I know this is supposed to be part two of my three part review of the original Dark Shadows series. I will post it, but the second part has proven to be a little more difficult to write than I originally thought, but I will get it up eventually.
Nothing makes me happier than Halloween. The costumes, the scares, but most importantly, the horror movies. I'm a massive horror junkie and gore hound. I wanted to use this time to talk about a couple of my favorites and why.
We'll start at an earlier time. When horror wasn't about how much blood and gore a director could fit in to one movie. In this day and age of hostel's and Saw's, these movies would be considered thrillers more than horror, but they still play on human fears and emotions. Just because they are older doesn't make them any less frightening.
Here are a few of my favorites:
1. Freaks. The Tod Browning 1932 that gives us a glimpse in to the world of circus side shows, or "freak shows". The story centers around two midgets, Hans and Frida who are deeply in love with one another. But, as soon as the lovely trapeze artist Cleopatra joins the troupe Han's feelings begin to change. Knowing full well how much Hans likes her, Cleopatra is content stringing him along. Until Cleopatra and her boyfriend Hercules learn how rich Hans is. She seduces and marries our midget hero. A heartbroken Frida knows why Cleopatra has married him, but Frida can't talk any sense in to Hans. When Hans finally learns the truth about his wife the rest of the freaks rally around Hans and exact revenge on the woman who broke his heart. This leads to a most unforgettable ending.
Having been in the circus himself, Tod Browning used real "freaks" in his movie. He made freaks lovable and attempted to show the movie goers that they are people with feelings who just happen to have outward imperfections. The audiences of the 1930's didn't pick up on this message. The movie was banned from Europe for the next 30 years because it scared people of use of real "freaks".
There are monsters in this movie, but it wasn't the freaks.
2. House on Haunted Hill. Not to be confused with the shitty 1999 remake. The original 1959 movie was more of a thriller with atmosphere. Frederick Loren (Played by the fantastic Vincent Price), and his 4th wife Annabelle Loren, have invited five people to stay the night in a haunted house. They are promised $10,000 dollars if they survive the night. There is no means of escape and they are only given guns to protect themselves.
While this house has been the scene of 7 murders, it isn't actually haunted. The ghost that appear are of Frederick's doing in order to scare his guests. Which is effective with the ever nervous Nora Manning.
What this party is really about is Frederick and Annabelle playing each other like fiddles. They aren't the happiest of couples, but Annabelle wont give Frederick a divorce. She fakes her death, but Frederick knows better. The ending is where the horror comes in. I wont get in to it, but it's well worth sticking around for.
3. The Bad Seed. I believe there have been at least 4 remakes, but the original holds a special place in my heart. This little gem first began on the stage of Broadway in 1954. The original Broadway cast later stared in the feature film in 1959.
On the outside 8 year old Rhoda is a seemingly normal, but get to know her and you'll find something is seriously wrong. Quick to anger, lies, cheats, steals and isn't above plotting out a murder or two. Christine is aware something is wrong with her daughter, but why face the truth when denial is so much easier. But no one knows Rhoda's secrets better than her father Col. Kenneth Penmark. As his own mother was the very same way.
The end of this movie is actually rather shocking and if you stick around for the end of the cast intro's, funny as hell. I'm trying to make this as spoiler free as possible, so all I can really say is check it out and enjoy.
4. Night of the living dead. This is the rare occasion where I actually like both the original 1968 version and the 1990 remake. Of course I prefer the original. If you are already a horror movie fan then you already know what Night of the Living dead is about. For those of you who haven't seen this zombie classic please do so now. I will say if you're looking for a zombie movie with a happy ending, you might wanna pass this one over.
5.Psycho. What can I say about this classic. It's creepy and frankly scared me out of taking showers for a while. And wearing dresses.
6. The Omen. What can I say about the original1976 Omen that hasn't already been said. Damien is evil to it's core. After watching I knew I didn't want to have children. EVER. The Omen movies that follow are utter crap, but the first movie is a classic in it's own right.
7. I spit on your grave. This is a movie I really don't like actually admitting to liking, but yet I do.
The 1979 version is much like the 2010 remake in it's brutality.
Aspiring writer Jennifer Hills retreats a cabin in upstate New York in order to finish her novel. Little does she know the horror that awaits. Jennifer is brutally gang raped by four backwoods hicks. There is a time in the movie where she goes through the motions of coming to terms with what happened to her. In this time something in her snaps completely, leading to what makes this movie worth watching. Revenge. She plots out her revenge on these four men very carefully. She hunts them down and takes them out one by one. It's disturbing how gratifying each man's death really is. It is what it is.
This movie stirred up plenty of controversy in 79 and it's still shocking today. People believe Meir Zarchi (Director and writer of the movie) is glorifying rape and violence against women in this movie. Honestly, this isn't the feeling I got at all. Yes, the rape scene is long and unwatchable, but it really don't think it was glorifying. What I took from it was how brutal rape truly is. However, the problem I do have with the movie is Jennifer's acceptance of what happened to her. It's far to short. It is heartbreaking for sure, but no woman can come back from being raped and two days later plot revenge. I do realize it would be a rather long movie if we were to follow Jennifer through all the motions, but for a film that is trying to strive for realism, it's greatly lacking this in her recovery time.
8. Black Christmas. This is my all time favorite horror movie. The 1974 version is so different from the remake. It's shameful how Hollywood completely butchered the story in the remake.
College students in a sorority house celebrate Christmas the only way they know how. Drinking of course. They are completely unaware there is a killer living in the girl's sorority house. It starts with perverted prank calls, but it quickly escalates to the killer picking them off one by one.
If you are looking for a horror movie that ends well then you might want to skip over this one. Personally this is the reason why I love this movie as much as I do.
Now on to my personal favorite year for horror movies, the 80's.
1. Nightmare on Elm street. This 1985 classic will forever hold a special place in my heart. It was my first horror movie and it scared the shit out of me when I was 5 years old. Yet I was oddly fascinated. I watched it again when I was older and I love Freddy. The dude is so damn quirky how can one not enjoy him.
One, two freddy's coming for you. Three, four better lock the door. Five, six grab your crucifix. Seven, eight better stay up late. Nine, ten never sleep again. That little rhyme from the movie should say tell you everything that you need to know about the movie. For those of you who haven't seen the movie, it stars Johnny Depp in his first actual movie role.
2. Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2. This is the movie that made Sam Rami and Bruce Cambell horror gods among us junkies.
Four teenagers travel out in to the middle of nowhere for a fun weekend. Sounds like every slasher film you've ever seen? It's not. Spirits are the name of the game here. Evil, beyond pissed off spirits who want to be freed. Who better to do that than four dumb teenagers? I personally can't think of anyone better. After reading some magical words from the Book of the Dead, evil is released and free to do as it will. Because who wouldn't real the Book of the Dead out loud. It just seems like the thing to do.
There is much debate if Evil Dead 2 is a remake or a sequel. In my personal opinion it's a retelling with updated visual effects. It's still full of awesomeness and should also be seen.
3. Friday the 13th. Of course this has to be here. I really don't think I have to get in to the plot of the first movie. All I can say is if you haven't seen it, get ready for some campy awesomeness. Oh and Kevin Bacon dying horribly. Which I personally loved!
4. Sleepaway Camp. I found this little gem on IFC one night, and almost turned it off because the acting is AWFUL. God awful in fact. But something in my head told me to stick with this one and I'm so glad that I did.
This slasher is more of a Friday the 13th meets Carrie (Minus the supernatural part of Carrie). This movie begins like Friday the 13th, but instead of camp counselors, we get actual pre-teen campers. Angela is sent to camp with her cousin Ricky, who does his best to protect her from the constant teasing she gets from the other girls. These girls who tease her meet there end rather quickly. It's not that hard to figure out who the killer is here. What had my jaw hanging was the very end of this movie. It was so unexpected and out of left field that I could do little else. It's the end of this movie that Set's it apart from Friday the 13th.
