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Messages - Zahir

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1
Current Talk '12 I / Re: DS 1991: A Look Back
« on: March 25, 2012, 12:47:19 AM »
In reference to the sunlight in Barnabas' coffin room--it was quite early, the first or second ep as I recall.  The Old House was undergoing renovation and someone (David?  Vicky) just opened a door and walked down some steps into a coffin room.  Streams of light were pouring into the room, albeit none directly onto the coffin.  Willie stopped whoever-it-was.

Anne Rice even made a comment about it at the time.

As for how to do the flashback sequence differently, I would suggest avoiding the seance altogether!  Don't send Victoria Winters into the past at all, but instead show Barnabas having tiny flashbacks to what happened as he met different family members or encountered circumstances.  Very Highlander or Forever Knight.  On top of that I would have scrapped the whole notion that Victoria Winters is Josette reincarnated.  Tis a cliche and frankly rather cheap.  So much more interesting the way it was done in the original series, in which Vicky is someone Barnabas comes to love for herself.

On the other hand, it would have been tres cool for someone else in the present to have been reincarnated -- preferably a character with less to do, like Liz.  If in fact she were Naomi reborn, and started have strange dreams that would open up all kinds of interesting possibilities.

But I also think the approach to flashbacks needed to be more than exposition.  For every question the flashbacks answered, they should have raised at least one more.

IMHO

2
Current Talk '12 I / DS 1991: A Look Back
« on: March 21, 2012, 10:45:04 PM »
Just had this article published and I'm showing off.   [snow_clown]

http://www.vampires.com/looking-back-dark-shadows-1991/

3
Current Talk '24 I / Re: (**MORE FABULOUS PHOTOS!! Replies #2519 and #2522**) Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Production!!
« on: March 14, 2012, 05:01:20 AM »
Well, I went to the screening.  And they didn't let me in.  Oh well.  But someone else I know did!   [snow_smiley]

4
Current Talk '24 I / Re: (**TWO NEW PHOTOS!! Reply #1264**) Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Production!!
« on: November 24, 2011, 06:38:04 AM »
Chloe Grace Moretz on Jimmy Fallon:

Part One:  http://www.hulu.com/watch/303430/late-night-with-jimmy-fallon-chloe-grace-moretz-part-1#s-p2-sr-i1
Part Two:  http://www.hulu.com/watch/303428/late-night-with-jimmy-fallon-chloe-grace-moretz-part-2

5
Current Talk '11 II / Everything Old Is New Again...
« on: September 30, 2011, 04:46:09 PM »
Just a fun list of ideas/elements/tropes we first saw in Dark Shadows but have popped up since....

Two brothers, one a vampire the other a werewolf (Underworld Evolution)
Vampire in love with a psychic (True Blood)
Reluctant vampire trying to regain his humanity, opposed the the female who made him undead.  (True Blood and The Vampire Diaries as well as Moonlight and of course Angel)
Woman scientist trying to cure the vampire she's fallen for (Forever Knight)
Small town full of supernatural secrets and dangers (Twin Peaks, Haven)
Immortal seeking the reincarnation of his lost love, for whom he was cursed (Fright Night and Bram Stoker's Dracula--although really this goes back to The Mummy with Boris Karloff)

Generally speaking, of course, DS tended to rip off...er...draw inspiration from classic literature and movies, from Rebecca to Jane Eyre to The Maltese Falcon.  All which mean lots of good fun, but I was always more impressed by the stuff DS did that proved original.  As far as I know, for example, nowhere else has a vampire been haunted by the spirit of a loved one a la Barnabas and Sarah.  Likewise, that Barnabas proved insane enough to try and recreate Josette based on nothing but a physical resemblance and at the same time fell in love with a modern young woman seemed to me the most brilliant twist of the original series.  Sadly, one no other version has repeated.   [ghost_sad]


6
Current Talk '24 I / Re: (**TWO NEW PHOTOS!! Reply #1264**) Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Production!!
« on: September 28, 2011, 02:27:47 AM »
Since Johnny Depp doesn't look like Jonathan Frid, it really doesn't mean much to say "he doesn't look like Frid."  Of course he doesn't.  So what?

Honestly, I loved Frid's performance as Barnabas, but never EVER have understood why anyone would call him "hot."  What I could comprehend, quite easily, would be someone falling in love with this man.  Different thing altogether.

