To celebrate, clips of my favorite Dark Shadows moments (in no particular order):
#516: Cassandra convinces Liz that she's Naomi, eventually taking her to view "her" tomb at Eagle Hill. Lara Parker has a crazy (emphasis on the word "crazy") good time torturing Elizabeth. My favorite line reading (and it occurs mostly because Parker forgot her line and was searching desperately for the teleprompter): "Drink your sherry."
#631: Nicholas revives Tom Jennings by pulling out the stake Barnabas planted in his heart and sends him to fang Vicki. Even though technically this moment happens in #630, I like the recap a bit better. The blue lighting adds a creepy resonance, causing Humbert Allen Astredo's suit to pop especially.
#955: Angelique learns that her husband Sky is a Leviathan and, naturally, he takes a torch to her. I love that Angelique, looking suave and uber-modern, ditches her lessons from the Samantha Stephens School of Mortal Imitation and chokes her douchebag husband into unconsciousness. Angelique: "Nicholas didn't tell you very much about me, did he." He sure didn't.
#868: The boys make a pilgrimage to "Barnabas's" coffin to view "Barnabas's" vampire corpse. It's still shocking to see a staked Barnabas, even though the audience is now in on the gag.
#350: Something about Old Barnabas freaks me out/fascinates me. It's also unnerving to see the earlier Barnabas episodes where he isn't averse to plotting David's demise or sinking his fangs into Cousin Carolyn. Barnabas: "You mustn't be afraid of me, my dear. I'm not going to hurt you. I'd never do anything to hurt my own flesh and blood!" CHOMP!
#360: Julia visits Sarah's tomb and is treated to a gush of blood. Something about the bleeding wall always gives me the creeps. Even more than poor Grayon's wig in this storyline.
#430: Sure, the DS special effects don't hold up much after 40 plus years, but they shouldn't have to. Much of what I love about Dark Shadows is its theatrical nature, including the creative makeup choices. And that pingpong ball protruding from the cone of makeup attached to KLS' face is wicked gross.
#405: Ah, the curse. Probably the most important episode in the DS canon. Let's ignore the unfortunate bat puppet and focus instead of Lara Parker's performance as Angelique in curse-mode. Look at those eyes!
#230: Barnabas looks helacious for the first time with an equally helacious-looking Maggie Evans. Creepy. Dark Shadows at its Universal Monster Movies-Best.
House of Dark Shadows: Watching one of the most beloved Dark Shadows characters transform into a vampire is still deeply unsettling, since Carolyn of the series (in the main timeline, anyway) has that enchanted fairy ring drawn around her that prevents most of the main characters from dying.
Night of Dark Shadows: Love Grayson in that dress. Love Lyndhurst.
Revival Series, #1: Though I love Alexandra Moltke, Joanna Going was really my first Vicki. She embodies the Gothic heroine completely. It was a fun surprise to see her on Mad Men a few weeks ago, mostly because I didn't recognize her at all and had to go back and review her scenes.
Revival Episode #7: Love the look on Lysette Anthony's face as Angelique, for some reason, delights in Vicki's shock at Josette's arrival and the obvious resemblance between them.
Dark Shadows (2012): And the reason behind Dark Shadows Day! Love it or hate it, the 2012 movie brought DS back into the public eye once again. Personally, I really enjoy the Burton/Depp vision, and I grow to love it the more I see it. Still dealing with the conclusion (I could live without Chloe Grace Moretz's line reading of "I'm a werewolf ... deal with it ... woof," but whatevs.
"Where off Route 9?"
HAPPY DARK SHADOWS DAY, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!
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