5. Hellraiser. This little bundle of awesomeness comes from the mind of writer Clive Barker. A unhappily married couple move in to a creepy old house. The wife (Julia) is having an affair with her husband's half-brother (Frank). Long story short, Frank dies and when a drop of his blood hits the floor he brings us to Pinhead and his band of merry Cenobites. But Frank didn't completely die. He's a zombie of sorts and he wants Julia to perform a ceremony that would allow him to have it. This ceremony involves a human sacrifice, of course.
Oh Pinhead. He's so damn evil yet I find myself enjoying him more than any character in this movie. There have been far to many Hellraiser movies made. Each one sucks more than the last, but the first is a classic.
6. Lost Boys. What list of horror would be complete without this vampire classic. Vampires pretty much rule Santa Carla California. It's up to the awesome vampire hunters to save the day. Since I assume most people have seen this, I wont go in to very much detail.
7. The Dark Night of the Scarecrow. I recently discovered this 1981 made for tv horror movie. I must say I was pleasantly surprised with this find. Bubba is a 35 year old man with the mentality of a 5 year old. No one in town likes him other than his 10 year old best friend Marylee. One day Marylee is attacked by a dog and Bubba saves her, but everyone in town believes Bubba is the one who caused her accident. He hides from four vigilante men (who have it out for poor Bubba on a daily basis anyways), in a scarecrow. The men find Bubba hiding and shoot him dead. Only after they shoot him are they made aware of what really caused Marylee's accident. Desperate to hide the crime, the "leader" places a pitch fork in Bubba's dead hands. They tell the town he came after them and they were only protecting themselves.
One by one these men start finding a scarecrow in fields. Deaths soon follow.
8.Fright Night. Who doesn't love a quirky vampire who enjoys terrorising his neighbor? I mean come on now. When your teenage neighbor goes around telling everyone that you're a vampire wouldn't you want to keep him quiet too? I know I would.
I'm stopping the 80's right here. There are MANY more, but there aren't enough hours in the day to list them all. The 90's will be very short since it was a sad decade for horror.
1.Dracula. Everyone knows the tale of Dracula. This version is very close to Bram Stoker's Dracula. Mina and Jonathan writing to each other is short hand, which is how most of the book is written (Mix with journal entries). Gary Oldman makes this movie. He gives Dracula a kind of depth, one almost feels sorry for him. This, of course, might just be me though.
2.Candyman. Don't look in to a mirror and say Candyman three times. You'll just be asking for trouble. This plays a bit off the Bloody Mary and the hook hand killer urban legends a bit, yet it's original enough to hold it's own. Plus Candyman has a mouth full of bee's at his disposal. The end was a nice touch, but sadly left things open for way to many sequels.
3.Army of Darkness. The third movie of the Evil Dead. Ash travels back in time to the 1300's. Which sounds silly. And it is, but he has a chainsaw for a hand. Thus the lameness is easy to forgive.
4. The Frightners. This is a dark comedy about a psychic investigator who can see ghosts. He rids them from the world and moves on to the next job. But things become a little more complicated when he has an out of body experience in order to fight death himself.
This movie isn't for everyone, but on occasion I enjoy a horror movie that can make me laugh.
5. Ravenous. A heartwarming tale about old western cannibalism. This description would be far to long as this is one of my favorite horror movies.
6. Cube. Seven strangers from different walks of life are trapped in cube rigged with deathly traps and puzzles. Each person has a talent which can help the group escape and find out why they have been placed in the cube. Escape isn't the groups only issue, keeping themselves sane is key.
This movie took my by complete surprise. It thrilled my inner gore hound and it kinda made my brain work as well.
7. The Craft. Cheesy. Over the top, but this movie is so much fun. Four out of place girls find each other and practice witchcraft. When the spells go a bit to far Sara wants out, but crazy Nancy is determined to have her three sisters.
8. Dead Alive. This movie will wet any blood and gore junkie's appetite. I have to admit I even gagged a little when I first saw this movie.
Before we get to the now, I'd like to cover total and utter camp. These are the movies that don't take themselves seriously, but are still filled with gore and blood.
1. Coons, Night of the bandit of the night. This little Troma Entertainment classic is by far my favorite. It's about killer Raccoons terrorizing campers. That's all it really is. The movie never takes itself very seriously and it has some pretty funny lines.
2.Toxic Avenger. This one of Troma's well known movies. A nerdy teenager is thrown out of a window by his classmates. He falls in to a truck load of toxic waste. Thus our super hero Toxic Avenger is born. Saving the world from assholes and those who would dare to be evil.
What can I say about Toxie. He's completely awesome and dating a blind woman so all that begins shitty ends well I suppose.
3. Dance of the dead. Zombies take over the prom. And it's up to a group of teenagers (and one bat shit crazy teacher) to save the day.
This is another movie that really doesn't take itself seriously. It's mainly here for laughs.
4. Class of Nuke 'em High. Yet another Troma movie. Nuke 'em high is right next to a toxic waste plant. Which makes for some interesting looking students, with attitudes to boot.
5. Children Beware. This is Troma's attempt at a slightly serious movie. But in Troma fashion it kinda fails. Yet nothing scares me more than evil children, so it makes the list.
6. Attack of the vegan Zombies. This B movie doesn't actually have a single vegan zombie in it. But it's still fun.
On to the now
1. Martyrs. This movie is rather hard to talk about without giving away the whole plot. But I'll try. We start through the eyes of a young girl being held captive. We don't know why, but she's obviously been tortured. She manages to escape and finds a new home at a orphanage. Here she meets her best friend. Skip ahead years later the girl who was captured is out for revenge against those who have captured her. With the help of her best friend of course. But there is more to these people than meet the eye.
I really can't give away anymore of the storyline. But there is more. A bit of a warning, there is no middle ground with this movie. Either you like it or you hate it. I hate admitting I like this movie. Actually, it's more respect than liking. I am always on the hunt for a movie that actually scary. I'm talking about sleeping with the lights on kind of scary. This is that movie for me. It scared the piss out of me. It's realism scared me most of all. I think something like this movie could happen in real life. Another warning. It's sadly going to take more than one viewing to actually get and retain all of the plot line. As a wannabe horror writer this is the movie I watch when I want to go to a dark place in my stories.
2.Feed. This plays on the fears of anyone who has ever feared of gaining weight. Overweight people are paid to eat as much as they can for internet entertainment. The viewers of this web show place bets on which obese person will die first.
Because of this damn movie I refuse to eat nachos or hamburgers I haven't made myself.
3.Hostel. I assume if you've read this far that you know what Hostel is all about. It pleases the inner gore hound, yet disturbs one as a person.
4.The Collector. Arkin is a a handyman (and ex-con) down on his luck. His wife owes some loan sharks a massive amount of money. In order to pay off her debt, he agrees to rob the house of his rich employer. The problem is, someone has beat him to the punch. The family is being held captive, and worse the house is rigged with traps. Arkin tries his best to save everyone, but can he save the others as well as himself from the Collector.
This movie really is mix of Hostel and Saw. About half way through the movie the traps really do become the star. While I do like this movie it would have been great, but it does satisfy the inner gore hound. The sequel comes out near the end of November. Here's to hoping it answers all of the questions the first movie left with us.
5. Let the right one in. Not to be confused with the American remake "Let me in". This is the original Swedish version based on the book by John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let the right one in is about lonely boy Oskar, who is picked on by his classmates. He has no real friends until he meets an equally lonely girl Eli. Much against Eli's wishes the two strike up a friendship, but Eli has a secret, she's a vampire.
