What really makes me ecstatic, and mad, is the concept from the makeup that when Barnabas would be released from his coffin after around 200 years, he would appear as a shriveled, mummy-like walking corpse, his clothing in decayed shreds. For two centuries he had been entombed, unable to receive the nourishment of blood, something that not only keeps him alive, but "young." He most certainly would not rise from the grave, looking as fresh as the day he got chained in there, his clothing maybe a bit dusty but nothing more. Bram Stoker presented that whole aspect. Vlad Dracula had to move from Transylvania because he had, over time, pretty much drained his neighborhood dry, and what was left was not of very fresh vintage. Hence, when he first appears in the novel, he is an elderly, white-haired man (as portrayed in the Coppola film). After he moves to England where the supply is young and sturdy does he return to his youthful appearance. So, yes, I'm happy that this latest version of Dark Shadows was more logical in presenting the vampire.
What makes me mad about it is what made everyone else mad - that the show, which did its research, was not given a chance by WB.
Gerard
