Fans of this film should order the Video Watchdog issue (from several years ago--but I know they sell back issues on their site) with a big article all about Seizure.  I seem to recall that Martine Beswick was in a "trance" in the scene where she walks over broken glass and she was doing it for real.

I also heard from someone, somewhere that none of the actors ever got paid for their work, or if they were paid, it was a looonggg time coming.

I'd be *very* surprised if Ollie Stone ever signs off on Seizure's DVD release but it seems as if he does not own the rights to the movie so who knows.

G.

Hell, I've been a cranky old man since about age 15!

And now I am a middle aged New England Luddite curmudgeon who stays home with his cat most Sat. nights.... watching Dark Shadows, of course!

It kind of depends upon what you're looking for, and what you already like.  If you enjoy old black and white shows such as the Twilight Zone and Thriller (the Boris Karloff one), I would definitely say start with the first DVD set (maybe you could borrow it from a friend?)  If black and white shows make you fidgety, I do think the start of the 1795 storyline would be a good place to start.  You don't need to have watched the shows leading up to that, really, because they change practically everything you've been told about the family situation up to that point once they get Vicki to 1795.

I can post specific episodes I've used to introduce the unbaptised to the show, if I can ever remember how the *$%# spoiler code works.

G.

A few evenings back, I treated myself to some 1897 episodes.   Among them was the notorious scene of Minerva visiting Collinwood, jar of damson plum preserves in hand.  I must say, Clarice Blackburn took my breath away in that scene.  She was so incredibly nuanced and wonderful a performer.  After Mrs J, Minerva is my favorite CB role.  Even though she has fewer scenes than did Abigail in 1795, I think Minerva's jealousy makes her more interesting psychologically and allows CB to show more of her range.

One of my regrets about the later years of DS is that they never gave Mrs J another storyline comparable to what she had during the Bill Malloy period.  Clarice is one of my personal favorite actresses on the show, and she's definitely getting a vote in the prenoms for the Emmies from me.

G.

But Jean-Claude, you're so cuddly and cute exactly as you are!

And that's not YOUR drink, Cinderella!

Paul-ette

Cassandra appeared very briefly in issue one of the Gold Key comics.

One of the DS fans did an M. A.thesis on the Dan/"Marilyn" Ross books back in the Eighties and wrote an article about the paperbacks which I read.  (Frankly, I was stunned to think of any academic worthy of the name signing off on such a thing, but since then, we've had cartloads of scholarly books published on the postmodern polsemy of Xena and Gabrielle, etc.).   IIRC, Dan only ever received the script for episode 1 of DS.  In the very first book, the first few pages are fairly close to some of the narrative of episode 1.  I don't think he ever watched the show because he was too busy.  The article mentioned him typing the final chapters of one of the books in the back seat of his station wagon while his wife drove them to the publishers because he was so close to the deadline.

To call them "pulp" fiction would be a kindness.  One of my friends used to read them on the beach, a convenience because they have those big barrels in which you could toss the completed, sand-encrusted paperbacks once you were done.

They're worth having for the cover photos. The early issues of the comics had some nice photos.  Apart from that, I can't imagine anyone wanting to have them around the house.

Some of the other characters did turn up in the Ross books, notably Quentin, of course.  The appearance of the characters was often wildly at variance with how they appeared on the show.  Quentin, I think, spent a lot of the books as a mendicant hippie adopting various outlandish disguises.  Chris Jennings appeared in one book as a cold-blooded, calculating fiend. Angelique showed up as an olive skinned beauty from the West Indies, and Dr. Hoffman had an entertaining cameo in a couple of the very last books.  Dan Ross also got the job of writing up the original screenplay of hoDS in novel form (it included several scenes that were deleted prior to filming), and his depictions of Julia and Professor Stokes were influenced, I think, by his work on that.

G.

There's a fairly short list of the bloopers most DS fans cite when the topic comes up.  Some of the ones that come to mind:

Roger's line about his "incestors" being buried in the Eagle Hill mausoleum
An undertaker arriving at Collinwood and asking to see "Mr. Jonathan."
Jonathan Frid walking through the foyer while the closing credits play, carrying his costume over one shoulder.
A stagehand scuttling out of sight as Barnabas and Angelique carry on a heated conversation in the Secret Room.

There's lots more.  I am convinced that in one episode from 1897, Edward's moustache fell off while he and Quentin were arguing.  I really wish they had left that one in.  There's a definite cut on the tape.

Since you're a fan of Grayson Hall, I hope you've been able to see the "blooper" that went out on a local feed of her and Jerry Lacy starting a scene (in 1967) and being told "cut" by the Director.  And Grayson imperiously demands:  "WHY?" (I believe an important prop was missing for the scene.)

G.

Interesting poll--I missed this one too.

Julia, darling, you've NEVER seen Hoffman???  THIS we must remedy.  And at once!  We MUST!

I personally put the film work (on hoDS and NoDS) in a separate category from the work on the TV series because film requires such a different kind of technique from TV.  I do agree with MB, however, that Carlotta is one of Grayson's best performances.  I also agree with Barbara Steele that she was "excruciatingly good" as Julia in hoDS--just so many marvelous moments.  I die to think of what we missed because of all the cuts.

G.