Some things I liked some I did not.

Best movie of this year hands down!

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

I watched this movie all the way through and just couldn't get into it. It is one of those movies that is like a 30s or 40s black and white movie but with color. The acting/writing/direction is exactly like that of a black and white movie but it is in color. These should have some kind of name to refer to them, there are a lot of them and if you like one, you like them all. For me, i have never been able to get into these kinds of movies. Most Italian horrors and gallios are like this. Maybe one day ill get into it but I've seen a lot and still don't get it.This movie is about a vampire and a researcher that is trying to find a cure.. i don't really remember details since i couldn't get into it.

Jonathan Frid stars as centuries old vampire Barnabas Collins, who, having been freed from his crypt, proceeds to work his way through his ancestors in order to get to Maggie Evans (Kathryn Leigh Scott), who he believes to be the reincarnation of his long dead love Josette. Barnabas is also offered a chance at being normal again when Dr. Julia Hoffman (Grayson Hall), who is in love with the vampire, creates a cure for his affliction; however, Barnabas is betrayed by the doctor when she learns of his plans to marry Maggie, and injects him with a serum that causes him to age instead.As someone who has never seen the cult TV series on which this film is based, I found myself floundering at first, unsure as to who the characters were and what they were doing. Eventually, though, things clicked into place, and I found myself enjoying what is a massive helping of Gothic horror, with all the trappings that go with the genre: beautiful women, swirling mist, creepy old houses with cobweb strewn corridors, and bright red blood. Directed by Dan Curtis (Trilogy of Terror), the film has bags of atmosphere and style, and boasts great performances all round. Recommended to any connoisseur of Gothic vampire movies, especially Hammer fans, who will no doubt enjoy the movie's blend of horror, romance and excitement.

Well, be careful of what you wish for Nancy Barrett (Carolyn). Jonathan Frid (Barnabas) is in town and he's got something on his mind. He's a lot older than you think and he wants to marry Kathryn Leigh Scott (Maggie) who reminds him of a former bride.This vampire story is actually alright in terms of vampire films. It just doesn't make sense and that ruins it for me. Sometimes, people are bitten and nothing happens, other times they become vampires. It's totally inconsistent and therefore totally dumb. What is going on? It's also pretty confusing at the beginning – who's who? It's not a bloodfest, which scores points for me, it does have its scary moments and it delivers an appropriate setting and atmosphere. I wanted to like it more, though.

"House of Dark Shadows" was made chiefly for fans of the popular daytime television series from which it was derived through the participation of the show's producer, composer, writers and several prominent cast members. For others this hodgepodge will seem choppy and even incoherent. The main difference between TV show and movie (besides the extreme compression of hundreds of hours of content into 100 minutes of action-packed but narratively absurd melodrama) is in the superior, atmospheric color photography and painstaking, often baroque, set design. In this movie an old stone crypt really looks and sounds like an old stone crypt, not plywood painted grey. Exteriors are really exteriors and not a few plastic trees sitting insecurely in piles of dirt on a soundstage. Freshly lit candles are not conveniently burning in sealed tombs. Bannisters do not wobble when touched by human hands; mike booms do not appear in shots; eyes do not dart toward teleprompters. And blood flows copiously from numerous neck bites and impalings, all to Robert Cobert's inspired musical underscoring. As for the actors, Jonathan Frid as the vampire loses none of his small screen potency in this adaptation. Nancy Barrett as the daughter of the Collins house gets to play demonic for much of her screen time and makes the most of the opportunity. Grayson Hall, as Dr. Hoffman, who falls in love with Barnabas while trying to cure his vampirism also survives the transfer intact, as does the superior character actor Thayer David as Professor Stokes. John Karlen as lowlife Willie Loomis, household helper and slave to Barnabas, manages to restrain his tendency toward extreme (but sometimes delightful) overacting. Louis Edmonds as the male head of the Collins household delivers the few lines given him with his matchlessly resonant voice, but Joan Bennett as his sister is largely decorative. David Henesy as his son is given very little dialogue at all.