NoDS

[michael c]

the whole thing was decidedly more "70s" than "60s" in sensibility and tone...


there were even a few scenes where Quentin, Tracy, Claire and Alex were hanging out getting drunk(and high?)that almost has a "swingy" sort of vibe.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I love the new pieces Cobert wrote for NoDS - and when I play the soundtrack CD for hoDS and NoDS, I almost exclusively play the NoDS music. I don't even remember the last time I listened to all of the hoDS section (though I do like those pieces - just not as much - well, maybe with the exception of Carolyn & Barnabas, which has always been one of my big favorites from the daytime show, and I tend to associate it with Petofi more than anything else). My favorite NoDS pieces have to be Nightmare In The Past, Gerard's Attack, Angelique's Assault and Searching For Carlotta. I especially like the way Cobert utilized reverb because it sets the perfect mood for the scenes scored with those pieces. And I also like how Shadows Of The Night is weaved throughout a lot of the music. (It's a shame that the 1810 piano scene was cut from NoDS because it explains the real significance of weaving SOTN throughout the other pieces. But hey, maybe one day we will actually see NoDS restored.)

I do believe, though, that two pieces from hoDS also appear in NoDS. Off the top of my head I don't honestly recall what both are, but one is definitely The Search For David, which plays over Angelique's attack on Alex.

[MagnusTrask]

true that most of the main cast was killed off in HODS. but then they all showed up on everyone's television sets the next day. so in that one has to conclude that the films are meant to stand alone outside series continuity.

I took it as already-understood that the films were entirely separate from the series.   I was saying that I had thought that the two films, and just those two films, shared one continuity between them-- and that now, going by people's recent remarks on NODS, it now appears to me that this isn't true.   Now I get the impression that each film is separate, and has no continuity with anything but itself.

[tragic bat]

The two films don't really connect with each other, and yeah it is just another generic Quentin with very little individual backstory to differentiate him from the other Quentin's we've seen.  He's basically just a stand-in for his ancestor.   

It's so jarring for me to go from the closed-off, escapist atmosphere of the original series to seeing a few familiar actors tramping around Lyndhurst and calling it Dark Shadows.  It just isn't.  The Old House wasn't even used or mentioned as existing, not even as a place for Claire and Alex to live.  And since the characters drive just a few hours each way into New York City, the setting obviously isn't Maine anymore. 

I did like some of the original string music utilized in the film, though it melded better with the picture in my memory. 

[MagnusTrask]

Odd he dumped the series music, since he went back and reused series music in at least one thing "A Darkness at Blaisedon" I think it's called.

[dom]

I wonder how the fan reaction would have been to the film if the series' music had been used. If it would have made things 'weird' or odd or seemingly confusing or unlikable because of the departure from what DS was by way of the series or 'house'. It appears Curtis was very wise to have Cobert write new music for 'Night'.

[Cousin_Barnabas]

I do believe, though, that two pieces from hoDS also appear in NoDS. Off the top of my head I don't honestly recall what both are, but one is definitely The Search For David, which plays over Angelique's attack on Alex.

Now that you mention it, I recall that piece being used. 

Cobert always went back to the original DS music, though.  I believe Burnt Offerings and The Night Stalker both have, at  least, one DS cue.

[michael c]

what's interesting is that there has always been talk that NODS somehow "failed" because of the absence of frid. that when he opted out it was instantly doomed...


but as it stood structurally there was no role for frid. or at least not barnabas. had he decided to participate in another movie it would have been a second film or more of a traditional sequel but not this film even if it had been called "NODS".


this was entirely structured around David Selby and Kate Jackson. if frid had been on board they'd have had much different/smaller parts to play.


and yes, going back to the earlier question it would appear that the two films exist as stand alone stories with no literal connection to the series or each other other than flying under the DS banner.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I've never subscribed to the notion that NoDS somehow wasn't DS because Frid chose not to participate. Though I suppose that's not a surprise because I've said on numerous occasion that I never felt, not even back in the day, that Frid and/or Barnabas were the end all and be all of DS. Sure, each made a great contribution to DS, but to say that either was completely necessary for something to be DS would be to totally invalidate the entire 9 months of DS that took place before Frid/Barnabas ever appeared - and those 9 months are certainly just as much DS as what came after is.

As for what a sequel with Frid/Barnabas might have been, none of us will ever know. Apparently a script was never written, and there are even conflicting stories as to whether or not an outline was ever prepared. But in either case, once Frid refused to do the second film, any initial work on the original idea was tossed out and no one, not even Sam Hall, remembers what the storyline might have been. Instead DC and Sam Hall decided to go with a ghost story (rather than a werewolf story). Though the one interesting thing that was chief regarding whatever the second film turned out to be is that DC was insistent that there be a large role for Kate Jackson.

[michael c]

I agree mysterious...


those nine/ten pre-barnabas months are like a little gem to me. the bleeder valve. the fountain pen. culiminating the the brilliance of diane millay's appearance as laura.


I love it just as much(if not more)than anything that comes later.

[tragic bat]

People moving into a strange house and finding ghosts is the plot of a hundred other B-horror films (and so is the ghost being a witch killed long ago seeking lost love and/or revenge.)  Barnabas is definitely not essential, and his presence in HODS didn't cause it to veer closer to Dark Shadows' character driven drama then to horror tropes from Hammer's Dracula series either.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

his presence in HODS didn't cause it to veer closer to Dark Shadows' character driven drama then to horror tropes from Hammer's Dracula series

Actually, one of the biggest problems I have with hoDS is that it's not character driven. Some really wonderful character scenes were included in the script, but in his infinite wisdom DC decided either to not shoot them or to leave them on the cutting room floor in favor of focusing on the blood and gore instead of character. In that way hoDS definitely hues closer to the Hammer films - and apparently that was DC's intent.

On the other hand, NoDS is more character driven, like the daytime show, and I've always felt it was all the better for it. And one of the things I've always found fascinating is the divergence of opinion the two original films bring out in the horror press vs. the general press. For the most part, the horror press looks upon hoDS more favorably than the general press does, whereas the opposite is true when it comes to the general press, who for the most part look upon NoDS more favorably.

[Gerard]

I consider NoDS a direct sequel to HoDS.  As already mention, a quick reference was made to Elizabeth, stating that she had recently passed away, so take that as connecting it with the first movie.  Interestingly, no mention is made of David, the only other member of the family to have survived.  But regarding that, I make stuff up in my mind regarding inconsistencies.  After the carnage of HoDS, David was sent away (maybe with Maggie and - gulp - Jeff to start aneew somewhere else.  David would retain a big portion of the family wealth, while the rest passed onto the only other distant relative, Quentin, who inherited the estate when David had no intention of returning.  So, after all the blood-letting, Elizabeth remained, living in isolation.  Mrs. Johnson had also sought employment elsewhere, leaving a secondary Carlotta as the new housekeeper (she was the second-floor maid until then).  David, with Elizabeth's blessing, moved away with Maggie and Jeff.  When Elizabeth died, and with David not wanting anything more to do with Collinwood, enter Quentin, a distant cousin.

Gerard

[michael c]

wow. that's a lot of work to connect the two.


other than the fleeting mention of liz no reference made even obliquely to anything or anyone that had ever appeared in any other variation of the story. the setup is completely different. it's an interesting theory but  unfortunately can only be read as fan fiction since nothing that actually takes place in the film supports it or even hints at such a scenario.


seems easier to just read them as stand alone stories.

[Cousin_Barnabas]

What is clear is that Mrs. Stoddard died without any close relatives or direct descendants, [spoiler]which could connect back to the events of the previous film - with the exception of David. [/spoiler]