Dark Shadows

This series is AMAZING. Ben Cross and Joanna Going are both superb. I remember this on TV when I was 10 years old. I never saw the ending and all these years I never forgot about it and always wanted to see the outcome of the show. Now, 16 years later, remembering how good it was, I found the 3 disc series on my online rental database and watched it all over again. I wish this show would have been bigger and gotten more awards. It certainly deserves it and the story hooks you from the first second to the last episode. My only complaint is the last episode doesn't really leave you with closure but instead leaves questions unanswered and the outcome of the story very vague. But still, it's so worth watching.

As far as one of the actors, after watching her performance, Joanna Going should be a Hollywood Leading Lady on the big screen. She's so beautiful and talented and has an amazing presence on film.

I disagree with the poster above. I thought this revival was a wonderfully imaginative and compelling show. Quite familiar with the original series, I was a bit skeptical when this premiered as to what could they do and how they would update. This revival takes the original story of Barnabas Collins and company which took a year of the daytime show and compacts it into 12 episodes. I have also read the "Dark Shadows Companion" book that they put out when this show originally aired and they were basically using the first season as a springboard to get into different stories. What I liked about this version is that they took the familiar story but added twists and turns not in the original to keep it fresh. Both purists of the original show and new fans will find this very faithful, right down to the creepy original music that Bob Cobert used on the daytime show. I gave the VHS set to a young friend of mine awhile ago and he immediately was captivated as well and he became interested in the original series, which is quite easy to get on DVD. The casting was remarkable because each actor put a great new spin on the material. I also liked the fact that they rolled in other plots from the daytime show to fit into the main plot of Barnabas, Victoria and Dr. Hoffman. I never thought they could replicate what everyone liked about the original series but they managed to do it. This is a great treat for new and old fans alike and a must for any serious collector. My only quibble with the DVD is that there are no extras and that they did not restore the original print, using what looks like an inferior transfer copy from VHS. Not to be missed for the standout performances of Ben Cross, Jim Fife, Joanna Going, Jean Simmons and Barbara Steele.

A stunning remake of the original series, this was considerably more sensual & more fully realized the erotic power of the vampire figure. (This is understandable when you consider the years that the original was taped, & that it was a daytime series.) I had waited for this remake for years & was never let down by it. Still have a bit of a grudge against NBC for canceling it before it really had a chance. Ben Cross & Joanna Going were wonderfully cast as Barnabas & Victoria/Josette, w/ a strong contribution by Lysette Anthony as Angelique. I wish that they would make a movie version, but realize that the time may have passed for same. Strongly urge any Gothic fans to purchase the video or DVDs of this series.

I had barely seen the original series until this remake or mini-series, however you want to call it, was cancelled. The new series should have been a break-out hit on the Friday night void left behind by "Dallas" if it had not been done in by the Gulf War coverage. That's the only thing that killed the show and kept it from becoming a long-running series.The movie that spawned it was incredible and astounding, everything the original would have been with the budget of a prime-time series. Ben Cross was a younger Barnabus for the Nineties, and Joanna Going was more beautiful than any of the three original Victoria's. I can find nothing wrong with the cast except for the unknown Barbera Blackburn who was called upon to play Carolyn; she just didn't look like she belonged in the cast. Everyone else had fit the bill to a tee ! I'm also sure that if the series had continued, we would have started seeing some of the old DS stars in cameos in new roles.

NBC started their track record for horrible mistakes and cancelling great shows against viewer demand with this one. Killed by Gulf War footage, this show filled in the vaccum on Friday with the excellant idea of remaking America's favorite series with the budget and location shootings it deserved. Ben Cross made an excellant, if not, more seductive Barnabus,and Joanna Going made an exquisitely beautiful and virginal ingenue as Victoria Winters. The whole cast was perfect, except for the new Carolyn, and the mysterious mansion that served as Collinwood had the right amount of Gothic atmosphere for the series. Much of the series original concept was altered to more modernize the story and previous storylines were altered for a cleaner and easier to follow flow. If allowed to continue, this show would have been a hit, but NBC realized it far too late.