The DS Seances 1966-1971 (Inspired by Sandor)

[Taeylor Collins]

I looked all through the search three times and I didn't seem to find anything besides my response to Sandor about starting this thread.  Out of all of the Dark Shadows Seance's can you name the one that particularly spooks you the most.  I have had  the pleasure the other day of seeing (now what I consider my favorite seance)! And possibly one of my FAVORITE scenes from the series!  It was the first seance Guthrie held.  The first seance DS held!  WOW!  I cannot applaud DS enough.  The doors flying open and Laura appearing.  The atmosphere was charged you could tell everyone knew they were doing something so different!  Alexandra's speaking all that french!  She was great!  The over the head shot of the seance!  Daytime DIDN'T DO this!! How amazing it must have been to witness the first time around!  I loved the dissolve between Victoria/Josette and Laura trying to stop her with Laura's Phoenix powers!! The lighting was great.   IT WAS CREEPY!  I actually got chills!  Everyone was right The Phoenix Storyline is magnificient and it now has a new fan!  Personally, NOW, I think Barnabas owes his life to The Phoenix!

[Gothick]

Hey Taeylor (and hi Sandor!), what a great idea for a thread!  I look forward to everybody's memories about the DS seances.

One seance sequence I would love to see again is the restored one from the film Night of DS that I got to see at one of Darren Gross' presentations several years ago at a DS Festival.  It was, I thought, possibly the best bit of film Dan Curtis ever directed.  The camerawork had a fluid, uncanny swirl to it that really evoked the sensation of consciousness shifting and the veil between the Worlds running suddenly mist-thin.  Brilliant.

A personal favorite seance sequence of mine is the one from 1995 where Carolyn's spirit speaks through Julia.  Again, a sense of the uncanny in how Grayson changed her voice and the enigmatic words spoken.  Another one I love for similar reasons is the one from 1968 where Philippe Cordier's spirit speaks through Barnabas.  A tour de force for Jonathan Frid.  I loved it when they occasionally had him do something different from the usual.

G.

[IluvBarnabas]

My personal favorite seance will always be when [spoiler] the family is trying to reach Sarah's ghost and instead Vicki is transported back into the past, into Barnabas' past. I love the deception going on during the seance, Barnabas urging Carolyn to fake being Sarah, Julia frowning, knowing what they're up to, and Sarah's ghost speaking through Vicki, that was awesome! Carolyn is still trying to pass herself off as Sarah's ghost (a futile effort at this point) but Sarah is determined to speak! And then the lights go out and when they're back on we see Vicki is gone and Phyllis Wick, the orginial governess is there! And Vicki is now back in 1795! [/spoiler] What a great show that was!

I also like the Laura/Vicki seance as well. If it weren't for Laura's presence, I think Josette's spirit would have spilled all in English. Great episode. Alexandra truly was amazing in that scene.

[MagnusTrask]

The camerawork had a fluid, uncanny swirl to it that really evoked the sensation of consciousness shifting and the veil between the Worlds running suddenly mist-thin.

I liked this sentence.

I had no memory of the 1967 seance to reach Sarah when I watched again in 2002, so it was a total surprise what happened next.   I knew that was coming at some point, but as a result of a seance?

[michael c]

in later years seances would become as trite and commonplace as time travel.some of the specialness went out of the concept.

but the first few were indeed touched by magic.to this day i cannot watch or think about the laura collins seance or the 1967 seance that sends vicki back in time without getting goosebumps.

[Sandor]

Taeylor, thanks so much for bringing this thread to life.

Is there one character who attended the most seances? I would assume Barnabas or Julia, but they were absent from the PT 1970/Angelique seance, the Laura 1967 seance (never seen it, but reading the feedback makes me want to find those episodes pronto), the Stokes-meets-Magda seance, etc. so it may be an even-steven record for several people who sat at the round table with fingers touching, candle burning, eyes closed, storm brewing.

I liked the one where [spoiler]Madame Finley's ghost spoke through a rattled Mrs. Johnson. That one should be coming up on the Watching Project soon. Mrs. Johnson at any seance is worth a look.[/spoiler]

-S

[Taeylor Collins]

FOR that time you didn't see stuff like that in daytime for the first DS soap Seance.  You SEE and FEEL the fervent spirit the team behind the show felt for it. The actors, the directors, the writers, and the entire staff (you could see) were so excited to be doing something SO DIFFERENT!   I mean they do a HIGH movie shot looking straight down onto the table they are holding the Seance at!  It is very cinematic.  I am serious it's in my top 3 favorite scenes on the shot! And Alexandra speaking french it was amazing!  My lord, she spoke a lot!  I wonder if AM even slept the night before shooting it. She had a lot of lines to learn plus FRENCH and all this crazy stuff going on around.  I have NEVER seen AM more at the top of her game than in that episode!  Diana Millay's presence is palpable in my opinion the commanded the room.  The shots between her eyes and Victoria!    That is saying a lot cause I am such a Julia and Barney fan! They were in lots of Seances. 

Gothick~~Count me as a fan of JF's characterization of PC! Jon was having a blast getting out of Barnabas' shoes and JF was excellent.  And he spoke the french beautifully. He played PC wonderfully as well.  I love that episode!

NODS restoration I haven't seen!    I hope me and all the other DS fans are privy to it soon!!

I also love the creep factor in the Seance that "sent one woman on an uncertain and frightening journey into the past!"  Great DS moments!

Your welcome Sandor!  I love this thread!

Another one to add for me is the PT in which Sabrna yells "murder"!  I will elaborate on it later.  I really liked that one though!  For some reason?