…AND HOW’S IT BAYOU?

On Saturday, March 28th, the 2-hr Lifetime TV Movie “MIDNIGHT BAYOU” premieres on the network and, based on the TV spots I’ve seen, should be of interest to fans of “NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS” and the “Dark Shadows” TV series itself, as it shares similar preoccupations.

Not having read Nora Roberts’ 2001 novel, upon which this is based, I don’t know how events play out, and most likely the fantasy/haunting element is downplayed, but what we have is Jerry O’Connell playing a man who inherits an old plantation manor with a troubled past, and begins to experience visions of events a century or more in the past. The charming Lauren Stamile, mostly known for “Grey’s Anatomy” plays the love interest, who tries to help O’Connell work out what happened in the past, to try to right some unknown wrong of yesteryear. As this goes on, they both find themselves having visions and acting out the roles and actions of long-dead relatives… With Faye Dunaway as Stamile’s mother, I have a strong sense that she’ll be the Carlotta from Night of DS character, who knows the history and secretly works to help the past spirits find peace. My gut instincts tell me that the ending is something a little more slushy and romance oriented than the horror oriented Night of DS, but so far, not that there's anything wrong with that, and it appears to be a combination of that film, Dan Curtis’s excellent TV Movie “The Love Letter” (based on the Richard Matheson story), while carrying over the interest in reincarnation that was the thematic core of the original “Dark Shadows” series.

What’s particularly interesting, for those who like trivia, is that the female lead in this is Lauren Stamile…who played Kate Jackson in 2004’s trashy delight “Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Charlie's Angels'.” Her flawless mimicry of Kate Jackson’s mannerisms and voice was quite impressive, and I’ve always had her as my fall-back choice to finish Kate Jackson’s re-looping work for the “NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS” restoration, should Ms. Jackson be unable to come back into the studio. I’ll be interested to see how she comes off, while exploring the same kind of material Saturday night…or whenever the heck I get around to watching the thing on my DVR…

Original Night of DS Story Outline Recovered & Status Update Circa January '09

Greetings all!

A couple of years ago, I closed down the Night of Dark Shadows restoration website for a number of reasons, primarily because the lack of any real forward momentum or activity on the film's restoration efforts left the site sitting without updates for months and months... I don't expect that will change very much here, but after doing a few presentations on the restoration history and efforts, at Dark Shadows Festivals and at the Castro Theatre in October '08's Shock It To Me horror festival, it seems that it'd be a good idea to create a place where news and updates can be reported that are reliable, and free from the confusion one finds on many film related message boards...

This blog will also give readers, film fans, and other interested parties a contact person or email address, via the comment sections here, or via a protected email link. In order to prevent spam nonsense, all comments will be moderated so there will be a brief posting lag between when they are made and when they show up, but nothing too severe.

What will probably be most fun, is the ability here to share anecdotes the cast and crew may have shared with me over the years, or new documents that research has turned up...

Such as... An original 33 page rough story outline & scene breakdown for Night of Dark Shadows that was written by Sam Hall and Dan Curtis just before the script. This document was ony recently recovered, and it's significantly different from the shooting script and the final film.

NEXT: Will Quentin and Daphne survive the Night of Dark Shadows? Perhaps with the help of their friends Morley and Clare, they will.

Stay tuned, as it (or my work on the recent Dead of Night DVD) will be the subject of my next post, and it's pretty fascinating. Also, because it's a blog, it will have a more personal bent, and will veer into non-DS related restoration projects, and items of interest that I may be involved in. Should be fun.