And Yet Another New Slideshow

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Today's image and caption are hysterical.  I'm imagining Grayson's Julia playing this scene.  And Julia's role in the OS was really to sort of let the perennially clueless Barn know when, metaphorically, his own ass was on fire... a role that shifts to Liz in Depp Shadows.

Indeed!    Though even more than today's quote/capture, I love the look Elizabeth gives Barnabas after she's warned him:

As well as Barnabas sniffing the air when he apparently starts to smell the smoke:

Those looks are priceless, as well as very different from the reactions of the others in the room:

And even more priceless is that Mrs. Johnson just continues mopping away (as we see her doing in the background of the third capture in reply #185), completely oblivious to the fact that anything odd is going on. But then, that's pretty much Mrs. Johnson throughout the entire film. 

Though on a serious note, the whole Barnabas-Is-On-Fire incident really sets off the chain reaction of events leading to the final events in the film because, with Julia no longer in the picture with her supposed treatments to cure him, it sends Barnabas to Angie to demand that she remove his curse.

[Gothick]

Is there a context for today's capture and quote?  I'm completely blanking on this part of the movie.

My question is partly rhetorical--no need to feel obligated to post an answer.

G.

[michael c]

Is there a context for today's capture and quote?  I'm completely blanking on this part of the movie.

when barnabas arrives at "angie's" office there is a decanter of blood on the conference table. he asks her who's blood it is before, if I recall, drinking a glass from it.

[michael c]

even after multiple viewings i'm still confused by Vicki's attitude towards Barnabas in the fire scene above and her actions the next time we see her.


[spoiler]she appears to be under a spell(Angelique? Josette?)as she heads towards widows hill. but her final move seems to be of her own volition.[/spoiler]

[Mysterious Benefactor]

   I have a theory about that, but I'd rather wait until the December slideshow to get into it. 

And thanks for clearing things up for Gothick.    (I've added a qualifier to the quote.)

[michael c]

I have to say that a lot of the film's stabs at humor fell flat...


but calling Angelique "Angie" was actually pretty inspired.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I got some big laughs out of some of the humor, while other bits merely resulted in a mild chuckle or an amused smile - though I honestly do suspect that some of the humor wasn't meant to result in anything more than an amused smile, or even an eye roll. But then some of the things that I got the biggest laughs out of (moments that I've tried to point out during the slideshow and will be continuing to point out in future installments) are things that others were outraged by, so what can I say other than that humor is probably one of the most subjective things in life? 

[Gothick]

Thanks to MB and michael for explaining.  I did think Magtoria's attitude in the fire scene was strange--at least, the picture of her posted here seemed odd.  I really don't recall much about this part of the movie from my single viewing.

G.

[dom]

I agree with you regarding the humor, MB.

I am under the impression that no family knew Barn was a vampire except Liz.

[Uncle Roger]

I will be very interested in hearing your theory about the Vicki/Maggie/Josette business, MB. I just wish that December wasn't so far off.
It felt odd to me that the heroine is noticeably MIA from here until the finale. Choppy continuity? Cut footage? It shouldn't have taken her that long to get to Widows' Hill.

[Cousin_Barnabas]

This scene seemed like a big in-joke to me, a la letting actors deliver their lines in a room filled with flies.  This scene is the epitome of the Burton vision of Dark Shadows, that whole "strange vibe" he was talking about.  It's a "blooper" written into the script and everyone being forced to ignore it or react in some way.  Coming right after the most emotional scene in the whole movie, it's his tribute to the original's sometimes haphazard occurrences at the most inopportune times.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Though the Barnabas-on-Fire incident wasn't simply there for pure humor. I believe it serves three purposes beyond that. It clues in the rest of the family and Vicki that Barnabas is even a bit odder than they imagined. It, as I said previously, sends Barnabas to Angie to demand to be human, and that's mostly because of the way David and Vicki reacted to him. And it may serve another purpose - but I'm going to wait to get into that. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I've always found it interesting that Angie knows these things:

1972 - Angie: 'I knew it wouldn't be long before you barged in,
begging me to make you mortal again. Now that Dr. Hoffman
isn't around to give you your little transfusions.'


1972 - Angie: 'Interesting. I don't know many people who
take business meetings on the bottom of the ocean.'

But then, as I said before, anyone in Collinsport would have surely recognized Barnabas dressed in the hat, cape and gloves - even in the middle of a really dark night. And chances are very good that Angie had one of her henchmen watching Barn's every move outside of Collinwood, so he could have seen the disposal of Julia's body and reported back to Angie. What's more interesting, though, is that she knew Julia was supposedly giving Barnabas transfusions. Did the henchmen peek through the windows of Julia's lab to learn that? Or did Angie have some sort of an informant at Collinwood? I suppose we'll never know. But if there was an inside informant, the real fun would be to try to figure out who it was. And perhaps it was even yet another subplot that was cut.

[michael c]

I found it odd that they made a really big point of setting the piece in 1972 and then the costumer did absolutely nothing to reflect that in "angie's" wardrobe and hairstyles...


everything she wore in the film could easily be worn today and look perfectly current.

[Nicky]

"Did the henchmen peek through the windows of Julia's lab to learn that? Or did Angie have some sort of an informant at Collinwood?"

MB dearest, she IS a witch ...