Since my first viewing was in a regular theater, I decided to check the movie out again in IMAX. Also, since I knew the various plot twists, there were a few things I picked up on with the benefit of hindsight.
First, IMAX added to my enjoyment of the film. I don't know if some of the details I'd missed the first time were simply easier to see because of the clarity of the screen or the fact that I was paying better attention since I didn't need to worry about following the plot. Having said that, I really enjoyed the crispness of the fall colors as the camera follows the train. By the way, I'd be curious to see what Amtrak's logo and railcars looked like in 1972. Both seemed a bit more modern than I recall.
Now to some of the details. I think Burton dropped a few hints about Carolyn's "curse." The full moon in the painting that the painters refurbished is on the wall in the dining room, and there are several shots of Carolyn in that first meal where Victoria meets the family where the camera clearly has panned back to make it appear that Carolyn is right below the full moon. I also think that Angelique's first interaction with Carolyn was worded quite carefully. Angelique says something akin to (I don't have the benefit of the script) "You must be Carolyn. You're becoming quite the ravishing creature." Considering that we know Angelique was the one who turned her into a werewolf, that can't be an accident. Finally, when Barnabas is in Carolyn's room, there's what appears to be a Polaroid picture of an animal that at least resembles a wolf pinned to the wall above her left shoulder. In all, it was probably still far too subtle to not have her fate seem to come out of left field, but there were other hints than what I'd mentioned earlier.
A few other details I hadn't particularly picked up on. There's a scene where Julia walks into the breakfast room late and reacts VERY strongly to the sunlight glaring in. While I simply took that as a result of her hangover, I think it was probably also intended to be a hint about what she was doing with Barnabas' blood. I also found it interesting that they made Julia so vain. Not only in her search for youth, but the way both Elizabeth (intentionally) and Barnabas (innocently, it seemed to me) so easily appealed to that vanity - Elizabeth by getting her to pipe down about her indignation and become "fascinated" with studying Barnabas and Barnabas' polite remark about how she must have been very beautiful if she gets half as pretty every day.
Another thing I hadn't really appreciated as much was how Victoria's empathy for how he saw his mother's ghost was borne in part out of the fact that she had seen Josette's ghost her whole life. In fact, they really made Josette a much more active driver of the outcome of this than I had picked up on. Think back to what she says to Barnabas as they profess their love to one another in the beginning. Again, I don't have the exact wording, but she says something like "Promise me we'll be together forever." In fact, her last words to Barnabas were "Help me," which I found haunting since she repeats them to Victoria several times, and the last time Victoria speaks to Barnabas before going over Widow's Hill, I think we're meant to assume that Josette has already possessed her.
I had seen somebody point out that one of the movie posters at the theater in Collinsport may have in fact been for House of Dark Shadows. The night that Barnabas is released and walks through town, they show the theater and one of the posters does indeed look like the poster. It went by so quickly that I couldn't be sure, but I will definitely look for it when I can stop the picture on DVD somewhere down the line.
I hadn't picked up on it on my first viewing, but I think we're supposed to assume that Roger is fiending for cocaine in many of his scenes. You can see his hand twitching, his jaw moving from side to side and his eyes blinking rapidly. Since he clearly isn't opposed to drug use - he supplied the coat attendant with the pot she was smoking - it's not out of character. The thing is, I was 10 and too oblivious to know about what drugs were readily available in 1972. Was cocaine so readily available? I remember it more as a late '70's drug.
I know we'd talked about potential corporate sponsorship in the movie. It seems reasonable to assume Shell and Coca Cola paid to have signage represented in Collinsport. I had also originally assumed that Chevy might have paid to have the joke about "we don't have horses, we have a Chevy." I also think Angelique was driving a 1972 Chevy Corvette convertible. But since other makes were shown, including multiple VW vans, I'm not sure. However, I chuckled to see that the car they used to haul Maggie off to Windcliff (I hadn't noticed the Windcliff name on my first viewing) was a Ford. Maybe Chevy indeed snuck that in, so the "bad guys" were driving a rival car. In the early seasons of 24, the good guys all used Apple computers while the bad guys all used PCs.
I was paying attention to the cameo scene. I hadn't picked up that right before their first appearance, Carolyn laments that Alice Cooper wasn't there, and Barnabas suggests she check out the evening's entertainment. Then Barnabas turns to the door as the four of them arrive. Not only does TLATKLS say "Thank you for having us," but Jonathan Frid says at the same time "Good evening." In the other scenes, I think it's supposed to be inferred that Frid is behind Elizabeth, since the other three are clearly seen with what amounts to a person-sized void between them and obscured by Elizabeth.
More details if I think of them...
Topic: Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Release!! (Read 349390 times)