Product Details

• Actors: Dark Shadows, Joan Bennett
• Format: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO
• DVD Release Date: April 29, 2008
• Run Time: 690 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0012IWNSQ
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #20,980 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  #12 in	Movies & TV > Television > TV Series By Letter > D > Dark Shadows
  #85 in	Movies & TV > Horror > Things That Go Bump > Vampires

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The Start of a Legend!
Named One of TV s Top 25 Cult Shows by TV Guide

With its alluring tales of Gothic mystery and supernatural intrigue, DARK SHADOWS (1966-71, ABC-TV) became one of the most popular daytime series of all time. The character of Barnabas Collins, a guilt-ridden, 175-year-old vampire, brought the show tremendous success. Now, for the first time on DVD, MPI presents the spooky series rare, early episodes before Barnabas.

When Victoria Winters searches the Old House for David Collins, she is abducted and held captive by Matthew Morgan, the Collinses fugitive caretaker who is hiding following the death of family friend Bill Malloy. A massive search is held to find Victoria. An angry and jealous Joe Haskell fights with Burke Devlin after he catches Carolyn Stoddard, his girlfriend, with Burke in his room at the Collinsport Inn. A mysterious woman visits the diner and asks waitress Maggie Evans about the Collins family.

The ghost of Josette Collins appears to Matthew and attempts to protect Victoria. Sam Evans reveals to a stunned Roger Collins that Roger s estranged wife, Laura, has returned. Sam begins to paint a bizarre portrait of a woman surrounded by flames, which he cannot explain. Burke hopes to get Laura to clear him of the manslaugter charge that sent him to prison. Laura tells her son, David, the story of the immortal creature known as a Phoenix and he has a terrifying nightmare about his mother.

Special Features:
New interviews with actress
Diana Millay (Laura Collins),
writer Malcolm Marmorstein and
producer Robert Costello.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Superatural Plot Really HEATS Up!!!, January 12, 2008

By	E. Hornaday (Lawrenceville, NJ United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

After jumping out of the frying pan and directly into the occult fire, Dark Shadows creator Dan Curtis knew there could be no turning back. He knew his decision to accept his children's advice to "go supernatural" would either save or kill the first-ever gothic soap opera, and it did.

With the ratings at an all-time low, he unleashed his first ghosts (episodes included in Dark Shadows: the Beginning Set 3) then kept up the pressure cooker in the episodes included in this boxed set. Amazed, he watched as the ratings steadily and miraculously rose from the dead (much like the reluctant 175-year-old vampire Barnabas Collins would do about six months later.)

In this boxed set, the Collins family is turned upside down by recent events: the murder of Collins Plant Manager Bill Malloy, the unexpected return of Roger Collins' wife, Laura Murdock Collins, and the abduction of Collinwood Governess Victoria Winters.

Roger (Louis Edmonds) had told his young son David (David Henesy), that his mother was dead, but she had actually suffered a mental breakdown and was confined in sanitarium. Since being released, she apparently had been living in Phoenix, Ariz., unbeknownst to the Collins family.

Without warning, Laura (Diana Millay) returns to Collinwood late one night and demands full custody of her son. Roger and his sister, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Joan Bennett) refuse to allow her to see David, who is fast asleep and turn her away. Even so, that night David mysteriously dreams of his mother coming out of powerful flames to kill him.

Because of his dream, David doesn't want to see his mother, but eventually agrees. Sitting together in front of the fireplace in the Drawing Room of Collinwood, Laura tells him the famous legend of the Phoenix, a great bird who remains immortal, but only because it dies by fire and is reborn the same way every 100 years.

In Collinsport, Artist Sam Evans (David Ford) inexplicably feels driven, compelled to paint a portrait of Laura - flames encircling her image.

Meanwhile, Victoria (Alexandra Moltke) is kidnapped but finds comfort in an unlikely source: the ghost of Josette Collins. Later, Elizabeth tells Vicki that her great aunt had once told her that in her youth she had seen the ghost of Josette who at that time provided guidance to save a fishing crew feared lost at sea.

Several of these episodes span the Christmas and New Year season, so viewers are treated to a holiday greeting as the credits roll.

Millay and Curtis are interviewed in bonus material.

These early black and white episodes occurred prior to the arrival of the vampire, played by the gifted Jonathan Frid. Once Frid joined the cast, the show skyrocketed to iconic status. Many fans who began watching once Barnabas became a fixture on the show, never saw these early episodes, so it's wonderful to have them finally available on DVD, to see how it all began!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic, December 16, 2008

By	Robert H. Thomson (Renovo, Pa) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Dark Shadows The Beginning collection 4--Before Barabas Collins--Its more a Gothic type romance heading towards the Supernatural--Louis Edmounds as Roger Collins shines.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rising From The Shadows, September 15, 2008

By	Antony Edwards "music man" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Here's where it starts to get GOOD! In this volume of the 60s gothic horror soap, the show finally stops dancing around the subject and embraces the supernatural. In the process the show saves itself and starts to lay the groundwork for its cult popularity. Two characters emerge here--the ghost of Josette Collins and Laura Collins, The Phoenix--both of whom will be pivotal in future storylines. While this volume also deals with some of the show's primary (and plodding) non-supernatural plots, you'll see the show's lively side with colorful characters such as the deranged caretaker and the aforementioned deliciously evil Laura. Along the way you'll see the show experiment more with special effects. After this there's no turning back.