This version isn't as bloody as it's American counter part, but for what it lacks in blood, it makes up for in story telling. At it's core it's two lonely beings coming together. It's hard not to connect with the main characters. Oskar is bullied for any reason his schoolmates can think of. It's a warm moment when he finally does fight back, but it just leads to an escalation in his bully problems. The pool scene is very much the same in "Let me in". Much is lead to the imagination when he's held underwater and Eli comes to save the day. Eli is a little more complicated. She doesn't actually want friendship until she meets Oskar. She doesn't realize how lonely she is. At it's core it's really a love story between these two. It's one of my all time favorite movies and should be seen by all.
6. Sinister. I know this is a new release, but I feel it needs to be mentioned. A writer who wants to relive his fifteen minutes of fame he experience with his first book moves his family in to a "murder house". Of course he's the only one who actually knows this house is where four people were murdered when they were hung from a tree. He discovers a box in the attic with old home movies inside. Once he starts watching he realizes that there are other connected murders. He takes it upon himself to solve these mystery killings, but quickly gets in over his head when he finds a ghostly image within each of the filmed killings.
This movie came as a surprise. I'll be honest, I didn't expect much from the people who brought us the crapfest that is Paranormal Activity, but this movie had me on the edge of my seat. And a bit jumpy. Figuring out who actually killed these families is the easy part. The why, not so much.
7.The Crazies. There is a virus afoot and it's making the people of a small Iowa town crazy. Literally. It must be something in the water. It's up to the small town sheriff and his doctor wife to find the problem and stop it. But that might be a little easier said than done when the military is involved.
This is the remake of the 1973 lesser known George Romero movie. The one thing I will give the original is that it begins with a bang, but slowly tappers off after that. The remake beings a little slowly but picks up about an hour in. I'm usually not in to remakes, but this is one of the better remakes out there.
8.House of 1000 corpses. The Firefly family is a little odd. But you know what they say. A family that kills together stays together. When four young people set out to search out the local legend of "Dr Satan.". When the car breaks down the Firefly family is more than happy to give them shelter and tell the young couples everything they want to know about Dr Satan. The local legend and a broken down car is the least of these young people's problems. They have to survive the Firefly's. Which is no easy task.
I suppose this movie is all about a matter of taste. It's gritty, over the top on gore and kinda makes you feel a little dirty. This movie wasn't well received by horror fans, but personally I enjoyed it. It's a massive throwback to 70's gritty horror. Which is why I like it so much.
9. Devil's Rejects. The sequel to Rob Zombies House of 1000 Corpses. Baby, Otis and Spaulding are on the run from the law. They leave a trail of bodies behind them. But the local sheriff (who's brother Mama Firefly killed in House of 1000 corpses) is hot on their tails and plotting his revenge.
Rob Zombie does something interesting in this film. He takes three horrible people and makes you feel sorry for them. It doesn't happen right away, but it does happen. I will say that Zombie is no master story teller, but what he lack's in story telling, he does make up for in gore.
10. The Hills Run Red. A film maker is on the search for the most horrific movie ever made. No one has been able to find it. But the young film maker as an advantage others don't, he's found the director's daughter. Hopefulness soon turns to terror when the young film maker soon finds himself in a real life horror movie of his own.
The film being searched for isn't actually the most horrific thing ever, but the journey is filled with gore and blood a plenty.
These are some of my favorites. I'd love to hear some of yours.
Some titles that didn't make the list for time reasons but are for sure favorites:
Trick r Treat
Phantasm
Wrong Turn
Texas Chainsaw (The remake)
Orphan
Popcorn
House on Sorority Row (The Original)
Ginger Snaps
The Howling (Best werewolf movie ever!)
The Prowler
My Bloody Valentine (The original)
Dawn of the dead
Day of the dead
Splinter
American Psycho
Children of the corn
omg! I can't believe I forgot Nosferatu. This would be my favorite vampire movie of all time. It's a silent era film and stays somewhat true to Bram Stoker's book. What makes this movie so special is Dracula himself. He's a thing of nightmares. Long fingernails, ugly and vicious to boot.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Sunday, September 16, 2012
A rather lengthy review of Dark Shadows. Part One
It's been a while. Getting used to a new job cuts in to blog time. Or anything else for that matter.
I've been thinking for some time now as to what I'd be reviewing. I haven't been reading much lately. And haven't been watching anything but the original Dark Shadows. Then it dawned on me. Why the hell don't I review Dark Shadows. It's a challenging review at best. Since it's a rather involved story this isn't going to be a short review. Actually the longest part of this is going to be the explanation of the series.
For those of you who have seen the movie but haven't watched the original series, today is your lucky day. I'll be giving a semi-spoiler synopses. I'm going to break this up in to parts to make it easier for all. My opinion will be given at the end of part three. I'm doing it this way because this is a 1245 episode series. Making this a 131 disc set in dvd form. It's hard to put out all that information in one post, much less make it brief. But to save time I'll leave out several of the more boring story lines that go nowhere. It's confusing people. Hell I've watched the whole series and I'm still confused by what I've seen.
We have the Beginning, the reboot and parallel time (Time travel and PT episodes fall under this category). Sorry but everything is going to be rather lengthy as the later episodes are rather....involved. In order to try to make this brief, I will list all of the characters, their back round and who they are played by before hand. This way I don't confuse anyone with details during the series description. Again I'm sorry this is going to be long.
The beginning:
Victoria Winters (Alexandria Moltke) - Heroin. Raised in an orphanage, Vicky has no idea who her birth parents are. She is determined to find out who she really is. She believes the Collins hold the key to her unknown past. She is unsure how Elizabeth found out about her existence, and believes there is some other reason she has been hired as a governess to David. Believing these reasons directly link to her past she eagerly accepts Elizabeth's job offer.
Elizabeth Stoddard Collins (Joan Bennett)- Matriarch of the Collins family. After her Father Jamison's death, the estate, family business and the family earnings were divided evenly between herself and her brother Roger. After Roger's departure from Collinsport after their father's death, Elizabeth was placed in charge of the family Business (Collins Fishing Fleet and Cannery). Her husband Paul Stoddard left her in 1958. Becoming a recluse, Elizabeth has not left Collinwood since the day Paul left (18 years). The people of Collins Port believe she is waiting for her husband to return. She gave birth to Carolyn 6 months after her husband left (This fact about Paul leaving Elizabeth is changed regularly throughout the series. I have no idea which one is true. But for the sake of my sanity we'll stick with this theory for now. The other two will come later)
Carolyn Stoddard (Nancy Barrett)- Daughter of Elizabeth Stoddard Collins and Paul Stoddard. She loathes living in Collinwood and often refers to it as a prison, but refuses to leave out of worry for her mother. Elizabeth wants Carolyn to marry her long time boyfriend Joe Haskell and move away from Collinwood, but Carolyn doesn't want to be "tied down" and refused each marriage proposal by Joe. When Burke Devins comes on to the scene Carolyn was intrigued. Leaving Joe, she fell for Burke quickly, not knowing she was merely a pawn in Burke's revenge plot against the Collin's family. Carolyn is prone to massive mood swings, but deep down has good intentions. She is close with Victoria as they are the same age.
