As a movie, I like NoDS best, because it tells its own story and stands on its own feet.  Granted, it had very little to do with the established DS universe of the broadcast series canon, but when you think about it, so did hoDS--the fact that the people have the same names and are played by the same actors makes it easy, perhaps, to overlook how "out of character" they are for their actions in the story of hoDS.  (I'll still never know what Barn's motivation was for his initial attack on Carolyn.  It sort of goes downhill from there, in terms of character, motivation, plot, etc.)

I think if the excised footage had been restored, particularly the piano scene and the seance sequence, we would see in NoDS a work that relates more fluidly and in a surprisingly sophisticated way to what we know of the DS Universe.  I've already cursed and kvetched my way across many screens about how enraged I am with the suits in WB home video about this so enough already for now.

All I'll say about Depp Shadows is that for me, it was a 100 minute, 165 million buck SNL skit.  But for those of you who enjoyed it, more power to you.

cheers, G.

Actually, now I think of it, Natalie also mentioned Cook at one point--maybe more than once.  I would have loved to have seen her.  A thin, vinegary sort is what I envision, as opposed to the Mrs. Hudson type.

It would be interesting to count out the bare minimum of staff for an establishment the size of (Old House) Collinwood.  Both Mrs. Collins and the Countess would have had their own personal maids--of course, we had Angelique.  Joshua, I'm sure, would have had a valet, and Barnabas and Jeremiah probably would have shared a manservant between them (lol, I wrote that sentence IN ALL INNOCENCE--are you listening, MB?).  There would have been a housekeeper who would have been Mrs. Collins's go-between with all the other staff.  Riggs probably worked in the stables in addition to doing heavy work, and the same with Ben.  They might have kept on someone specific to take care of the horses (I have no idea how many a family like the Collins would have owned, but they would certainly have had a "trap," and perhaps a fine carriage for driving to Church).  The Cook would have had at least one girl, possibly two, to fetch water, chop veg, etc.

So, you see, it does add up.  The rooms, in real life, would have been crowded and noisy.  I visited Herman Melville's home and they told us just how many people (mostly unmarried female relations) lived there and the incredible thing was that Melville had his own room--his study, where he did his writing.  The door had a lock and he had the only key.  Now that was luxury.

Dom, that house sounds fabulous.  It makes me think of in PT 1970 when Barnabas shows Carolyn the coffin room in the cellar and she breathes, enchanted, "I never even knew this room existed!"  which is hard to believe, given that the door to it is right off the entrance way to her house, but given Will and Carolyn, who knows?  There were distractions...

G.

The biggest problem with the storylines set in "the past," for this viewer, has always been the inability for the infamous Dan Curtis rule "only 7 actors per episode, MAX," to accommodate the realities of 18th and 19th century upper-class life.  I would think that the Old House would have had a regular staff of between ten and fifteen at a minimum.  I don't know how many the Jeffersons had at Monticello but that would be a good rule of thumb.  In 1897 with the much large household in the "New House" I would think there would have been twenty at least.  In 1897, [spoiler]when Judith coldly informs Beth that her services are no longer required, I'm always like, "Bitch, please... who else is going to fetch and carry for you around there?"[/spoiler]

Fortunately I mostly manage to "suspend disbelief" and "pretend" there are loads of servants around just out of camera range...

G.

It's really funny how on one of today's slideshows, Mrs. Jason Maguire/Johnson is welcoming Barnabas to the door of Collinwood, while in another, Jackie Earle Willie is welcoming Magtoria.

Great juxtaposition!  I love this stuff.

G.

That's really nice to hear that Marie is doing better.  Here's to her further healing!  She's such a sweetheart.

Best, G.

Well, I only saw the thing once, but I don't remember the sequence that these frames are from at all.  In fact, quite a number of the bits of dialogue and scenes from the pre-credits prologue, I don't recall.  But since I only saw it once and can't go back and check, I don't feel I have any right to comment.  Particularly given how low-grade my short term memory is these days.

G.

MB, did you ever read the supposedly spoiler-heavy script "outline" that was "leaked" and then became the object of a spoiler topic here on the boards in 2011?  To understate matters, the "outline" described a story that was very different from what was filmed.

I figured for some time that the "outline" was deliberate disinformation, but it occurs to me that it might have referred to an early draft of the screenplay before the Seth person was brought in to "lighten" things up more.

I hadn't even noticed the details you mentioned about the curse, the switching of dates, etc.  And that's really quite bizarre abou the IMDB page for the movie.

It would seem that the narrative of the movie's development, editing, promotion, distribution, etc. has quite a few more twists and turns than what actually happens in the story the movie tells!

G.

That's amazing, all the more so since the URL indicates the site is based in Canada--I've always read that DS never aired up North.

It's also amazing when you think of all the quality horror shows that WEREN'T included.  Ghostwatch wasn't a series, it was a one-off (and well worth tracking down--the real reason it was banned from rebroadcast back in the 1990s was because one viewer, who apparently was already emotionally unstable, killed himself after watching it).  The Munsters was comedy and Tales from the Crypt, while fun, never achieved real excellence from what I saw of it.  I would have argued for Forever Knight to be included.  There were others but that seemes like the most glaring omission--I'm sure we all have different views about this.

At least DS was included and in a respectable position!

G.