It does look like she may have had conjunctivitis in her right eye. Her left eye looks normal. I don't think any blood is actually leaking out, but the tissue is inflamed in the inner corner of her eye.

I saw an article about the Johnny Depp photos linked from my msn.com newspage this morning. I guess I'm really not surprised at all. It looks like the character will be in keeping with his performances as Willy Wonka and the Mad Hatter  -  in movies I was curious about because I love the books, but decided I really wasn't interested in seeing the more I read and saw about them. I liked Johnny Depp in "The Ninth Gate," and he seemed fine in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," although I didn't care much for the movie. Other than having an interesting visual sense, there hasn't been much else that has interested me in Tim Burton. He didn't seem like the right choice for "Dark Shadows" material, Mr. Depp didn't seem right to me as Barnabas Collins, and the writer of this movie seems entirely miscast to deal with the scope, characterizations, or tone of "Dark Shadows". I understand that this will be a new interpretation that may appeal to a new audience, but I'll personally hold a distance from the movie and not allow it to affect my admiration for the original show.

This is by far the best news I've heard about the upcoming movie.

if Frid's read the script and still wants to be in the film then at least we can assume that the script is quality work and we can feel safe that our beloved DS is heading in the right direction.

Let's keep our fingers crossed!

A substantial cameo by Mr. Frid would be fantastic ... something tasteful, erudite, perhaps professorial - would be perfect for him. Come to think of it, that could well describe the character of Professor Stokes! Now that would be a plum role for Mr. Frid!

I like what loril54 had to say:

i hope the movie isn't campy, and I hope that they do it right.

These are real concerns I have, too, and I'm glad to see that they've been raised by a couple of people in this discussion. Personally, neither the director or actor are "right" for me ... but millions disagree ...

Because the show ended in the past, everyone can take it forward in the present.

That's an intriguing idea. Doing something unique with the material could raise the film above the humdrum, same-old, "it's been done" syndrome. Phil's concept is certainly interesting although not necessarily what I would want to see, either.

Everyone has things that they have conflicts about, in many different area's.

When I was new to DS on the web many years ago, I read an article written with great feeling and earnestness about how DS was a metaphor for living in an alcoholic family. While I think there may be some subtle "homosexual subtext" in a few scenes with Willie and Jason McGuire, as well as Aristede and Petofi, I think a broader theme of the show is family secrets - whatever they may be.

I have been watching Collection 1 over the past few weeks and while Mr. Frid's nervousness was evident from time to time at first (just as it was with KLS and any number of other actors on the show), it wasn't as apparent for as long as Mr. Frid seemed to think it was - for an entire year! Poor man, I hope he didn't really mean it, because he certainly came into his own as a powerful presence at the point I'm viewing now, which is Vicki's disappearance from the hospital, soon to be followed by Barnabas' attempts to form her into a new Josette. I think Mr. Frid was very humbly overstating the case of his own nervousness (at least how visible it was) ... and it's a comment that I feel has been given too much ink. Unfortunately, when those unfamiliar with the show see remarks like this recast in print, it's all too easy for them to dismiss DS as laughable and bad.

This news may be in keeping with the spirit, though not the letter, of the guidelines for posting celebrity obituaries. Ingrid Pitt died two days before Thanksgiving, in London. I believe she has been mentioned in passing on this forum, both regarding her brief appearance in the classic "The Wicker Man," and in two vampire movies, "Vampire Lovers" and "Countess Dracula." "Vampire Lovers," directed by Roy Ward Baker, released in 1970, is loosely adapted from the vampire novella "Carmilla" by Joseph Sheridan LeFanu.

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/nov/26/local/la-me-ingrid-pitt-20101125

A number of the actors' memories of the direction on DS starting around this time refer to Henry Kaplan pushing for "more, bigger reaction" from the performers, particularly in those cliffhanger close-ups while Sybil angled the needle onto the sting record.  I remember a description of a set visit from 1970 where the journalist described Selby staring into camera three in fixed, utter horror for nearly a full-minute, then collapsing on the floor with laughter once the red light went off. 

MB has written about this several times too (not sure if he mentioned Henry Kaplan specifically). So many of these actors have done excellent work outside of DS (Chris Pennock, for example, and Addison Powell, apparently) that I'm sure the direction must have been a big part of the larger-than-life acting. It has taken me a while to see that, because on the other hand there were villains on DS who didn't "overact," IMO, such as James Storm. Perhaps someone else was directing Mr. Storm!

Performances in the two DS movies were uniformly "realistic," on the other hand. I appreciated seeing the theatrical showing of HODS in Burbank this summer because the acting in some cases had nuances that didn't come across as well viewing on a small TV screen.

Hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving!

Thanks for the link, MB! 

I was disappointed I was only able to watch the first 20 minutes or so of the movie when it was shown at the DS Festival in Burbank this year, but I think it started at midnight or later and I couldn't stay up till 2!

I thought it was pretty intriguing and now this blogger claims it is inspired by the Faust legend. Will wonders ever cease?