Roger Collins (Louis Edmonds)- Brother of Elizabeth Collins. After his father, Jamison's death, Roger promised Elizabeth he would never return to Collinwood. He waisted no time spending his inheritance money. He placed the remainder of his shares in the family business up for public auction (I have no idea why). Elizabeth quickly bought up his shares in order to keep them in the family. He and Burke Devins were once close friends. One night he, Burke and Burke's then girlfriend Laura went out for a drive which lead to a man's death. Taking advantage of Burkes drunken state at the time, Roger was quick to place the blame on Burke and even testified in court, which led to Burke's manslaughter conviction. The day after Burkes conviction Roger and Laura were married. It was a long and unhappy marriage for the couple.They would often argue over Burke and their son David. After Laura became "Ill" he took David and returned to Collinwood. Roger is quick to judge and often the first to jump to conclusions about others. He hates his son David, if only because he believes David is really Burke's son and not his own (this is untrue as David resembles Jamison as a young boy), and does nothing to hide his contempt for the boy. The only person Roger is close with is Carolyn. Giving her the nick name of "Kitten". Roger runs the offices of Collin's Fishing Fleet and Cannery during business hours.
David Collins (David Henesy)- Son of Roger Collins. Often called "the little monster" by Carolyn. David is a troubled child. Upon meeting Vicky for the first time he tells her that he "I hate you" and does everything he can to chase her from Collinwood. David returns his father's hatred and makes no effort to hide it, even have attempted to kill his father by removing the bleeder valve from his father's car. This attempt failed and he never actively attempted to kill his father again. Although his hatred remained. There are only two people David holds a close affection for. Burke and his aunt Elizabeth. Both understand the hard life David has and do their best to make him feel wanted. David often mentions his only true friends are the ghost's that live in the old house. He often speaks to the ghost of a family relative Josette Collins.
Burke Devins (Mitchell Ryan) -Former friend of Roger Collins. Burke grew up in Collin's Port. As a boy he lived in a shack. His family was poor and his father would take any job that was available at the time. Bill Malloy gave Burke his first job on a boat. After this Burke found a love for money (a love that stayed with him into adulthood). Burke, Laura and Roger were the best of friends and would stir up trouble around Collins Port. Burke and Laura were sweethearts, but that quickly changed after Burke's manslaughter conviction, vowing to coming back and kill Roger. He served 5 of a 10 year conviction (released early for good behavior). Once released he put his plan to ruin Roger and the Collin's family into action. When buying Collinswood from Elizabeth didn't work, he offered her workers more money than they could ever dream of. When this didn't work he not only seduced Carolyn, but bought a Cannery in a nearby town in order to put Elizabeth's own cannery out of business. He holds a fondness for David and Vicky. Although Vicky is on a more romantic level.
Sam Evans (Mark Allen. Mid way through the series Played by David Ford) - An artist and father of Maggie. His wife was supportive of his talent. She died when Maggie was young, but Sam kept sketches he had done of her around the house. He was close with Burke and Burke would often posed for Sam. This all changed when Burke was charged with manslaughter. Sam knew what really happened the night of the accident, but never came forward. In order to keep Sam Quiet Roger gave Sam a generous sum of money to keep silent about the accident. He gave up his painting craft soon after Burke was sentenced and began drinking heavily. The portrait of Burke was never completed. It wasn't until Bill came to Sam asking for the truth that Sam began to consider allowing the truth of that night to be known. With Bill's death came Sam's silence once again.
Maggie Evans (Kathryn Leigh Scott) - Sam Evan's daughter. Maggie works at a hotel cafe in order to pay the bills since her father has quit painting. She is quirky and often speaks her mind. She is also suspicious and observant when she wants to be. She has romantic feelings towards Joe, but keeps them to herself until Carolyn breaks off her long standing relationship with him. She impresses Joe with her knowledge of boats and sailing. The two soon begin a long standing relationship. She thinks the Collins family a bunch of "Kooks" and would rather avoid them if possible. Vicky and her become very fast friends.
Joe Haskell (Joel Crothers) - Boyfriend of Carolyn Collins. Joe works at Collins Fishing Fleet and Cannery. His dream is to one day own a boat of his own and leave Collin's Port. He loves Carolyn but is often turned down when asking for her hand in marriage. Joe often refers to himself as "Good old Joe" and this is true, until he realizes Carolyn is obsessed with Burke. He accuses Carolyn of being scared of marriage because of what happened between her mother and father. There is truth behind his words that scares Carolyn. After this they break up for good. Soon after breaking up with Carolyn, he begins dating Maggie. Realizing they have much in common, they are soon engaged with Sam's blessing. He and Carolyn remain friends. Joe is the proverbial knight in shinning armor. Always comes running when there is trouble.
Laura Collins (Diana Millay) - The wife of Roger. Life with Roger was hardly idea as they always fought about Burke. 8 months after they were married, David was born and the fights about Burke continued. These verbal spars took a took on Laura and became ill. Roger sent her away to a hospital, took David and returned to Collinwood. It is later revealed that she was an alcoholic and suffered from mental illness. After several years at the hospital, Laura moved to Phoenix Arizona and lived off the money Elizabeth sent her to stay away from Collinwood. Soon after Burke's return, Laura returned to Collinwood wanting a divorce from Roger and to be reunited with her son.
Now I have to add my own personal thought here. People often contribute the turning point of Dark Shadows to Barnabas. This is only half true. Laura's character was truly the supernatural turning point for the show. She is a Phoenix. This isn't revealed until after Sam is compelled to draw a painting of Laura. She supposedly died in a fire at her home in Phoenix. As a Phoenix can rise from flames her return is hardly surprising to those who know fantasy lore. But to the members of the Collins family they are a little more than surprised at her return.
Bill Malloy (Frank Schofield) - Employed by Elizabeth and managed the Colins Fishing Fleet and Cannery. He is dedicated to Elizabeth as she gave him his first job as a deckhand on one of her ships. He would do anything to keep Elizabeth safe. Bill had a strong sense of justice. After learning Sam was hiding something important about Burke's trial, he set up a meeting between Roger, Burke, Sam and himself in Roger's office. But he was killed before he could make it to the meeting. His ghost makes several appearances to Vicky and Matthew.
Matthew Morgan (Thayer David) - Caretaker of Collinwood. Matthew began at Collin's Fishing Fleet and Cannery as a floor sweeper. Elizabeth eventually hired him on as the Collinwood caretaker. Matthew was devoted to Elizabeth and would do anything to protect her. For the most part he was a gentle man, but was prone to violent outbursts. These outbursts became more frequent upon Vicky's arrival. After a series of events, Matthew kidnapped Vicky and threatened to kill her several times. He later died of fright as several ghost appeared to him.
Collinswood- Collin's family home. (While this isn't a character, through out most of the show it sure does feel like one)
Side note here. I know I'm missing Jossette Collins here. But I feel she plays a MUCH bigger part in the next part of the series. So I'll save her description for the next part. Although she does appear as a ghost in the beginning. She appears to David, Vicky and Matthew.
FINALLY! We get to what the series is about.
The Gothic soap opera takes place in 1966. It follows Vicky on her strange journey with the Collins family. We begin with her arriving in Collin's Port. No one from the great house of Collinwood is there to greet her. Burke was on the very same train as Vicky. After warning her (the beginning of a slew of warnings), of the dangers of the Collins family, he whisks her away to his hotel where he calls her a cab.
The next warning comes from Maggie (a very blond Maggie a this point. Thankfully the wig only lasted three episodes), who warns her of the "Kooks" on the hill. Taking no heed of this warning, Vicky travels on to Collinwood via taxi.
Roger is the next to warn Vicky. They meet when Vick looks out on Widow's hill. Again taking no heed, she moves on to Collinwood.
We meet Elizabeth. Who comes off rather cold, but there is potential for a warmness in her words. After a brief description of her job requirements, Vicky is sent off to her room to unpack.
Once in her new living quarters we meet Carolyn. Who also warns Vicky of the dangers and drama's of the Collin's family. Vicky has no intention of leaving, much to Carolyn's semi-delight.
