House of Dark Shadows (1970) has all the makings of a really bad film. Bad sound. Bad editing. Repetitive dialogue. And plot holes you could drive a red double-decker bus through.
But the fact of the matter is, it's a great film!!
Sometimes technical deficiencies can ruin a film. But it's just not the case with this film. I found it enjoyable in a very Hammer Horror sort of way. Ironically Hammer would transplant Dracula in the 1970's a year after House of Dark Shadows was released.
Most of the regular cast from the series are present in the film. Jonathan Frid, Joan Bennett and Louis Edmonds acting are given a chance to shine in this film. Which they really are not given the chance to do with the break-neck schedule of the television series.
So, there's very little wooden acting and flubbing of lines in the film.
For me the stand-out performance was Nancy Barrett as Caroline Stoddard. In particular the scene where they are driving a wooden stake through her heart after she had become a vampire.
I actually think she was more terrifying than Jonathan Frid as a vampire.
In all, the film is a lot of fun to watch. It retains all the fun and camp of the television series while adding a dimension of horrific gore.
Just be warned. Some of the sound quality of the film is a bit dodgy. You may want to watch it with the closed captioning on.
But with that said I highly recommend you rent it! You shan't be disappointed.
Most of the regular cast from the series are present in the film. Jonathan Frid, Joan Bennett and Louis Edmonds acting are given a chance to shine in this film. Which they really are not given the chance to do with the break-neck schedule of the television series.
So, there's very little wooden acting and flubbing of lines in the film.
For me the stand-out performance was Nancy Barrett as Caroline Stoddard. In particular the scene where they are driving a wooden stake through her heart after she had become a vampire.
I actually think she was more terrifying than Jonathan Frid as a vampire.
In all, the film is a lot of fun to watch. It retains all the fun and camp of the television series while adding a dimension of horrific gore.
Just be warned. Some of the sound quality of the film is a bit dodgy. You may want to watch it with the closed captioning on.
But with that said I highly recommend you rent it! You shan't be disappointed.
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