Storylines & Ideas We Never Saw?...

[Nelson Collins]

After all, Karloff as Turhan Bey was pretty spry and agile.

Make that Ardeth Bey..... ....(it's one of my all time favorite films.)

OOPS.  I stand corrected (no matter how it's spelled!  )  I wonder where I got "Turhan" from??

Anyhoo, interesting that there are so many rabid fans of Karloff's The Mummy!     So, I guess you do see what I mean vis a vis the similarities between the Im-ho-tep/Anckesen-Amon and Barnabas/Josette love stories.

[ProfStokes]

Yes, the Barnabas-Josette storyline does bear a powerful resemblance to The Mummy.  I suspect that Dan Curtis must have been inspired by it. The only slight difference is that Helen really was the reincarnation of Im-ho-tep's lost love, whereas Maggie was not really Josette. 

OOPS.  I stand corrected (no matter how it's spelled!  )  I wonder where I got "Turhan" from??

An actor called Turhan Bey played Mehemet, the high priest of Karnak (or maybe by then it was Arkham) in The Mummy's Tomb.

Rabid ProfStokes

[Nelson Collins]

Yes, the Barnabas-Josette storyline does bear a powerful resemblance to The Mummy.  I suspect that Dan Curtis must have been inspired by it. The only slight difference is that Helen really was the reincarnation of Im-ho-tep's lost love, whereas Maggie was not really Josette. 

Ah, well. I guess I had always thought that Maggie was a reincarnation of Josette, but I realize that I was probably reading more into it that was there, seeing the resemblance to the storylines.    Or perhaps it was HODS that suggested that Maggie was a reincarnation.  I have an impression that it was at least hinted at some point, but again, it may be that it was only Barnabas who thought this.

Didn't DC work that storyline element into his version of Dracula with Jack Palance?  It's been so many years since I have seen it, I don't remember. 

I do, however, very strongly remember the first time I say Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula, and thinking what an obvious swipe from the Dark Shadows Barn/Josette story the Dracula/Mina story was!!  (though again, in FFC's Dracula Mina is a reincarnation of Dracula's wife Elizabetha, though there are some strong similarities the the DS story as well.)

[stefan]

The only slight difference is that Helen really was the reincarnation of Im-ho-tep's lost love, whereas Maggie was not really Josette.

No she wasn't. They could have done allot more with that storyline though. I would have liked to have seen Josette's ghost take over Maggie but, then again, knowing Josette as we all did eventually, she was too gentle for that kind of stuff. But it would have been cool to have Josette's ghost inhabit Maggie briefly and connect with Barnabas.
I wonder if Dan Curtis did take his stories from the old horror movies or was it coincidence?

[Luciaphile]

Sam Hall told an interviewer that they used to go through old stuff all the time for story ideas.

And no one could have come up with the head in a box thing who hadn't seen The Thing that Wouldn't Die.

[Ian]

(though again, in FFC's Dracula Mina is a reincarnation of Dracula's wife Elizabetha, though there are some strong similarities the the DS story as well.)

OT, but as long as we're talking about Dracula...

The Elizabetha I'm assuming you're talking about is referring to the real life Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who was a descendant of the legendary Vlad Tepes, later known as Vlad Dracul, later known as Count Dracula. Elizabeth was convinced that if she bathed in the blood of virgin women, she would remain young and immortal.

Here's some more information on her from http://www.bathory.org/

"Erzsebet was arrested by Count Thurzo and his compatriots, an arrest that was political in nature. The aging Countess -- quite old for those times of ill health and early death -- had become an embarrassment, particularly since she had begun to kill members of the royalty, and despite (and perhaps because of) her high placement in the Bƒ¡thory family as cousin to the Polish king and holder of vast amounts of royal land.

Anna Darvulia had gone blind, and then died sometime earlier, probably of tuberculosis. Ferenc Nadasdy had been killed in battle several years earlier.

Two trials brought by Thurzo were held in 1611, one in Hungarian and one in Latin. A later tribunal with more than 200 witnesses was convened by King Matthias II. Erzsebet and her servants were found guilty and had their punishments set by the Bicse judge. Helena Jo and Dorattya Szentes were tortured and burned at the stake in 1611. Janos Ujvary was beheaded. Katalin Beneczky was spared death, and her fate is unknown.

Erzsebet herself was walled into her torture chamber, where she died after three years of imprisonment, in 1614.

All records of Erzsebet were sealed for more than a century, and her name was forbidden to be spoken in Hungarian society." [From: http://bathory.org/erzstale.html]

Sooo...there you go. Enjoy my darker side. XD

[PennyDreadful]

Sam Hall told an interviewer that they used to go through old stuff all the time for story ideas.

 Yep, I've heard the writers actually kept a rolodex (not sure if they meant this literally or not) of famous horror story synopses!  I can't help but think of the Spoof comics DS parody with Barnabas reading the book "Plagiarism For Fun and Profit!"  

