Customer Reviews
DISC DOES NOT WORK. 
2008-06-09
The first disc did not work. I tried it in two different DVD players and it still didn't work, even though all the other discs worked. I wasn't satisfied. This may not happen to everyone, but I'm just telling my experience. Adivice: Buy it from the Dark Shadows website.
Great Camp 
2008-02-13
I love Dark Shadows. I used to run home from school to watch when I was a kid. Looks great on my hdtv.
barnabas collins lives on 2008-01-12
i grew up on dark shadowes and wanted to be a vampire like Barnabas now i got the dvd for my mom for xmas, she loves all the old stuff
Dark Shadows Collection 2007-12-10
I ordered collection one back in August of this year.Ever sent then, all I could think about is how to get my hands on collection 2.Well I just ordered collection 2 and 3,and I can't wait to get them.If your a big Dark Shadows fan,these collections are a must have.
Dark Shadows Volume 1 2007-10-17
Any Dark Shadows fan will love this collection! It was wonderful to see
these episodes again!
A Real Trip Down Memory Lane 2007-09-22
When I was between 8 and 10 years old, I used to run home to see "Dark Shadows" at 3:00. I watched every day. I would have nightmares about Vampires and Werewolves and my mother would say "no more Dark Shadows", but there I would be the very next afternoon. I was addicted. I can still remember the very last show. It finished with a little more finality than the others and the credits ran a REAL long time. When they were done the announcer said something like "this has been the last episode of Dark Shadows. Please tune in tomorrow for ..." whatever it was...Matchgame or some other junk. I grabbed the TV guide for the following week because they always came early and sure enough, gone..done..finito.
I can't begin to say how much I have enjoyed watching the show on DVD. The acting, the sets, the music. No wonder the show lives on even today. To anyone who was as big a fan as I...get this one now, don't wait til Christmas, or a birthday, or the 'right moment'. Just go get it and enjoy it. Thanks MPI!
Dark Shadow memories 
2007-09-14
I loved watching Dark Shadows every day after school with a childhood friend. It is cool to see these all over again. Thank you!
Excellent 2007-08-31
It was a thrill to watch Dark Shadows all over again, 40 yrs later. It was wonderful to see Barnabus again. Loved the show, the dvd's are wonderfully done.
My Name Is Victoria Winters... 2007-08-30
Daytime "Soap Operas" have a short shelf-life; each episode is seen but once, and once aired it goes into the vaults, never to return. But there is one exception: DARK SHADOWS. Unlike other such series, it has been seen in syndication, it has been released on video, it is now available on DVD, and it has spawned everything from feature films to board games.
When it debuted in 1966 DARK SHADOWS was a gothic-inflected series that focused on the life of Victoria Winters (Alexandra Isles), an orphaned young woman employed by the wealthy Collins family of Maine to tutor and manage a particularly difficult child. Although often more original than other soap operas of the era, it was soon faced with cancelation--and producer Dan Curtis had a brainstorm. Since the series had a creepy sort of atmosphere, why not introduce a ghost or two?
The ratings began to inch up, and then on 22 March 1967 DARK SHADOWS introduced its signature character: Barnabas Collins (Johnathan Frid), a centuries old vampire accidentally released from his grave. Presenting himself as an English cousin, Barnabas gradually insinuated himself into the family--and the series became a ratings monster, with story lines that ranged from murder to seances to time travel to werewolves.
As the series progressed, its writers began to have some difficulty in creating equally powerful characters and plotlines--but this is not the case with this particular DVD collection, which opens with a very brief summary of earlier plotlines and then leaps directly into the storyline that spawns Barnabas; these particular episodes offer the series at the height of its creativity, and it is noteworthy in several different ways.
Chief among these is the atmosphere involved, which is particularly well served by the standard black-and-white cinematography (the series did to go color after a time) of the era; effective sets; and some of the most memorable music ever written for any film presentation. And then there is the cast. Soap Operas are seldom noted for the artistry of the actors or writing; everything is done at a fever pitch. But strange to say, the overheated style works extremely well with the supernatural story lines, and the result is so entertaining that it proves addictive.
At the time, the best known member of the cast was Joan Bennett, one of Hollywood's leading ladies of the golden era--but while Bennett plays over the top as well as the rest of the cast, and while Johnathan Frid (Barnabas) and Grayson Hall (Dr. Julia Hoffman) emerged as stars of the series, the real acting strength is in the supporting cast. Alexandra Isles, later notorious for her round-about involvement in the Sunny Von Bulow case, is not a great actress, but she does very well in the role of series narrator; better still are the likes of Nancy Barrett (as Carolyn Stoddard), John Karlen (as Willie Loomis), Katherine Lee Scott (as Maggie Evans), and numerous others.
With four disks, forty episodes, and about a 900 minute run-time, DARK SHADOWS DVD COLLECTION 1 gives you a lot for your money--including several enjoyable but slight bonuses. The film and sound quality is sometimes weak, the sets occasionally wobble, and the shadows of the cameras and microphones are here, there, and everywhere, but it is worth remembering that no one thought any of these episodes would be seen more than once, and the occasional blooper simply adds to the fun of the whole thing. Recommended.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
My mom loves this series! 2007-08-24
My mom loves this series, wish I could afford the whole set for her. I got her the revival series, and she likes it very much.
I believe there are 1225 episodes in total. Episodes 1 through 206 (1 through 209 going by the actual series number, not the actual installment number) are pre-Barnabas, and episodes 207 through 1225 (210 through 1245) are with Barnabas. Episodes 210 through 1245 have been released in 26 collections (at $30 - $60 a pop depending on where you shop, whoa!). Episodes 1 - 206 will be partially released on The Beginning Collection 1 and The Beginning Collection 2.
I wonder that once all the Dark Shadows episodes are released, will MPI release a MEGASET of all 1225 episodes? That would be one heck of a boxset!
