Contact:
Cynthia MacMartin
Tel: 708.873.3191
Fax: 708.873.3177
cmacmartin@mpimedia.com
"...a
supernatural cult phenomenon." People Magazine
"Daytime
television's first and only supernatural series...spawned
a passionate and remarkably steadfast following." Newsweek
Fueled
by cult fever, DARK SHADOWS released for the first time on
DVD May 28, 2002 from MPI Home Video, with 40 episodes in
a 4-disc boxed set for $59.98
CHICAGO, IL - "My name is Victoria Winters...My journey
is just beginning..." On
June 27, 1966, those words began the journey of a young governess
to the remote coastal town of Collinsport, Maine, which for
the next five years would be the home of ABC-TV's most popular
daytime series - Dark Shadows, television's first gothic
soap opera, and a unique concept in television history. The
New York Times called Dark Shadows "...a cult
phenomenon."
Now,
for the first time ever, 40 episodes will be released on a
4-disc DVD boxed set May 28, 2002. The DVDs also include new
interviews with the actors and series creator Dan Curtis.
Comparable to Star Trek, the show maintains a massive,
fanatical following of fans, fueled by successful annual festivals
and a vast array of merchandise. Rumors of a new film and
a touring musical persist. In January 2002, Fox Television
commissioned a new pilot of the series, now in consideration.
Indeed, much like the 175 year-old vampire character Barnabas
Collins himself, Dark Shadows retains an immortality
that time steadfastly fails to erode. The new DVD release
has been eagerly anticipated and is expected to set off yet
another craze for the immortal television series.
The program was creation of producer Dan Curtis, who would
later gain critical acclaim with two monumental television
mini-series, The Winds Of War and War And Remembrance. After
1,225 episodes, and still commanding impressive viewing figures,
Dark Shadows ended its network run in April 1971, a
cult television legend and a unique footnote in television
history. However, this did not signal the end of Dark Shadows.
Nationwide syndication of numerous episodes throughout the
next two decades maintained interest in the show, and helped
foster a strong fan culture including an official fan club
with more than 50,000 members. The late 1970s saw the first
Dark Shadows convention, ShadowCon, which ran for several
years before being superseded by the Dark Shadows Festivals,
which continue today and are attended by thousands of fans.
Dark Shadows' original plot centered on a young woman
named Victoria Winters,
governess to a 10-year-old boy in Collinsport, Maine, who
resided in a mysterious old
mansion overlooking the ocean. Veteran motion picture actress
Joan Bennett was featured in the role of Elizabeth Collins
Stoddard, matriarch of the Collins family and mistress of
Collinwood, the great house where the series takes place.
In April of 1967, Dan Curtis introduced Shakespearean actor
Jonathan Frid, who joined the cast as Barnabas Collins, a
175-year-old vampire. Grave-robbing drifter Willie Loomis
released vampire Barnabas Collins from imprisonment in the
Collins family mausoleum, and
pop-culture history was born. Dark Shadows pioneered
the silhouette of the angst-ridden vampire searching for redemption
some three decades before Angel lusted after Buffy.
Jonathan Frid commanded an intense army of devoted fans, particularly
female ones, during the run of Dark Shadows. When he
appeared on the Merv Griffin Show in 1969, Merv made reference
to "The Frid Girls" waiting for him outside of the
studio. There was also a fan group entitled The Fanatic Followers
of Frid (a.k.a., The 3F Society). During Dark Shadows' run,
he often received 4,000 fan letters a week.
In the coming years, the residents of Collinsport would be
victims to werewolves, witches, and warlocks, even the Devil
himself. Amongst the most popular supernatural characters
were Angélique (Lara Parker), a beautiful vengeful
witch who gave the vampire curse to Barnabas, and Quentin
Collins (David Selby) a Byronic teen idol afflicted with the
werewolf curse.
In 1970, MGM released House of Dark Shadows, a theatrical
film based on the series. Many of the television cast members
reprised their roles, but they were surrounded by more explicit
displays of horror that were not suitable for the daytime
television program. In 1971, MGM released its second Dark
Shadows film - Night of Dark Shadows.
The 1990s saw the entire Dark Shadows archive
repeated via the Sci-Fi Channel, which
continues broadcast today, and their European counterparts
gave its territories their first ever broadcast of the show
from 1995-1999. In addition, HarperCollins published two Dark
Shadows novels in 1998 and 1999. MPI Home Video has sold
well over two million VHS copies of the series to date. "After
35 years, the ongoing interest in Dark Shadows is trulyremarkable,"
said Jim Pierson, producer for Dan Curtis Productions. "The
show's videoreleases and daily reruns on the Sc-Fi Channel,
in addition to the novels from HarperCollins and other merchandise,
have kept Dark Shadows popularity at a phenomenal level."
Forty episodes of the eternal television show, beginning with
the first appearance of
Barnabas, will be released for the first time on DVD May 28,
2002. All 40 complete episodes come packaged in a collectable
4-disc boxed set. The new Dark Shadows DVDs will be
available through local retailers, or customers can order
directly from MPI by calling 1-800-777-2223 (9am to 5pm CT
Monday to Friday), or by visiting the MPI Web site.
Photos, artwork and review copies are available from MPI by
request. Please call Cynthia MacMartin at 708.873.3191 to
request an interview with actors or series creator Dan Curtis.
MPI Home Video is a subsidiary of the MPI Media Group.
Formed in 1976, MPI Media Group is a leading independent producer
and distributor of movies, home video and music. Other wholly
owned subsidiaries of the MPI Media Group include MPI Teleproductions,
which creates original documentary programming for distribution
in broadcast/cable venues as well as in the home video and
educational markets and the WPA Film Library, one of the largest
commercial film archives in the United States.
"I
love my son, even if he is one of the living dead" -
Dark Shadows
Dark
Shadows DVD Boxed Set
40 episodes on 4 discs
DVD7403
UPC# 0-30306-7403-9-3
14 hours
$59.98
Order
Dark Shadows DVD Set 1 at a discount price from Amazon.com
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