The Good: Plot moves forward
The Bad: Medium issues, Utterly campy, Character surprises aren’t, Technical gaffs
The Basics: Dark Shadows takes a turn for the belabored on “Volume 15” and even fans are likely to be irked by the slowing of the pace.
Just when I thought that Dark Shadows might take a turn for the interesting and surprise me and make me want to truly consider the show something more than a mid-1960s novelty that has survived due largely to a ridiculously loyal fanbase, the show takes a turn into the terrible. With “Volume 15” of Dark Shadows on VHS, the show once more becomes forgettable and the reasons are twofold. First, the show genuinely seems to be made in a sloppy fashion and second, the series is desperately trying to hinge on character reversals and revelations that are hardly surprising.
The result is a five-episode VHS that plays in the supernatural, but does it quite poorly. Fans of gothic horror will see most, if not all, of the plot and character reversals coming well in advance. And while the episodes make fair use of the ensemble cast, the shots are static and problematic and the episodes largely flop.
"Volume 15" features episodes seventy-one through seventy-five and it has a fairly tight storyline. This basically picks up right where ”Volume 14” (reviewed here!) left off, with the seance at Collinwood continuing, despite Barnabas Collins’ desire for it not to.
Episode seventy-one finds the seance coming to an abrupt end when Victoria Winters, possessed by Josette, begins to recall her final moments of life. Chased toward the cliffs by an assailant, Victoria is revived by Barnabas before she can use Josette's soul to see who her attacker was. Distraught, Victoria is convinced she sees a little girl upstairs (the spirit of Sarah). After the party, Elizabeth, Carolyn, Roger and Victoria reminisce and when most of Collinwood goes to bed, Barnabas pays Victoria a visit!
In episode seventy-two, Victoria moons over Barnabas's gift of the music box, listening to it and imagining herself to be Josette. Meanwhile, Maggie Evans begins to recall the graveyard as Doctor Hoffman tries to help her regain her memory. When Willie Loomis lets slip that Josette's birthday is the next day, Victoria gets time off to be able to lay flowers on her grave.
The seventy-third episode has Victoria convincing Burke to take her to Josette's graveside after Dr. Woodard kvetches to Dr. Hoffman about not having a progress report on Maggie Evans. Hoffman decides it is time to take Maggie somewhere she hopes might jolt Maggie's memory and she takes her to the cemetery. While there, Victoria and Burke arrive and Victoria sees Maggie! Convinced by Burke that she is seeing things, Victoria leaves, as Maggie becomes more and more traumatized by the setting.
Episode seventy-four has Dr. Hoffman studying Maggie more. She convinces Dr. Woodard to bring her to Collinwood, where she poses as a family historian to learn about the Collins family. There she meets Victoria, gets the chills, learns that Sarah has been seen by David Collins and is given a short tour of the Old House. Returning to Maggie's side, she makes an important discovery involving the name of Maggie's attacker!
In episode seventy-five, Victoria is obsessed with the music box Barnabas has given her. When Carolyn comes to address Victoria's keeping Burke waiting for their weekly date, Victoria seems distant. Downstairs at Collinwood, Barnabas arrives and tells Burke he wants to give Victoria a book from his library, but Burke tells him off, convinced that Victoria is becoming too obsessed with the past. After a brief conversation, Victoria does get the book and she stands Burke up in response to his boorish behavior. And as a storm moves in on Collinwood, Victoria goes to the Old House to spend time with Barnabas there.
On the technical merits, Dark Shadows looks horrible on ”Volume 15.” In addition to having a grainy quality that VHS tapes of old shows are known for, the show itself is poorly shot. For example, in episode 71, there is a completely distorted shot for a three-person shot which was clearly a mistake. There is another camera gaff in the very same scene.
On a storytelling level, much of “Volume 15” is a disappointment as well. “Volume 14” prepared the viewer for the séance and some answers and this volume cuts that short ridiculously quickly. Instead, Barnabas Collins tiptoes around satisfying answers and viewers with a brain are left disappointed that the show is not actually progressing.
The acting on “Volume 15” of Dark Shadows is homogeneously melodramatic and many fans are likely to be disappointed by that as well. Jonathan Frid, who usually gives a pretty solid performance, is over-the-top as Barnabas in this set and the other male actors are just bland. For episodes with a lot of exposition in the form of dialogue, this is disappointing.
As well, because this is on video, the replayability is physically low, which is problematic for a work where the content is hard to want to sit through more than once. Ultimately, this video may have some appeal for the diehard Dark Shadows fans, but for those looking for great television, they will need to keep looking after this video! There are no bonus features on this video, so most fans would do better to pick up the DVD instead.
[For a much better value, check out Dark Shadows Volume 2 on DVD, reviewed here, as it has over forty episodes on the currently dominant medium!]
2/10
For other television reviews, be sure to visit my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!
© 2012, 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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