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« on: January 17, 2013, 01:44:33 AM »
After 20 years, this can hardly be called the new show anymore but maybe this incarnation of DS will finally get its due.
Vicki arrives at Collinwood, gets acquainted with the supporting cast and before two many commercials have passed, Barnabas is chomping some serious neck. Yes, a lot of character development is lost but no doubt NBC wanted to get right to the vampire stuff.
Then, as now, I thought that Joanna Going was terrific. She made a convincing ingenue but still came across as intelligent and a little street smart. David was going to find out that this governess was not a pushover. I have a great fondness for Barbara Blackburn's Carolyn, who seems to channeling Mae West at times. Julianna McCarthy is good as Mrs. Johnson but outstanding as Abigail. Ely Pouget, Roy Thinnes, Adrian Paul, Michael T. Weiss, Veronica Lauren, Stefan gierasch and Michael Cavanaugh all do good work. Sadly, Jean Simmons is wasted as Elizabeth.
The other performances are a mixed bag. Lysette Anthony is handicapped by that Pepe LePew French accent. Barbara Steele handles the accent somewhat better. Her Julia seems sad most of the time. Time has been kind to Jim Fyfe's Willie characterization. Since I've seen Fyfe do good work elsewhere, I would blame the direction for any inadequacies in his performance.
Which is what I would say about Ben Cross. Too often, his Barnabas comes across as a pompous ass. The character is so ruthless at times that it was hard to feel sympathy for Barnabas. And someone really should have told him that it's hard to hiss like that and then try to come off as masculine.