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Jake Rosen<\/b> and Mental_Floss<\/a> <\/strong>present 14 Dark Shadows<\/em> Facts with Bite<\/a><\/strong>. <\/strong>Here are three of my favorites<\/span>…<\/p>\n 1. BARNABAS COLLINS WAS AN AFTERTHOUGHT.<\/span><\/strong> Hoping to improve ratings with a classic horror movie trope\u2014a vampire\u2014Curtis introduced Collins, a brooding bloodsucker tortured by his condition. Originally intended to be a fleeting character who would be staked in the heart after a three-week run, he became so popular with viewers (ratings saw a 62 percent increase) that the show was saved from the guillotine.<\/p>\n 6. BARNABAS DIDN\u2019T TALK MUCH WHILE FANGED.<\/span><\/strong> 10. IT\u2019S THE ONLY SOAP TO SPAWN THREE FEATURE FILMS.<\/span><\/strong> After the series ended in 1971, Curtis wanted to continue the story with another film. Night of Dark Shadows<\/em> was released that same year, but Frid declined to participate. Curtis opted for more of a haunted house theme instead, with the show\u2019s cast popping up in different roles. It\u2019s been alleged MGM cut 30 minutes from the finished film, obliterating some plot and character details. In its released form, reviewers found it \u201cdull,\u201d \u201cmonotonous,\u201d and \u201ca bore.\u201d (Tim Burton’s 2012 feature, starring Johnny Depp as Collins, didn’t fare much better.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jake Rosen and Mental_Floss present 14 Dark Shadows Facts with Bite. Here are three of my favorites… 1. BARNABAS COLLINS WAS AN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":912,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17,53,65,50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-celebs","category-horror","category-trivia","category-tv","comments-off"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/912"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13630"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13632,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13630\/revisions\/13632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\nCreator Dan Curtis\u2014who would later conceive of The X-Files<\/em> predecessor Kolchak: The Night Stalker<\/em> and the classic TV movie Trilogy of Terror<\/em>\u2014originally had in mind a dramatic series about the strange residents of Collinsport, Maine, as viewed from the perspective of newly-arrived governess Victoria Winters. Though mystical elements\u2014like ghosts\u2014were present, they were subtle and slow to materialize. When the show premiered June 27, 1966, viewers found its characters as impenetrable as Winters did; Variety<\/em> called it a \u201cyawn.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nDampened vocally by the fangs he had to wear, Frid also told the Gazette<\/em> of some production trickery: Collins was rarely filmed talking in them. \u201cMy words come out slushy when I wear them, so they have to cut away from me when I talk,\u201d he said. Frid would spit out the fangs, deliver the dialogue, then stuff them back in when the camera returned to him.<\/p>\n
\nIt\u2019s a testament to Dark Shadows<\/em>‘ rabid following that the series birthed two feature films with the original cast\u2014virtually unheard of for a soap opera of any era. Curtis directed 1970\u2019sHouse of Dark Shadows<\/em>, which covered much of the same ground as the series but morphedCollins into more of an antagonist. While a feature budget meant actors actually had the privilege of doing more than one take, reviews were mixed.<\/p>\n