David is spiteful and plays "tricks" on Vicky in order to scare her away. Stealing clothing. Playing with the lights. Opening doors with the lights off. All of the antics we expect from children. It's not until we hear David tell Vicky how much she hates her do we understand how troubled this boy is. Vicky thinks so as well and is determined to help him.
In the beginning we are faced with conspiracy's. Most involving Burke's case. Roger wants Sam to keep quiet about what he knows. Burke wants to find out what Sam knows, but gets nowhere on that front. Burke takes on Elizabeth and her business in order to get back at Roger. Having more money than the Collin's, he offers to buy Collinwood from Elizabeth. When she refuses, he offers her money for her cannery. This offer is also refused. Asking her workers to come to his new business fails, but Burke is not deflated at these setbacks. He buys his very own fishing fleet and cannery in a nearby town, with plans to put the Collins family out of business. He also seduces Carolyn in hopes of hurting the family.
The one person trying to keep the peace is murdered. Bill's death hit everyone very hard. Burke was convinced Roger killed Bill in order to keep him silent about what he knew. This proved to be false (Spoiler) Matthew was soon revealed at the true killer. He killed Bill because he believed the man was bringing trouble to Elizabeth.
To be perfectly honest, the beginning really isn't interesting. It had potential. It was dark and had the occasional ghost. But then there was the romantic triangles. Angry Children, even angrier adults. Backstabbing, drama... Same old, same old. But then Laura shows up and the show suddenly takes an interesting and unexpected turn.
After being released from the mental hospital Roger had placed her in, Laura moved to Phoenix (The blatant irony attempted here makes me roll my eyes every time.) Arizona. It is later revealed that her home is burned to the ground and all believed she had gone with it. The authorities came to this conclusion by finding a burnt body in the home. They believed it to be Laura. It was, but a Phoenix on a mission never stays down for long. She comes back to Collins Port demanding a divorce from Roger and wanting full custody of David.
Roger is more than willing to give her both, but Elizabeth has reservations about handing David over to the once mentally ill Laura. After a few meetings Elizabeth is convinced Laura has regained her senses, and even suggests Laura come live with them at Collinwood so she and David can become reacquainted.
Due to a dream he had the night of his mother's first visit to Collinwood (David was asleep during her first visit), He runs from her upon their first meeting. He tells Vicky that the woman downstairs is not his mother, yet he calls to her from his window. Eventually David warms up to his mother thanks to the efforts of Vicky.
Upon actually seeing Laura for the first time, Sam finds himself compelled to do a portrait of Laura and David surrounded by fire. Sam doesn't understand why he feels the need to paint such a portrait. The image of Laura and David in Sams mind is the beginning of many clues given to all by the ghost of Joesette Collins. Being a ghost, she knows exactly what Laura is and wants to do everything she can to save David from his mother's planned fate.
Laura needs David's love in order to carry out her plan. According to Dark Shadow lore. A Phoenix dies by fire every 100 years on the same day and is reborn from those flames. The only difference here is the Phoenix is always a woman and always has a son named David she brings in to the flames with her.
Being the smart cookie she occasionally is, Vicky begins to read in to these clues left by Josette. Under the influence of Josette, she buys the unfinished portrait, much to Sam's confusion and delight. This set back does not stop our ghostly hero from making Sam start in on another portrait. Laura is hardly pleased by this picture, she uses magic in order to kill Sam by fire. Only Elizabeth interrupting Lara's spell saved Sam from an untimely death. Sam's hands were badly burned in the fire as was the current portrait of Laura (although the flames were nowhere near the portrait at the time). Unable to believe her father's accusation that Laura was trying to kill him, Maggie leaves for Collinwood in order to confront Laura.
After Maggie comes to Collinwood to confront Laura Elizabeth begins suspecting Laura of fowl play.
The locket of Laura plays a big clue as well (This is VERY drawn out and really didn't need to be). Vicky comments on Laura's beautiful locket. She explains to Vicky that it was a wedding present from Roger. It holds a picture of David and a lock of his baby hair.
Later Vicky finds the locket Laura wore before was a fake. The real locket was found in Laura's Phoenix apartment, having survived the fire. This locket held the picture and lock of hair. It's also discovered that this locket once belonged to Josette. This is only used to connect Josette and Laura in some way. In other words to get Vicky's attention.
Josette finishes Sam's painting for him, giving Vicky the big clue that David and Laura should not be left alone together.
But the HUGE clue comes when Vicky and semi- boyfriend Frank Garner are drawn to the Collinwood graveyard. They find not one grave of Laura Murdock Stockbridge but two. Knowing Murdock is Laura's maiden name, Vicky is sure there is a connection. As it turns out the two Laura's died exactly 100 years apart from each other.
After this takes place Elizabeth orders Laura to stay away from David. Taking offense and feeling threatened, Laura places Elizabeth in a trance. Elizabeth is sent away to a hospital and is placed under the care of Dr. Peter Gunthrie. Who believes Elizabeth's coma was brought on by some kind of trauma.
After a series of events, involving faded medical records Dr. Gunthrie does everything in his power to out Laura. Even holding a seance (get used to this word people. Come part two it will be used. A LOT). It's not until Joe and Dr Gunthrie open the casket of Laura Murdock Stockbridge that the pieces start falling in to place.
Vicky is the one to save David from his mother's planned fate. David is drawn to his mother (thanks to a spell) and wants to leave. Upon meeting his mother in an old building a fire breaks out. Laura is consumed by the flames, Vicky manages to find David in time to rescue him.
Holy crap doodle. That was long wasn't it? I told you all it was involved. Now on to part two. The rebirth of the show......
I've been thinking for some time now as to what I'd be reviewing. I haven't been reading much lately. And haven't been watching anything but the original Dark Shadows. Then it dawned on me. Why the hell don't I review Dark Shadows. It's a challenging review at best. Since it's a rather involved story this isn't going to be a short review. Actually the longest part of this is going to be the explanation of the series.
For those of you who have seen the movie but haven't watched the original series, today is your lucky day. I'll be giving a semi-spoiler synopses. I'm going to break this up in to parts to make it easier for all. My opinion will be given at the end of part three. I'm doing it this way because this is a 1245 episode series. Making this a 131 disc set in dvd form. It's hard to put out all that information in one post, much less make it brief. But to save time I'll leave out several of the more boring story lines that go nowhere. It's confusing people. Hell I've watched the whole series and I'm still confused by what I've seen.
We have the Beginning, the reboot and parallel time (Time travel and PT episodes fall under this category). Sorry but everything is going to be rather lengthy as the later episodes are rather....involved. In order to try to make this brief, I will list all of the characters, their back round and who they are played by before hand. This way I don't confuse anyone with details during the series description. Again I'm sorry this is going to be long.
The beginning:
Victoria Winters (Alexandria Moltke) - Heroin. Raised in an orphanage, Vicky has no idea who her birth parents are. She is determined to find out who she really is. She believes the Collins hold the key to her unknown past. She is unsure how Elizabeth found out about her existence, and believes there is some other reason she has been hired as a governess to David. Believing these reasons directly link to her past she eagerly accepts Elizabeth's job offer.