 Ian, a friend of mine wants to write a musical about Elizabeth Bathory, the Blood Countess!  He said he was going to write it as a dark comedy!    I'll have to ask him if he's made any progress!

~Penny Dreadful~

[Nelson Collins]

(though again, in FFC's Dracula Mina is a reincarnation of Dracula's wife Elizabetha, though there are some strong similarities the the DS story as well.)

OT, but as long as we're talking about Dracula...

The Elizabetha I'm assuming you're talking about is referring to the real life Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who was a descendant of the legendary Vlad Tepes, later known as Vlad Dracul, later known as Count Dracula. Elizabeth was convinced that if she bathed in the blood of virgin women, she would remain young and immortal.

I am familiar with the Countess Bathory story, but was not aware that she was distantly related to Vlad Tepes.  However, the Elizabetha I was referring to was the character that was Dracula's wife when he was alive.  In the film, Dracul left her to go to war and one of his enemies smuggled a letter to her falsely saying that he had been killed.  So distraught was Elizabetha by the news of her husband's death she threw herself off the highest parapet of their castle home.  The wife was played by Winona Ryder, who also played Mina Harker and in that film it was made pretty plain that Mina was a reincarnation of Dracul's wife.  Since KLS played both Maggie and Josette and Josette also (but for different reasons) plunged to her death and in the "contemporary" story, Dracula is trying to reconnect with his Lost Love (tm) is why I suggested that FCC prettly baldly swiped elements of the Barn/Maggie/Josette story from DS for his version of Dracula.

[Ian]

Ahhh...now I understand. Thanks for the clarification, Nelson.

[Amy Jennings Fan]

I would have liked for Chris Jennings to return to Collinsport and find a way to break his curse. I would also have liked  Joe to be cured from his madness and get back with Maggie.

[priderockT]

   Wow! I just saw the Leviathan Kitty picture! Nicely done!! NowI have some idea of what
       the Leviathan Creature might havelooked like.


 

[CastleBee]

NowI have some idea of what the Leviathan Creature might have looked like.

I know this has been said before here on the board, but I really think that NOT showing the creature was the wisest thing they could have done with that (definitely not my favorite) storyline. First of all, as mentioned earlier in this thread; whatever special effects would have been used would by now be nearly comical in this case.  I even get a chuckle out of some of the more subtle ones - like that silly looking shadow that follows Jeb around.  And need I mention our little friend Squeaky Bat who looked like an escapee from Ed Wood's prop closet? Something on the scale of "the creature" would probably have us all wincing, rolling on the floor or both.  Leaving it to the imagination - like an old radio drama - was an inexpensive way to create something uniquely hideous for everyone.  In my own personal vision, I wasn't seeing kitties and snakes, but something slimey and green - more in the neighborhood of Jabba the Hutt - who, by the sound of him, was keeping himself busy making obscene phone calls all over Collinsport when he was stuck in that room upstairs.

[onyx_treasure]

Castlebee,
     Can you just see "Jebba" the Hut and our poor Carolyn creating a race of beings?  After reading your post, I imagined Carolyn in the place of Princess Leya(sp)

[MagnusTrask]

Watching all this I thought, early on, they're going to put us through all this and never show us the damn snake, or blob, or whatever, are they??!!    After all the boredom and straight-line simplicity of that storyline (really disappointing after 1897, which had complexity and overlapping storylines enough to please anyone) , a glimpse is the least they could have done.

They didn't always trip up as regards the props and effects.   The Hand was very well done, and left more of a lasting impression with me as a kid, than anything else on the program.    Barnabas's old age mask was so incredible that they brought it out again for one of the large-screen films.    (The only time I've ever seen convincing old-age makeup, anywhere.)   What they could have done was to build a portion of the creature, a really unexpected-looking, startling small portion, and have it occupy just a bit of the screen, as we look past this to see at the same time a human's horrified response, all taking place in the dim light of the Room, so any flaws are hidden, and the mystery quotient is dialed up.    (I'm getting verbose today, sorry)

Sure, it's great to leave things to the imagination, but the imagination needs to have a little something to work with.    An effective, horrifying image such as this might even have inspired the writers to come up with better material.    Their imaginations need something to spark them, too.    Asthma and a locked door over and over wouldn't inspire me, I know.

[PennyDreadful]

  I think the scenario you described would have worked Magnus.  I did want to see what it really looked like, but I'm sure they couldn't have afforded a decent full-frontal view.  Some dimly-lit portion of it would have been really cool though.  I think it probably had some snake-like element to it because the Naga serpent was such a prevalent Leviathan symbol.  Couple a multi-headed snake with some horrific, hellish Lovecraftian being and I think that might just equal the Leviathan creature.  I mean, if it causes madness just to even look at the thing it must really be unimaginably terrifying.

~Penny Dreadful~