for whatever reason i've never had much interest in the 1991 revival series...
however i found the dvd set at a local record/video store priced at a cool $14 so i just couldn't resist.plus all my favorite shows at the moment are in reruns/pre-emptions due to this seemingly interminal writers stike.
i'm only four episodes in so i can't say i dislike it but what i can say is it has me dumfounded.baffled.perplexed.
let's get the most glaring implausibilities out of the way first.for a show set in maine it's obviously shot i the blazing california sun(and no amount of dry ice can disguise this fact).what's more there are numerous shots of barnabas wandering around in said blinding sunlight.
a few fashion notes of course.even though this is technically a product of the 1990's it looks 1980's to me.three things i hoped to never see i my life.joe haskell with a mullett.david collins in 'coogi' sweaters and 'members only' jackets.barnabas collins in tight black t-shirts.and 91' maggie evans needs some serious hair conditioning...talk about frizz!the fashions,hairdos and make-up trends of the 1960's hold alot of charm for me.the early 90's not so much.
what i found most astounding is the pacing.why on earth did they try and cram an entire year's worth of storyline into a twelve episode season???why before they even established the present day characters did they thrust the show back to 1795?talk about blowing your wad.what were they going to do in season two?1897?
major characters like carolyn,maggie and liz are woefully underwritten.i'm not sure why maggie's original storyline went to this unknown "daphne" character.willie loomis is an idiot and seems to be a composit character of the original willie,matthew morgan and harry johnson.
that said i am getting sort of a kick out of it.i do think that if i wasn't familiar with the original material i would think this was the dumbest thing i had ever seen...there's just too much crammed in.the 1960's version get slammed for it's "campiness" but sixteen years later this "big budget" version is looking almost just as dated and cheesy.
like i said i'm only on episode four so i'll have more to say i'm sure.