Johnny Depp on the other hand makes plenty of ladies swoon.  I've seen it.  Even when he's dressed in filthy, vaguely androgynous rags and with terrible teeth.

Mind you, I like the ladies so my opinion is of someone "outside looking in."

But until we see Johnny Depp as Barnabas--not a photo but some snippet of his actual performance--even tentatively rendering a judgment on that performances cannot make much sense.

7
Current Talk '24 I / Re: (**TWO NEW PHOTOS!! Reply #1264**) Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Production!!
« on: September 27, 2011, 06:33:03 PM »
Hmmmm...gotta say a lot of the costuming, the visual representation of women, the use of shadows, the use of sky, the rhythms, the friggin' windmill (right out of Brides of Dracula) all echoed Hammer to me, a lot.  To be sure, it was the colonies not England and with a much grander budget, but the first time I saw Sleepy Hollow my mind went to Hammer.

Its a tricky thing, capturing something as nebulous as a "feel."  Personally, I find the pics of the new movie more faithful in some ways to the series than was HODS.  Mind you, I'm only referring to the pictures.  Haven't seen the whole movie yet (no one has--lots of post production and editing yet to do).  But it does, hopefully, give a nice foretaste.  Prepares my palate, as it were.

For example--colors.  Like the original series I see lots of bright colors off-setting the browns, blacks and grays.  In fact a fair number of background colors seem muted or desaturated to some degree.  One gets the impression of a place faded, and full of shadows.  Of course on TV bright colors were often used to make things visually interesting.  Elaborate sets and landscapes weren't really possible, and wouldn't work on tiny screens anyway.  Star Trek did something similar, with those red, blue and yellow uniforms.  For the movies they went with something different, all muted grays and browns at first and then those lovely black-and-burgundy uniforms with gold insignia and color-coded trim.  Burton seems to have gone after something similar.

Be interesting to see this flick when it is released on DVD, and to watch it with the color turned all the way down to zero!

8
Current Talk '11 II / Re: The Ultimate Dark Shadows Fan Quiz
« on: September 27, 2011, 06:11:01 PM »
Took it.  Did pretty well.  But the quiz has some errors--like confusing Angelique with Catherine, which at least makes some sense.  But it also maintains Roger was Elizabeth's husband!

9
Current Talk '11 II / Using DS for a Game
« on: September 27, 2011, 05:45:09 PM »
I take part in role-playing events called "House Games."  Lest anyone start thinking TOO MUCH INFORMATION allow me to point out these are role-playing games a la Dungeons and Dragons (but not that one, nor even in that genre).

Last Sunday I ran a game--a one-shot for five players--based on Dark Shadows.  Okay, the town was called Noah's Cove and the place where they spent their time was based the House By The Sea (which I called Cliff House) but it did involve Caleb Collins.  They even opened up Caleb's grave to get a key he still had in hand!  This key opened a secret door which led to a mystical labyrinth.  Although they didn't know it, part of the 'back story' involved Parallel Time of 1860, when Bartholomew Collins (Jonathan Frid) became a vampire and followed his childhood love Jerusha Stokes (Lara Parker) into 'our' time.  Heh heh.

Just wanted to share.

10
Current Talk '24 I / Re: (**TWO NEW PHOTOS!! Reply #1264**) Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Production!!
« on: September 27, 2011, 05:37:31 PM »
Must point out that twice before Burton sought to recreate a particular type of film's "look" and "flavor."  In Ed Wood he clearly aimed at capturing the sensibility behind those charming, terrible films.  Then in Sleepy Hollow he stated how it deliberately echoed the old Hammer Horror films.  Must say, in both cases he succeeded!  On the other hand he never said anything at all about trying to recreate anything in either Planet of the Apes or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Now he's been talking for months about the specific aesthetic of DS.  Might naturally presume he'll end up pretty successful.  Certainly looks that way so far!

11
Current Talk '24 I / Re: (**OFFICIAL CAST PHOTO!! Reply #1134**) Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Production!!
« on: September 27, 2011, 12:55:46 AM »
Read somewhere this photo (which I must say seems very much a tribute to an original cast photo) was taken early on in production.  So while one shouldn't expect every character to look like this for every scene, the basic design can probably be said to be there.

