The Good: Fewer acting issues, Plot is progressing, All in color
The Bad: Melodramatic production, Medium issues, Plot doesn't truly go anywhere.
The Basics: While the plot of Dark Shadows progresses on “Volume 20” it does not go nearly as far as one might hope.
Dark Shadows is beginning to annoy me with “Volume 20,” even though it seems to be moving in a good direction toward actually making some things explicit. By tormenting the vampire Barnabas Collins with his dead sister's ghost, the story is almost interesting. Unfortunately for viewers, it seems whenever the show gets close to answers in this plotline, the series takes a somewhat abrupt turn back to Maggie Evans and those who are trying to help her recall what happened when she was abducted. With those plotlines, there are excessive repetitions of information and the show truly becomes utterly disappointing.
If you have no idea what it is I am writing about, welcome to the world of Dark Shadows, a 1960s soap opera that tried something different. The soap opera was a supernatural horror soap which included vampires, ghosts, spooky locations and a true, gothic manor house (Collinwood). It also contained many of the usual soap opera conceits like the dramatic pause right before the commercial break and then the repetition of lines when the show came back from the commercial. These conceits are some of what drag “Volume 20” down into the territory where I cannot recommend it.
"Volume 20" picks up where "Volume 19" (reviewed here!) left off, with Victoria Winters making the preparations to move in with Burke Devlin and marry him while Barnabas Collins becomes jealous of him. It is also coming on the heels of David Collins wandering off with Sarah.
The three hundred fifth episode has David seeing the empty coffin and Sarah explaining that not everything stays dead. David returns to Collinwood and to an angry Victoria, after promising not to tell anyone about Sarah's secret place. Barnabas Collins comes to visit Victoria, whom he tells about Burke Devlin's investigation of him, hoping to place a wedge between the two lovers. And Barnabas returns to the family crypt to try to meet with Sarah.
In episode three hundred six, Maggie Evans whines to Joe and Sam about not being allowed to leave the house. Eventually, the two decide that if they escort her, she can go out to the Blue Whale. At the Blue Whale, Joe and Victoria compare notes about the mysterious Sarah and when Burke Devlin arrives, Victoria gives him a steely ultimatum.
Episode three hundred seven has the search for Sarah heating up when Joe reveals that the sheriff is unable to help them locate the little girl. Frustrated, Joe and Sam visit David Collins, who reveals that he has no way of making Sarah appear. After failing to find the little girl, Joe and Sam confront Dr. Hoffman.
The three hundred eighth episode involves Barnabas threatening Dr. Hoffman when he learns she has shared some details about Sarah with Joe. While Barnabas makes contact with Victoria and squares off with Burke once again, Dr. Hoffman goes searching for Sarah. She feels Sarah's presence, but does not see her, which leads Barnabas to even greater feelings of paranoia.
In episode three hundred nine, David goes off in search of Sarah after playing with a snow globe. As David makes his way to Sarah's secret spot, Barnabas drags Willie to the Collins family crypt. There, he finds Sarah's coffin empty and he predicts her coming!
With “Volume 20,” most of the actors seem to have their lines down and while Grayson Hall continues to make the oddest pauses and stumbles in her deliveries, she is getting better. Child actress Sharon Smyth actually upstages some of the adults as Sarah and she seems far more confident with the weird aspects of the show, including the fact that her character is a ghost.
Still, “Volume 20” has more melodrama than actual compelling human moments. Given the plot conceits keeping Maggie Evans in the dark about her abduction (namely Dr. Hoffman hypnotizing her to forget) the viewer stops caring about what happened to her. Instead, it is very easy to become annoyed with Dark Shadows with how they near her realizing what happened to her only to have it pulled away.
On the plus side, all five episodes on this VHS are in color, but they are very grainy and the show was cleaned up for the DVD presentation. Considering that the VHS medium is becoming increasingly fragile, that would be a far better investment for most.
But for those who are not already fans, “Volume 20” is way past the point where it is easy to jump into the series, making this volume impossible to recommend. It is very much a soap opera and for those who like such things, it might be fun to watch, but on its own, it does not hold up.
For other Dark Shadows reviews, please visit:
Dark Shadows (2012 film)
Dark Shadows Collection 1
Dark Shadows Collection 2
3/10
For other television and movie reviews, please check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!
© 2013, 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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