Elizabeth Stoddard Collins (Joan Bennett)- Matriarch of the Collins family. After her Father Jamison's death, the estate, family business and the family earnings were divided evenly between herself and her brother Roger. After Roger's departure from Collinsport after their father's death, Elizabeth was placed in charge of the family Business (Collins Fishing Fleet and Cannery). Her husband Paul Stoddard left her in 1958. Becoming a recluse, Elizabeth has not left Collinwood since the day Paul left (18 years). The people of Collins Port believe she is waiting for her husband to return. She gave birth to Carolyn 6 months after her husband left (This fact about Paul leaving Elizabeth is changed regularly throughout the series. I have no idea which one is true. But for the sake of my sanity we'll stick with this theory for now. The other two will come later)
Carolyn Stoddard (Nancy Barrett)- Daughter of Elizabeth Stoddard Collins and Paul Stoddard. She loathes living in Collinwood and often refers to it as a prison, but refuses to leave out of worry for her mother. Elizabeth wants Carolyn to marry her long time boyfriend Joe Haskell and move away from Collinwood, but Carolyn doesn't want to be "tied down" and refused each marriage proposal by Joe. When Burke Devins comes on to the scene Carolyn was intrigued. Leaving Joe, she fell for Burke quickly, not knowing she was merely a pawn in Burke's revenge plot against the Collin's family. Carolyn is prone to massive mood swings, but deep down has good intentions. She is close with Victoria as they are the same age.
Roger Collins (Louis Edmonds)- Brother of Elizabeth Collins. After his father, Jamison's death, Roger promised Elizabeth he would never return to Collinwood. He waisted no time spending his inheritance money. He placed the remainder of his shares in the family business up for public auction (I have no idea why). Elizabeth quickly bought up his shares in order to keep them in the family. He and Burke Devins were once close friends. One night he, Burke and Burke's then girlfriend Laura went out for a drive which lead to a man's death. Taking advantage of Burkes drunken state at the time, Roger was quick to place the blame on Burke and even testified in court, which led to Burke's manslaughter conviction. The day after Burkes conviction Roger and Laura were married. It was a long and unhappy marriage for the couple.They would often argue over Burke and their son David. After Laura became "Ill" he took David and returned to Collinwood. Roger is quick to judge and often the first to jump to conclusions about others. He hates his son David, if only because he believes David is really Burke's son and not his own (this is untrue as David resembles Jamison as a young boy), and does nothing to hide his contempt for the boy. The only person Roger is close with is Carolyn. Giving her the nick name of "Kitten". Roger runs the offices of Collin's Fishing Fleet and Cannery during business hours.
David Collins (David Henesy)- Son of Roger Collins. Often called "the little monster" by Carolyn. David is a troubled child. Upon meeting Vicky for the first time he tells her that he "I hate you" and does everything he can to chase her from Collinwood. David returns his father's hatred and makes no effort to hide it, even have attempted to kill his father by removing the bleeder valve from his father's car. This attempt failed and he never actively attempted to kill his father again. Although his hatred remained. There are only two people David holds a close affection for. Burke and his aunt Elizabeth. Both understand the hard life David has and do their best to make him feel wanted. David often mentions his only true friends are the ghost's that live in the old house. He often speaks to the ghost of a family relative Josette Collins.
Burke Devins (Mitchell Ryan) -Former friend of Roger Collins. Burke grew up in Collin's Port. As a boy he lived in a shack. His family was poor and his father would take any job that was available at the time. Bill Malloy gave Burke his first job on a boat. After this Burke found a love for money (a love that stayed with him into adulthood). Burke, Laura and Roger were the best of friends and would stir up trouble around Collins Port. Burke and Laura were sweethearts, but that quickly changed after Burke's manslaughter conviction, vowing to coming back and kill Roger. He served 5 of a 10 year conviction (released early for good behavior). Once released he put his plan to ruin Roger and the Collin's family into action. When buying Collinswood from Elizabeth didn't work, he offered her workers more money than they could ever dream of. When this didn't work he not only seduced Carolyn, but bought a Cannery in a nearby town in order to put Elizabeth's own cannery out of business. He holds a fondness for David and Vicky. Although Vicky is on a more romantic level.
Sam Evans (Mark Allen. Mid way through the series Played by David Ford) - An artist and father of Maggie. His wife was supportive of his talent. She died when Maggie was young, but Sam kept sketches he had done of her around the house. He was close with Burke and Burke would often posed for Sam. This all changed when Burke was charged with manslaughter. Sam knew what really happened the night of the accident, but never came forward. In order to keep Sam Quiet Roger gave Sam a generous sum of money to keep silent about the accident. He gave up his painting craft soon after Burke was sentenced and began drinking heavily. The portrait of Burke was never completed. It wasn't until Bill came to Sam asking for the truth that Sam began to consider allowing the truth of that night to be known. With Bill's death came Sam's silence once again.
Maggie Evans (Kathryn Leigh Scott) - Sam Evan's daughter. Maggie works at a hotel cafe in order to pay the bills since her father has quit painting. She is quirky and often speaks her mind. She is also suspicious and observant when she wants to be. She has romantic feelings towards Joe, but keeps them to herself until Carolyn breaks off her long standing relationship with him. She impresses Joe with her knowledge of boats and sailing. The two soon begin a long standing relationship. She thinks the Collins family a bunch of "Kooks" and would rather avoid them if possible. Vicky and her become very fast friends.
Joe Haskell (Joel Crothers) - Boyfriend of Carolyn Collins. Joe works at Collins Fishing Fleet and Cannery. His dream is to one day own a boat of his own and leave Collin's Port. He loves Carolyn but is often turned down when asking for her hand in marriage. Joe often refers to himself as "Good old Joe" and this is true, until he realizes Carolyn is obsessed with Burke. He accuses Carolyn of being scared of marriage because of what happened between her mother and father. There is truth behind his words that scares Carolyn. After this they break up for good. Soon after breaking up with Carolyn, he begins dating Maggie. Realizing they have much in common, they are soon engaged with Sam's blessing. He and Carolyn remain friends. Joe is the proverbial knight in shinning armor. Always comes running when there is trouble.
Laura Collins (Diana Millay) - The wife of Roger. Life with Roger was hardly idea as they always fought about Burke. 8 months after they were married, David was born and the fights about Burke continued. These verbal spars took a took on Laura and became ill. Roger sent her away to a hospital, took David and returned to Collinwood. It is later revealed that she was an alcoholic and suffered from mental illness. After several years at the hospital, Laura moved to Phoenix Arizona and lived off the money Elizabeth sent her to stay away from Collinwood. Soon after Burke's return, Laura returned to Collinwood wanting a divorce from Roger and to be reunited with her son.
Now I have to add my own personal thought here. People often contribute the turning point of Dark Shadows to Barnabas. This is only half true. Laura's character was truly the supernatural turning point for the show. She is a Phoenix. This isn't revealed until after Sam is compelled to draw a painting of Laura. She supposedly died in a fire at her home in Phoenix. As a Phoenix can rise from flames her return is hardly surprising to those who know fantasy lore. But to the members of the Collins family they are a little more than surprised at her return.
Bill Malloy (Frank Schofield) - Employed by Elizabeth and managed the Colins Fishing Fleet and Cannery. He is dedicated to Elizabeth as she gave him his first job as a deckhand on one of her ships. He would do anything to keep Elizabeth safe. Bill had a strong sense of justice. After learning Sam was hiding something important about Burke's trial, he set up a meeting between Roger, Burke, Sam and himself in Roger's office. But he was killed before he could make it to the meeting. His ghost makes several appearances to Vicky and Matthew.
Matthew Morgan (Thayer David) - Caretaker of Collinwood. Matthew began at Collin's Fishing Fleet and Cannery as a floor sweeper. Elizabeth eventually hired him on as the Collinwood caretaker. Matthew was devoted to Elizabeth and would do anything to protect her. For the most part he was a gentle man, but was prone to violent outbursts. These outbursts became more frequent upon Vicky's arrival. After a series of events, Matthew kidnapped Vicky and threatened to kill her several times. He later died of fright as several ghost appeared to him.
