indestructible Dark Shadows.
Premiering on ABC in 1966, it ran for five years, chalking up 1,225
episodes. And now it's time, once again, to sink our teeth into one of TV's more
quixotic offerings. Pass the garlic, please.
And pass the DVD sets issued by MPI Home Video, dedicated folk who
have worked tirelessly to bring the series out of its forgotten shadows and into
an era of rediscovery. Each of the 5 DVD sets contain 4 discs, a chronicle of
Dark Shadows episodes --- approximately 75 hours of our favorite fanged ghoul,
Barnabas Collins, and the dark doings set in the small fictional fishing village of
Collinsport, Maine. Be forewarned, however, that as much as we have a stake in
the revival of the series, we question why MPI only included episodes #211 to
#412. (We asked the question, but they never answered. Talk about being kept
in dark shadows.)
The late '60s were an odd time in our cultural history, a kind of a
maturation into reality after the bland '50s and a precursor for the entitlement
and permissiveness of the '70s. Violence permeated our society and its
entertainment ... and escape was the order of the day. Dark Shadows brought us
to a strange set of performers playing even a stranger set of characters.
Grayson Hall and Joan Bennett came from the movies, Jonathan Frid and David
Selby came from the stage, and they were supported by actors and actresses
who had spent literally decades gracing some of the most popular soap operas
from radio and television.
Adding to the escapism was the time element. You were never quite sure
what century you were in while visiting the New England branch of Transylvania.
It could be modern-day Collinsport, or it could be the late 18th century.
Performers could be playing the present-day characters, or their great
grandparents. Still, one thing was sure: High on Windows Hill stood the family
manse, Collinswood (the name most likely came from Wilkie Collins, the author
whose gothic gems graced book stalls in late Victorian times), and, regardless of
the century, it was here that the haunted Collinses plied their depraved trade.
Dark Shadows had a narrative link in a way, but the performers never
seem to know exactly where they are, were they've been, or, most importantly,
where they were going. To be sure, there were the normal and accepted gaffs of
daytime television, such as a boom mike boinking a performer on the head or
people tripping over cables. But, there was the added zest of poor Joan Bennett
looking confused, calling performers by their real names, and trying to cover
rising panic with a look of sheer exotic boredom. Bennett made her first film well
before the talky revolution, but she hadn't seen or heard everything yet, until she
sojourned into daytime television.
As a matter of fact, the growth and development of the television show
parallels to a greater or lesser extent the growth and development of theater of
the absurd in America. The players and the set remained basically the same, but
the period and action varied wildly. And, ultimately it didn't matter where you
were, or where you thought you were, or where you thought you were going,
because you were under the spell of the Collinses, in Collinsport, and they were
in control. If the reality seemed fractured, hallucinatory and vaguely scary, well,
then, wasn't life exactly like that?
Dan Curtis, who also brought us War and Remembrance, The Winds of
War, The Night Stalker, Dracula and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (both with Jack
Palance) and the cult film Burnt Offerings, spawned the series. But the greatest
success of this veritable one-man cottage industry is undoubtedly Dark
Shadows. The brooding gothic setting, the sprawling, elephantine plot twists and
the idiosyncratic, not to say colliding, acting styles come together to create
something unique and strangely satisfying.
For the last 20 years, there has been an annual Dark Shadows Festival, held either in the Los Angeles or New York area. This year, it will be held in
Brooklyn at the end of August. An ominous press release informs us that this
year marks the final full fledged festival, the last of its line.
Knowing the denizens of Dark Shadows, we don't believe it for a moment!

For the true fan this is a real treat. I feel confident that you'll readily forgive the occasional video imperfections since one gets so easily engrossed in these stories. I sure did. For those of us who loved Dark Shadows the first time, this is a real nostalgic treat; like seeing old friends.

I'm going to review the content of Collection 2 instead of the series like the other reviewers here. It should be mentioned that the 8 weeks of episodes on collection 2 are a big improvement over collection 1 which was good, but a little slow at times. By these episodes, the writers seemed to have figured out what to do with Barnabas and a few old stale plot lines are tossed to the curb. I think that new fans who bought collection 1 but were on the fence about whether to check out collection 2 or not should go ahead and give it a try. I'm convinced the improved pacing of these episodes will make you a fan!

I love this old soap .if you what to get an idea how 60,s tv was like you would see it by watching this disc .true the picture was not 100% good all the time due to the fact video tapeing this soap was a new thing at the time and the age of the tape that were used at the time. But still after all these years its still a spooky soap to watch . if you are a die hard darkshadows fan like me or would like to be this is a collections for you

Finally We,the fans, have Dark Shadows on DVD.Aside from the obvious benefits of DVD over VHS we have the full uncut episodes,not the ones trimmed for todays commercials.The picture and sound are as good as they're going to get.The interviews with they series stars are an added bonus.Hopefully when MPI is done they will have released episode 1 to 1245.I'm just still trying to find an easter egg on the first 2 releases .

The decision to start the dvd releases with the introduction of Barnabas Collins is the same release pattern that MPI used for the vhs releases. The first year of the show was not released on vhs until the series from Barnabas' appearance on was released. This same release structure is planned for these dvds. The truth is, the first year of the show is not nearly as interesting as the following years, and the show was in danger of cancellation before Barnabas showed up at Collinwood. I guess MPI figures it can attract more new fans by starting the dvds where the show becomes most interesting rather than alienating potential new fans by starting with the least supernatural year of the show. As long as these dvds sell successfully, I think we will eventually see every episode released on dvd.

Each episode of this cult classic pulls you deeper and deeper into the storyline. This ongoing DVD collection is a must have for anybody who has ever enjoyed watching the show. Dark Shadows fans finally have something to look forward to with the monthly releases from MPI. The first collection was very impressive and the second one will surely follow in its footsteps. Dark Shadows will live on forever.