Pages

Showing posts with label Barnabas Collins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barnabas Collins. Show all posts

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Making television safe for the "V Word"


It took a while for television’s most famous vampire to be identified as such.

Barnabas Collins was introduced to the world on episode 210 of Dark Shadows, which aired on April 17, 1967. Barnabas and actor Jonathan Frid didn’t show their face(s) until the next episode, but audiences had probably figured out that the “cousin from England” was a vampire before he spoke his first line. For a while, the word simply wasn’t necessary.

For reasons or taste (or, more likely, because of broadcast standards and practices) there were a handful of words that Dark Shadows tended to avoid. Words like “murder” and “kill” weren’t used very often in the early episodes, with writers usually substituting “destroy” in their places as if it had the same meaning. This habit became less necessary once Barnabas Collins’ bloody path became impossible to ignore. While ABC didn’t especially want characters in its programs speaking openly of murdering each other, the aversion to suggested violence waned as the actual violence was ramped up. It's difficult to tell producers not to use the word "murder" once headless corpses became part of the cast of characters.

But the writers were also probably worried about crossing the line into camp by having their once staid characters begin chatting about nosferatu. Nobody was in any rush to become the first writer to include the word “vampire” in a script.

Sam Hall became of the show’s writers to flinch … nine months after the first appearance of Barnabas Collins. And it happened in a way that nobody would have predicted when the vampire made his first visit to Collinwood the previous April.

When Frid agreed to take the role, Barnabas Collins was already living on borrowed time. The show’s previous supernatural threat, Laura Collins/The Phoenix, stuck around about 70 episodes. The idea was to create a series of Big Bads, and follow the child-murdering Phoenix with something a little less disturbing: a vampire. Frid was told that he’d work on Dark Shadows for just a few months, and that plans were already in place for Barnabas to be staked and/or beheaded by the time the next school year began.

Instead, Barnabas Collins became a national sensation. Frid would remain a part of Dark Shadows until the end of the series in 1971, during which the series went to some very weird places.

Such as TIGER BEAT.
The first stop was a time travelling jaunt back to the year 1796. During one of the most disastrous séances this side of a Sam Raimi movie, governess was Victoria Winters was thrown backward in time, where she met a younger Barnabas Collins. We learn during this lengthy storyline how he became a vampire, a curse delivered courtesy of Caribbean witch Angelique Bouchard.

It’s fitting, then, that Angelique (and actress Lara Parker) became the first person to use the word “vampire” on Dark Shadows. On episode #410, first broadcast Jan. 19, 1968, she drags perpetually indentured servant Ben Stokes into a secret crypt to drive a stake into Barnabas.

Ben is rightfully confused. Probably because he didn’t hear what Angelique had to say to Barnabas on an episode broadcast a week earlier:

“You will never rest, Barnabas, and you will never be able to love anyone. For whoever loves you will die. That is my curse, and you will live with it through all eternity.”

As you can see, the writers were still avoiding the obvious phrasing. This all came to an end on episode #410, when Angelique tells Ben:

“Do you know the word 'vampire,' Ben?”

While Barnabas Collins is discussed frequently throughout this episode, Frid is actually absent. When Angelique opens his coffin, she becomes the first victim of her own curse: "For whoever loves you will die."

Once actress Parker released the V-Word into the wild, all bets were off on Dark Shadows. A television series that spent almost a year avoiding the word was about to welcome werewolves, Frankenstein monsters, warlocks, Lovecraftian menaces and Craig Slocum into their midst. And there would be no turning back.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Barnabas Collins is a nut job


Just when I thought the David Henesy cereal commercial would be the most unusual thing I'd see all week ...

Artist Steve Casino paints detailed portraits on peanut shells. His subjects range from fictional characters and celebrities (such as the Barnabas Collins piece above) to custom works created for specific clients. (In other words, they're for sale.) I asked Steve about how he created the Barnabas Collins piece, and here's what he had to say: 
"I grew up on Dark Shadows so this was fun to do.

"A peanut is used as the canvas.  After figuring out who I'm going to paint (in this case, a D.S. fan hired me) I find a peanut that is close to the shape of the person.  Mainly I look for a face shape in relation to the lower body.  After that I crack it open, take out the nuts and re-glue it, sealing the inside to make it last.  I smooth the bumpy texture with wood filler.  The legs are bamboo skewers and the hands/cape are dense foam.  The cane is a toothpick.  The whole thing is assembled with a strong archival-quality glue and is very durable. The final piece is sealed in an acrylic coating then mounted inside a hand-blown glass dome to preserve it." 
I've included a few more examples of his work below, which might be relevant to your interests.

You can find Steve online at http://stevecasino.com, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/painterofnuts.





Friday, March 28, 2014

The cast of DARK SHADOWS by The Clay Guy

More than a year ago, I shared a few links to DARK SHADOWS-themed sculptures created by a Chicago-based artist calling himself The Clay Guy. Coincidentally, Mr. Guy was one of the vendors present last weekend at MAD MONSTER PARTY, and he brought his friends from Collinsport with him. I snapped some photos of the characters, which were tucked in alongside sculptures of Buffy Summers, Herbert West, Jack Torrence, etc.

If you like his work, you can find him online at www.clayguy.com. Or jump straight to his DARK SHADOWS gallery by clicking HERE.





Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Barnabas Collins model actually looks like Barnabas Collins


Remember that Barnabas Collins model kit released in the 1960s? The one that looked more like a creepy ventriloquist dummy that Jonathan Frid? Good news! MPC has done a bit of work on the sculpt, revising the heads for both the Barnabas Collins model and the classic Chris Jennings werewolf kit.

The "classic" kits were re-released a few years ago, compete with vintage-style packaging and a sarcastic product description. While I love the idea of getting the kit as it was originally produced, it still looks a little ... weird. (It doesn't help that the Barnabas Collins kit appears to be little more than a re-purposed Dracula mold.)

New editions of these models will be available from Entertainment Earth in January, complete with new sculpts for their heads. I've never heard anybody complain about the werewolf sculpt before, I have to admit the new version is an improvement. Both figures will be available in a two-pack. CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...