Collinswood- Collin's family home. (While this isn't a character, through out most of the show it sure does feel like one)
Side note here. I know I'm missing Jossette Collins here. But I feel she plays a MUCH bigger part in the next part of the series. So I'll save her description for the next part. Although she does appear as a ghost in the beginning. She appears to David, Vicky and Matthew.
FINALLY! We get to what the series is about.
The Gothic soap opera takes place in 1966. It follows Vicky on her strange journey with the Collins family. We begin with her arriving in Collin's Port. No one from the great house of Collinwood is there to greet her. Burke was on the very same train as Vicky. After warning her (the beginning of a slew of warnings), of the dangers of the Collins family, he whisks her away to his hotel where he calls her a cab.
The next warning comes from Maggie (a very blond Maggie a this point. Thankfully the wig only lasted three episodes), who warns her of the "Kooks" on the hill. Taking no heed of this warning, Vicky travels on to Collinwood via taxi.
Roger is the next to warn Vicky. They meet when Vick looks out on Widow's hill. Again taking no heed, she moves on to Collinwood.
We meet Elizabeth. Who comes off rather cold, but there is potential for a warmness in her words. After a brief description of her job requirements, Vicky is sent off to her room to unpack.
Once in her new living quarters we meet Carolyn. Who also warns Vicky of the dangers and drama's of the Collin's family. Vicky has no intention of leaving, much to Carolyn's semi-delight.
David is spiteful and plays "tricks" on Vicky in order to scare her away. Stealing clothing. Playing with the lights. Opening doors with the lights off. All of the antics we expect from children. It's not until we hear David tell Vicky how much she hates her do we understand how troubled this boy is. Vicky thinks so as well and is determined to help him.
In the beginning we are faced with conspiracy's. Most involving Burke's case. Roger wants Sam to keep quiet about what he knows. Burke wants to find out what Sam knows, but gets nowhere on that front. Burke takes on Elizabeth and her business in order to get back at Roger. Having more money than the Collin's, he offers to buy Collinwood from Elizabeth. When she refuses, he offers her money for her cannery. This offer is also refused. Asking her workers to come to his new business fails, but Burke is not deflated at these setbacks. He buys his very own fishing fleet and cannery in a nearby town, with plans to put the Collins family out of business. He also seduces Carolyn in hopes of hurting the family.
The one person trying to keep the peace is murdered. Bill's death hit everyone very hard. Burke was convinced Roger killed Bill in order to keep him silent about what he knew. This proved to be false (Spoiler) Matthew was soon revealed at the true killer. He killed Bill because he believed the man was bringing trouble to Elizabeth.
To be perfectly honest, the beginning really isn't interesting. It had potential. It was dark and had the occasional ghost. But then there was the romantic triangles. Angry Children, even angrier adults. Backstabbing, drama... Same old, same old. But then Laura shows up and the show suddenly takes an interesting and unexpected turn.
After being released from the mental hospital Roger had placed her in, Laura moved to Phoenix (The blatant irony attempted here makes me roll my eyes every time.) Arizona. It is later revealed that her home is burned to the ground and all believed she had gone with it. The authorities came to this conclusion by finding a burnt body in the home. They believed it to be Laura. It was, but a Phoenix on a mission never stays down for long. She comes back to Collins Port demanding a divorce from Roger and wanting full custody of David.
Roger is more than willing to give her both, but Elizabeth has reservations about handing David over to the once mentally ill Laura. After a few meetings Elizabeth is convinced Laura has regained her senses, and even suggests Laura come live with them at Collinwood so she and David can become reacquainted.
Due to a dream he had the night of his mother's first visit to Collinwood (David was asleep during her first visit), He runs from her upon their first meeting. He tells Vicky that the woman downstairs is not his mother, yet he calls to her from his window. Eventually David warms up to his mother thanks to the efforts of Vicky.
Upon actually seeing Laura for the first time, Sam finds himself compelled to do a portrait of Laura and David surrounded by fire. Sam doesn't understand why he feels the need to paint such a portrait. The image of Laura and David in Sams mind is the beginning of many clues given to all by the ghost of Joesette Collins. Being a ghost, she knows exactly what Laura is and wants to do everything she can to save David from his mother's planned fate.
Laura needs David's love in order to carry out her plan. According to Dark Shadow lore. A Phoenix dies by fire every 100 years on the same day and is reborn from those flames. The only difference here is the Phoenix is always a woman and always has a son named David she brings in to the flames with her.
Being the smart cookie she occasionally is, Vicky begins to read in to these clues left by Josette. Under the influence of Josette, she buys the unfinished portrait, much to Sam's confusion and delight. This set back does not stop our ghostly hero from making Sam start in on another portrait. Laura is hardly pleased by this picture, she uses magic in order to kill Sam by fire. Only Elizabeth interrupting Lara's spell saved Sam from an untimely death. Sam's hands were badly burned in the fire as was the current portrait of Laura (although the flames were nowhere near the portrait at the time). Unable to believe her father's accusation that Laura was trying to kill him, Maggie leaves for Collinwood in order to confront Laura.
After Maggie comes to Collinwood to confront Laura Elizabeth begins suspecting Laura of fowl play.
The locket of Laura plays a big clue as well (This is VERY drawn out and really didn't need to be). Vicky comments on Laura's beautiful locket. She explains to Vicky that it was a wedding present from Roger. It holds a picture of David and a lock of his baby hair.
Later Vicky finds the locket Laura wore before was a fake. The real locket was found in Laura's Phoenix apartment, having survived the fire. This locket held the picture and lock of hair. It's also discovered that this locket once belonged to Josette. This is only used to connect Josette and Laura in some way. In other words to get Vicky's attention.
Josette finishes Sam's painting for him, giving Vicky the big clue that David and Laura should not be left alone together.
But the HUGE clue comes when Vicky and semi- boyfriend Frank Garner are drawn to the Collinwood graveyard. They find not one grave of Laura Murdock Stockbridge but two. Knowing Murdock is Laura's maiden name, Vicky is sure there is a connection. As it turns out the two Laura's died exactly 100 years apart from each other.
After this takes place Elizabeth orders Laura to stay away from David. Taking offense and feeling threatened, Laura places Elizabeth in a trance. Elizabeth is sent away to a hospital and is placed under the care of Dr. Peter Gunthrie. Who believes Elizabeth's coma was brought on by some kind of trauma.
After a series of events, involving faded medical records Dr. Gunthrie does everything in his power to out Laura. Even holding a seance (get used to this word people. Come part two it will be used. A LOT). It's not until Joe and Dr Gunthrie open the casket of Laura Murdock Stockbridge that the pieces start falling in to place.
Vicky is the one to save David from his mother's planned fate. David is drawn to his mother (thanks to a spell) and wants to leave. Upon meeting his mother in an old building a fire breaks out. Laura is consumed by the flames, Vicky manages to find David in time to rescue him.
Holy crap doodle. That was long wasn't it? I told you all it was involved. Now on to part two. The rebirth of the show......
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Author review
Hello again!
I'll get right to the point. There is a reason I decided to do this whole blog business. My name is Meggles, and I'm a massive book worm. I'm also a movie buff. I tend to have opinions on the latest and greatest (in some cases not so great) movies and novels. I decided it was time I threw my opinion out there to all. I know, it's super original and all. So lets get started.
I had originally started this post with a review of the "Fifty Shades" Series. The more I wrote the more I realized I wasn't saying anything that thousands of reviews have said before me. I'm also one of those reviewers who tries to find the good in the worst of any form of media. I couldn't with these books. Instead, I'll be doing an overall author review.
I am a bit of a genre snob. Horror and fantasy have always been my safe haven when it comes to novels. Branching out to something other than the yearly Jane Austin read seemed kind of silly to me. I never even gave thrillers a chance. Mainly because I assumed they wouldn't be gory or engaging enough for my tastes. For the most part, I was right about the gore. But the stories are actually pretty damn engaging.
