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41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A flawed but interesting collection..., December 16, 2000
The first "Dark Shadows" entry into the DVD arena is undoubtedly a mixed bag, though viewers who can overlook its technical and creative flaws should find plenty of interest. While much of its material is culled from previous VHS releases, the DVD format offers a sufficient number of unique features to justify its purchase.The meat of the disc is to be found in its documentaries, all of which are previously released. "Dark Shadows: Behind the Scenes" is a fascinating hour-long programme, which consists of a broad selection of vintage and original cast interviews, backed to series highlights. With the addition of rare home movie footage and trailers, it succeeds at placing the "Dark Shadows" phenomenon firmly in context, though feels distinctly light on hard facts, lacking a needed authority on its subject matter. In "Inside the Shadows", creator Dan Curtis makes a leisurely, but modestly diverting commentary on the show, with some overlong archive exerpts. Finally, series star Nancy Barrett takes viewers "On Location", for a tour of series filming locations. While this segment is well-researched and nicely composed, it fails to fully ignite, emerging as a quaint aside, though nothing essential. Elsewhere, there is an original episode of the series with its dubbed Spanish language soundtrack (though sadly no choice of alternative English audio); some movie trailers; and finally, "Dark Shadows: Nightmares and Dreams", which compiles some of the show's imaginative dream excursions, but through non-existent presentation only succeeds in making them dull and tedious. As a bonus from the material available on VHS, there are some nice extras, in the form of a scratchy copy of a previously lost commercial for a "Dark Shadows" board game, recorded on the Collinwood set with Jonathan Frid; a series of 1980s "Dark Shadows" PBS pledge spots again featuring Frid; an exemplarly Picture Gallery, featuring beatiful rare pictures and sound cues; and finally a few text-only features, which seem notable only for their staggering pointlessness. Where the disk genuinely fails is in its lack of overall cohesion and variable picture quality. While certain segments look excellent, others fail with smeary overcompressed pictures, particularly in the "On Location" segment. This chapter is also prone to compatability issues on certain players, though I experienced no problems on mine. In spite of the technical problems, this emerges as a worthy package offering a broad range of content and excellent value for money. While it would be churlish to criticise this at length, a more focused approach and a desire not to shoehorn in excessive material at the cost of picture quality, would help make future releases more essential viewing. Hopefully future "Dark Shadows" DVDs can address these teething troubles, allowing their presentation to match the content. As times, less can definitely be more.
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DVD ~ Jonathan Frid
DVD ~ Alexandra Moltke
DVD ~ Joan Bennett
DVD ~ Joan Bennett
DVD ~ Jonathan Frid
