Children recreate DARK SHADOWS on Super 8 film

This is amazing: SCREAM OF DARK SHADOWS, an fan-made adaption of the first Barnabas Collins story featuring a cast of children. While the film's uploaders are a bit sketchy on exactly when this movie was made, the artwork accompanying the video suggests it was made sometime after HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS was released in 1970.

A word of warning: SCREAM OF DARK SHADOWS is almost certainly more horrifying than anything ever produced by Dan Curtis. It might be a symptom of late-onset maturity on  my part, but the scenes of children murdering each other are pretty disturbing. Still, this is an essential artifact from the golden age of DARK SHADOWS.

Ric Burton, one of the film's young actors, had this to say about the project:

"We had fun as children making movies. Hell, we had or our own film company (Cineramic)."

"We were granted artistic license by our parents (Ex. Willie's death scene-hanging by the neck) That was me Ric Burton - I'm very much alive! The still frames at the end of the piece clearly prove we understood the use of camera angles - excellent cinematography for kids under the age of 13!!!"

Dark Shadows jumps to the big screen (take 1)

The marketing machine for the new Dark Shadows film appears to be suffering lethargy this year. It's almost February and we have neither a poster nor a trailer for the film, but back in 1970 the first Dark Shadows film was everywhere. Rumor has it the movie saved MGM from bankruptcy that year, though the final gross for House of Dark Shadows is still a mystery.

The newspaper clipping above talks about the film's hectic shooting schedule, its impact on the Tarrytown, N.Y., community (where it was shot) and the negative impact that Gomer Pyle USMC had on Dark Shadows ratings.

House of Dark Shadows poster gallery

House of Dark Shadows was released to theaters during the final days of the television show. As you can see, its advertising campaign was surprisingly ... salacious. The movie was much more violent than its television counterpart (and has since been described as an "American giallo") but still stayed well within the rules of what a PG film allowed at the time. Let's hope the Tim Burton film recycles the tagline from the first poster directly below.

Rumor has it that both House of Dark Shadows and the uncut Night of Dark Shadows are coming to DVD and Bluray later this year. In the meantime, it appears the only place you can currently watch a legal digital version of the film is here at Amazon.