While on vacation earlier this month, I ran out of books, which is a tragedy in itself. Thankfully my grandma has a bunch of books so I decided to rummage through them. This is when I came across "Deeper than Dead" by Tami Hoag. I was drawn by the shinny cover and....that's about it. Out of desperation I gave it a chance. I'm so glad I did. I finished it within the day and found myself wanting more. Once I got home I was able to find a bunch of them at my local used bookstore. I was even more pleased when I found out "Deeper than Dead" is the first in a trilogy, since this is, by far the better of Mrs. Hoag's novels.
Having read nearly every book she has out to date, I'll cover both what I like, and what I don't.
Pro's:
Mrs. Hoag's story weaving is amazing. She excels with her ability to keep you guessing who the killer is until the very end. In fact, there are only two books where I've been able to guess who did it before even getting through half the novel. Two out of twenty plus novels isn't bad. Most of the time her curve balls drive me so crazy, I actually skip to the end of the book to see if I was even close. Usually I'm not. I know this is shameful of me, but really now, it really would keep me up not knowing. Her bad guys are always very well written and actually have some depth. Not much, but some.
The characters are enjoyable. Especially her Kovac and Liska characters. Tough as shit cops, but the pair's strength comes from the ability to give each other shit when need be. I also enjoy her main characters from "Deeper than dead" There isn't one I don't like. She can make you feel bad for a character one chapter, and the next she can make you hate them with a passion. That is is damn good writing.
I love the fact that she doesn't set her novels in one specific state. She moves around from Minnesota, California to New Orleans. I'm sure I'm missing a state, but those are all I can remember at the moment.
The fact that she researches police departments, FBI branches and other law enforcement agencies is a point in my book. She could go off blindly what other books and online sources have to say. But she takes the time to interview officers, agents...so on and so forth.
Now for the Cons:
While I do enjoy most of her main characters, they follow a formula that drives me crazy. The heroin is usually tough, witty and usually has daddy or mommy issues. For the most part it's daddy issues. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy wit and tough. But when every single woman is the same as the last, it becomes old very fast.
The hero is the brooding sort, who usually has wit that is on par with the heroin. Also has mommy and daddy issues. He also ALWAYS believes the heroin is FAR too good for him and she deserves better.
The romance. le sigh. Every single pairing is pretty much the same. Lust as first sight. Denial. Witty banter to cover up the growing attraction. A first false start at sex, which the woman usually stops given how she's ready, but not ready just yet. The guy can wait but not long. The guy can't stop thinking about the woman. He is finally unable to control himself and pretty much forces himself upon her. The woman usually gives in given her massive need for him. Mind blowing sex which is a total shock to both of them. Given the guy's broody nature, he always plays hard to get. Yet he finally gives in at the end. Fairy tail ending for all involved. I've pretty much given away every ending to almost all over her books. For that I'm sorry, but the formula is frustrating and boring. The sex in these books are always the same. Boring. Change it up or don't write any romance at all. Or just stick to strictly romance novels.
The only two exceptions to this formula would be "Dark horse" and "Deeper than dead"
All con's aside. over all, her books are very well written, and extremely engrossing. I would recommend starting off with "Dark Horse". I believe it's one of her best novels to date.
Well that's it.
I'm always up for trying out new authors. If anyone has anyone they would highly recommend don't hesitate to suggest.
Till next time. Thank you all for reading. Laters!
I'll get right to the point. There is a reason I decided to do this whole blog business. My name is Meggles, and I'm a massive book worm. I'm also a movie buff. I tend to have opinions on the latest and greatest (in some cases not so great) movies and novels. I decided it was time I threw my opinion out there to all. I know, it's super original and all. So lets get started.
I had originally started this post with a review of the "Fifty Shades" Series. The more I wrote the more I realized I wasn't saying anything that thousands of reviews have said before me. I'm also one of those reviewers who tries to find the good in the worst of any form of media. I couldn't with these books. Instead, I'll be doing an overall author review.
I am a bit of a genre snob. Horror and fantasy have always been my safe haven when it comes to novels. Branching out to something other than the yearly Jane Austin read seemed kind of silly to me. I never even gave thrillers a chance. Mainly because I assumed they wouldn't be gory or engaging enough for my tastes. For the most part, I was right about the gore. But the stories are actually pretty damn engaging.
While on vacation earlier this month, I ran out of books, which is a tragedy in itself. Thankfully my grandma has a bunch of books so I decided to rummage through them. This is when I came across "Deeper than Dead" by Tami Hoag. I was drawn by the shinny cover and....that's about it. Out of desperation I gave it a chance. I'm so glad I did. I finished it within the day and found myself wanting more. Once I got home I was able to find a bunch of them at my local used bookstore. I was even more pleased when I found out "Deeper than Dead" is the first in a trilogy, since this is, by far the better of Mrs. Hoag's novels.
Having read nearly every book she has out to date, I'll cover both what I like, and what I don't.
Pro's:
Mrs. Hoag's story weaving is amazing. She excels with her ability to keep you guessing who the killer is until the very end. In fact, there are only two books where I've been able to guess who did it before even getting through half the novel. Two out of twenty plus novels isn't bad. Most of the time her curve balls drive me so crazy, I actually skip to the end of the book to see if I was even close. Usually I'm not. I know this is shameful of me, but really now, it really would keep me up not knowing. Her bad guys are always very well written and actually have some depth. Not much, but some.
The characters are enjoyable. Especially her Kovac and Liska characters. Tough as shit cops, but the pair's strength comes from the ability to give each other shit when need be. I also enjoy her main characters from "Deeper than dead" There isn't one I don't like. She can make you feel bad for a character one chapter, and the next she can make you hate them with a passion. That is is damn good writing.
I love the fact that she doesn't set her novels in one specific state. She moves around from Minnesota, California to New Orleans. I'm sure I'm missing a state, but those are all I can remember at the moment.
The fact that she researches police departments, FBI branches and other law enforcement agencies is a point in my book. She could go off blindly what other books and online sources have to say. But she takes the time to interview officers, agents...so on and so forth.
Now for the Cons:
While I do enjoy most of her main characters, they follow a formula that drives me crazy. The heroin is usually tough, witty and usually has daddy or mommy issues. For the most part it's daddy issues. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy wit and tough. But when every single woman is the same as the last, it becomes old very fast.
The hero is the brooding sort, who usually has wit that is on par with the heroin. Also has mommy and daddy issues. He also ALWAYS believes the heroin is FAR too good for him and she deserves better.
The romance. le sigh. Every single pairing is pretty much the same. Lust as first sight. Denial. Witty banter to cover up the growing attraction. A first false start at sex, which the woman usually stops given how she's ready, but not ready just yet. The guy can wait but not long. The guy can't stop thinking about the woman. He is finally unable to control himself and pretty much forces himself upon her. The woman usually gives in given her massive need for him. Mind blowing sex which is a total shock to both of them. Given the guy's broody nature, he always plays hard to get. Yet he finally gives in at the end. Fairy tail ending for all involved. I've pretty much given away every ending to almost all over her books. For that I'm sorry, but the formula is frustrating and boring. The sex in these books are always the same. Boring. Change it up or don't write any romance at all. Or just stick to strictly romance novels.
The only two exceptions to this formula would be "Dark horse" and "Deeper than dead"
All con's aside. over all, her books are very well written, and extremely engrossing. I would recommend starting off with "Dark Horse". I believe it's one of her best novels to date.
Well that's it.
I'm always up for trying out new authors. If anyone has anyone they would highly recommend don't hesitate to suggest.
Till next time. Thank you all for reading. Laters!
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