12
Current Talk '11 II / Dark Shadows 1970-71?
« on: September 25, 2011, 07:42:40 PM »
What if Dark Shadows hadn't ended in 1970?

Bear with me for a moment.  Suppose the series hadn't been cancelled.  One reason folks often said the show ended was that they'd run out of ideas, or classic works of gothic/supernatural literature to rip off.   [ghost_cheesy]  But is that true?  Really?  I invite you all to suggest...sources of inspiration...the show might have used and how they could have played out.  Consider also that the last time we saw Barnabas, Julia and Professor Stokes they'd returned from the past having changed history quite a bit (duh--Edith died a young woman!).  We know Elizabeth and Roger were still around, and methinks we can presume David and Carolyn as well.  But at the very least we might find another branch of the family somewhere, descended from Quentin and Daphne maybe?

So here are some suggestions on my part:

The Haunting by Shirley Jackson.  In this wonderful (and terrifying) novel, a scientist who's longed all his life to find some kind of proof of ghosts persuades the owners of a New England mansion with a bizarre history to let him bring in a couple of real psychics for a week and see the results.  If this isn't tailor-made for DS I don't know what is!  One possibility that comes to my mind is that Barnabas might agree to let such an experiment at the Old House in hopes of contacting the spirit of Angelique!

Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, about a melancholy female vampire who visits a lonely person her own age and begins feeding, almost against her will.  Wouldn't it be interesting to see another reluctant vampire, one who successfully hid their tracks even from Julia and Barnabas?  Yet we'd all be rooting for them to connect because after all Julia does have a cure!  She could turn this young woman back into a human being!

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen.  This has enormous potential for humor, frankly.  Suppose a pretty young woman came to Collinwood expecting to find all kinds of gothic mysteries and dark secrets--then utterly misinterpreted things!  She might obsess about a perfectly ordinary object, thinking it cursed, or become convinced a natural death was in fact murder, or try to find the 'code' to decypher an old document whose real meaning she totally misses!  Oh, and let Quentin fall in love with her.  That'd be a nice touch, don'tcha think?

So many possibilities...Dr. Heidegger's Experiment, Rappacinni's Daughter, The Great God Pan, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Mummy, etc. etc.

What would YOU like to have seen?   [ghost_smiley]

13
Current Talk '11 II / Re: Script For The '04 WB DS Pilot Available For Download!
« on: September 25, 2011, 07:20:48 PM »
I've read the script now, and like it!  Some changes obviously took place between this and actual production.  My personal favorite was the business when Carolyn met Victoria--the little (hilarious) gesture when she asked "Have you met...David?"

Seems to me some things were probably cut for budgetary reasons.  Understandable.  They wanted a pilot and any characters that might be best introduced later--Sarah, Sam, Maggie--might have been cut to save money.

What I've said before (and am clearly saying again) is that the WB pilot became in many ways my favorite DS ever.  Like the original series it created its own little pocket of reality that let me accept a few absurdities--like no one checking out the credit score of the new arrival, or that such a huge home would exist in Maine of all places in the 1700s.  All the performances seemed good to me, setting up all kinds of mysteries that led me hoping to see more.  Yes, that includes Blair Brown.  What else had been going on in that house, I kept wondering?

My only disappointment was that Victoria seemed to be Josette's reincarnation.  Frankly, that was cliche back in 1968 and the original series wisely avoided it.

14
Current Talk '11 II / Re: Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Spoilers
« on: September 25, 2011, 07:10:02 PM »
Jimbo--have you taken a gander at the official cast photo?

15
Current Talk '24 I / Re: (**OFFICIAL CAST PHOTO!! Reply #1134**) Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Production!!
« on: September 25, 2011, 07:07:32 PM »
All DS fans have their favorites and not-so-faves.  The original series, the books, the comic books (both lines), the 91 Revival, the Off Broadway play, the audio dramas, the WB Pilot, the first two movies, etc.  Methinks there's plenty of room for criticism as well as praise with all of the above.  We can certainly debate stuff like that.  Should debate it.  As long as folks show each other respect (none of this "you're not a true fan!" nonsense) and post politely, not harping on stuff and maybe forgiving each other for creating the wrong impression every now and then--we should all continue enjoying Dark Shadows, yes?

After all, we each of us already know what happens when you start a witch hunt!  Look at poor Phyllis Wick!   [ghost_sad]

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