Night Of Dark Shadows (1971)

A painter and his wife move into a home and find themselves plagued by ghosts and spirits of his ancestors that used to be witches.

Night of Dark Shadows is a 1971 horror film by Dan Curtis. It is the sequel to House of Dark Shadows. It centers on the story of Quentin Collins and his bride Tracy at the Collinwood Mansion in Collinsport, Maine. David Selby, Lara Parker, John Karlen, Kate Jackson, Grayson Hall, and Nancy Barrett star.

Artist Quentin Collins (David Selby) brings his new bride to live in the family mansion, which he has just inherited. The gentle and sensitive young Collins, the last of his clan, has troubled sleep. He dreams of the past, of his family, and of the house. Perhaps his dreams are not just dreams? Increasingly deranged by these visions, it begins to look like he will re-enact the atrocities committed by his family in the past.

When the sun goes down, the terror begins!

If ever a film needed restoration, this is it. Apparently the studio forced director Dan Curtis to cut his 2 hour movie down to 90 minutes so it could be sold as a double feature with House of Dark Shadows or other horror flicks--and it shows. It often doesn't make any sense and you wind up frustrated, as if you just had a good dream but can't remember it all. Word is that a complete uncut print has been recently discovered.  Hopefully it sees the light of day as the current release is full of confusion.  

'Night of Dark Shadows' is not an awful film, but it is a let down compared to 'Dark Shadows' and 'House of Dark Shadows'. There is a good deal to like. The production and costume design have a colorful and hauntingly Gothic look and it's mostly beautifully photographed. Bob Cobert once again provides an eerily spooky music score that is mostly used well.  

Acting is decent considering, with Grayson Hall, David Selby, John Karlen and Nancy Barrett being the standouts. Kate Jackson is also at her most appealing, and is really very good in her role.  Most of the cast however have very little to do and struggle to do much with their limited material, which does see relatively unexplored characterisation, characters coming and going and some corny dialogue.

Hung as a witch 200 years ago, Angelique comes back to Collinwood. Her return from the grave is just the beginning of their lust.

Many outdoor scenes are shot in crude day-for-night fashion, sometimes under bright blue skies which cause actors' faces to disappear amid the glare. A maintenance worker in the house is cast with an actor who resembles Selby so closely that you keep mixing them up. Is this intentional? Again – editing room chicanery or dumb casting? Will we ever know? Director's cut, please.

There was to be a third Dark Shadows movie, but after dealing with the frustration of this one, and probably a growing boredom with the world of Dark Shadows in general, Dan Curtis decided to move on to non- Dark Shadowsy projects. Anyway, for true fans of the show, check it out in spite of its flaws,

Death kept their love alive.

Trivia:

It is reported that MGM forced Dan Curtis to cut over 35 minutes from the completed film, and gave him only 24 hours to do the job. So the film, which was meant to be approximately 129 minutes, was shortened about 94 minutes, which according to some caused the film to lose its coherence. Much of the excised footage was recovered in 1999, but unfortunately, without sound.

This was originally intended to to be a sequel to House of Dark Shadows (1970), and was to star Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid). Frid however turned down the role as he feared being typecast as Barnabas, so "Dark Shadows" creators Dan Curtis and Sam Hall made a new story which starred Quentin Collins and was based on the "Parallel Time" saga of the show (an alternate version of the story).

Shot in 6 weeks on a budget of $900,000.

Feature film debut of David Selby and Kate Jackson. 

Filmed on the grounds of the gothic estate Lyndhurst on the Hudson River in New York State..

Just another night of... terror!

In order to provide authenticity, spiritualist Hans Holzer was employed as an adviser to the production, though his actual contribution to the finished product proved minimal.

Jerry Lacy was going to to reprise his role as the witch hunter Reverend Trask from Dark Shadows (1966), but was unable to appear in the movie.

Virginia Vestoff was originally going to reprise her role of Samantha Collins but was unavailable so the script was rewritten to include Diana Millay and her character Laura Collins.

A prologue was scripted but never filmed that involved a hippie that sneaks into Collinwood on a rainy night only to be killed by Angelique and Gerard. The role of the hippie was intended to be played by either Keith Prentice or Michael Stroka.

The piano solo "Joanna" from Dark Shadows (1966) was adapted into the love theme for the film.

The film's original title was "Curse of the Dark Shadows"

Grayson Hall was married to the film's writer Sam Hall at the time.

2nd motion picture to be based on a soap opera & 2nd motion picture to be based on ABC's gothic soap opera Dark Shadows (1966-1971)

The cast