Saturday, October 13, 2012

Win House/Night of Dark Shadows on Blu-ray!



The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and that road grows more beautiful and treacherous whenever you reach the third film in a movie franchise. RETURN OF THE JEDI, ALIEN 3, SUPERMAN 3, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, SPIDER-MAN 3, THE GODFATHER PART 3 ... they all have their merits, but also faced insurmountable demands for increased tension and resonance. SCREAM 3 commented on this problem while simultaneously suffering from it, which proves awareness of the problem does not automatically fix it.

The Third Film is notoriously difficult to pull off, because they're (technically) the third act in a story. You have to be able to boil the various conflicts, themes and character goals until they reach critical mass, and most directors are lucky to be able to resolve ONE of those story elements. For a variety of reasons, Dan Curtis never made a third DARK SHADOWS film, though I'm sure the idea was discussed during the filming of NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS. For those of you skimming this text in search of a point, let me put it in bold print:

Tell me about your vision for a third 
DARK SHADOWS movie.

Are you good with video? Cut a trailer for a fake third DARK SHADOWS film and post it on Youtube. Do you like to write? Send me a story synopsis, or even a few pages of script (or an ENTIRE script if you're an overachiever.) Are you an artist? Create a movie poster for DARK SHADOWS 3. Be inventive. Go crazy. It can be serious. It can be funny. It can be whatever you want it to be.

There are hundreds of possibilities I haven't mentioned. After all, this is DARK SHADOWS, which once included a story arc featuring a time traveling vampire attorney (see episode 1,179.) As long as you get your point across, you're good to go. Make sure you include a title for the movie.

Contest Details:
Prizing: The winner will receive (1) blu-ray copy of HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS and (1) blu-ray copy of NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS. Send your contest entries to collinsporthistory @ gmail.com. Warner Bros is unable to ship prizes to P.O. Boxes, so please provide a physical address. Also, the winner must live within the United States.

Entries must be received by Oct. 26, 2012.


NOTE: The concept for this contest was proposed to me by Patrick McCray at THE COLLINSPORT FOUNDATION. Go visit him! He got a contest going on, too.

10 comments:

David Elijah Nahmod said...

Dark Shadows: Origins
A straight, serious retelling of 1795.

majkinja said...

Too bad it's only for American residents.
I'm looking forward to see/read the submissions and the winner.

Cousin Barnabas said...

I know ... the contest rules eliminated some potentially GREAT entries. It's probably a product of how WB's marketing is structured on a global level. I doubt the good people managing this contest have access to DVD's/Blu-rays that aren't Region 1, and don't want to award someone a prize that won't work on their player.

Anonymous said...

There was a nice fan fcitron from Beth Tignor back in the eighties (If only I could get in touch with her). The Jenkis have survived, somehow, and they are back trying to get the spell lifted from Collinwood, releasing both Quentin and Tracy. They are being helped by Maggie Evans, and Willie Loomis, who survived as a friendly vampire. So you have a nice continuity for both shows. There are also new characters, incluing a nice lady love for Willie.

I wish I knew where to find her, because she might have been temtped to rework it for this contest.

Adriana I. Pena

Melissa said...

Deadline?

Cousin Barnabas said...

Hell. I was so wrapped up in the contest details I forgot to post the deadline.

Anyway, it's Oct. 26 (I fixed the post to reflect this.) Thanks for the free copy editing!

Anonymous said...

"straight" ??!! ;o)

Garet Payne said...

After the events of the first two movies, a wealthy family (with a Dad, Mom, a teenage daughter, and a young son) would buy Collinwood and move in there. They repeatedly encounter the ghosts of Barnabas and Sarah Collins. The ghost of Sarah Collins tells them they are in danger so the family holds a seance to try to contact her and the teenaged daughter is sent to 1795 and discovers the true origins of the ghosts who are contacting their family. Now the rest of the family has a mission not only to get their daughter back to present day, but to get rid of the ghosts once and for all.

Garet Payne said...

A wealthy family of 4 (a Father, Mother, teenaged daughter, and young son) buys Collinwood and moves there. They encounter the ghost of Barnabas Collins who is anxious to shed blood, as well as the ghost of Sarah Collins who warns the family they are in danger. The family conducts a seance to contact the spirit of Sarah Collins, and the teenaged daughter is sent to 1795 and discovers the true identities of the spirits. Now, the family not only has to bring their daughter back to present day, but get rid of the spirits once and for all.

D.W. said...

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10083233/1/Night-of-Dark-Shadows

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