And Now The Return of Another New Slideshow (Sort of) [**Now featuring alternate versions of scenes - see replies #60,#82,#116,#138,#157,#180,#224,#240,#280,#372,#526**]

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And just because we've started a new slideshow for hoDS, don't be fooled into thinking this topic's days are numbered. Not by a long shot - as you'll see as the days progress...

[Gothick]

The intrigue continues!

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And now what's different about Scenes 253 and 254 and beyond:

For Scene 253 things are not shot in the Master Bedroom but we simply see Tracy go up the stairs to the doorway of the room -

- to look around for a few seconds and then she turns back to the gallery, and coming down the stairs she apparently notices something because she says an unscripted -


"Hey, what are you doing?"

And then at the start of Scene 254, unlike how it's scripted to begin, we don't simply see a large armchair with its back to the camera and then a hand suddenly appear on the arm of the chair because we actually see Quentin sitting in the chair and in another unscripted bit, we hear Tracy say to him -


"Quentin, will you come on. I've been waiting for you."

- and while that is followed by a close-up of Tracy with a very confused look on her face -

- she doesn't actually call out to Quentin - but when the shot returns to Quentin in the chair, we hear her ask an unscripted -

"Now, why were you just sitting there when you knew...?"

- but she doesn't finish the question because Quentin starts to get up, but afterward he simply stands -

- in front of the window - at which point Tracy asks an unscripted -

"Quentin, what's the matter?"

- and after we see Quentin come limping toward her, we hear Tracy say an unscripted -

"Quentin..."

- and then we see an extremely confused Tracy complete her thought by asking an unscripted -

"Quentin, why are you limping?"

- and then after the camera has begun to move in close on her face as she shows an expression of -

- shock and concern, Tracy asks an unscripted -

"What happened?"

- and then as the camera moves up Quentin's body as he moves closer to Tracy, she begins to ask -

"Your face..."

"What did you do to...?"

- (though, obviously, we've only seen his face in silhouette) - and then Tracy senses another presence as she turns -

- to see -

- Angelique entering - and after Tracy gasps then crys the first part of yesterday's quote -

"Oh no..."

- with a look of sheer terror on her face, Tracy begins to back up against the wall -

- and then she screams out the remainder of yesterday's quote -

"...oh, God, no!"

- and follows with unscripted screams of -


"No! No! No!"

"No, no."

"No, no!"

"No! No, no..."

- and then on a frozen image of Quentin, an unscripted UPI news bulletin prints out -

 - the full text of which as -

- as it fades off the screen for the closing credits.

And coming up in a future post, some questions about that ending...

And, of course, while Quentin does indeed have the scar, his hair is not completely gray. But then, Charles having gray hair had already been dropped in the film. And obviously Tracy doesn't back away to the entrance of the Master Bedroom because she backs away against a wall in the gallery next to entrance to the bedroom.

But other than all these things that we've just gone through , there's nothing different about how the end of the film actually plays. 

And before we close out this post, I want to share a rarely published still of Angelique from this scene -

- as well as mention that coming up in a future post will be some questions about how the film ends and how it relates to a few things we learned along the way in the script. So, until then...

[Gothick]

Great look on Lara's face in that still.  I don't recall having seen that one before.

That ending leaves a lot of questions unanswered, which of course is part of the fun.  Looking at these beautiful captures, I wonder if Angelique had become fully embodied again at this point. She looks fully alive, not just a ghost, in these shots.

One possibility for what would happen next is that Tracy would either have been killed by Charles/Quentin, or her body would have been taken over by the spirit of Angelique.  Which would have been the same result, for her.

It all begs the question of whether Angelique in NoDS was actually a Witch, or not.  I personally feel that the story makes no sense unless she was actually a Mistress of the Dark Arts, but it's left open for each viewer to decide for themselves.

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I don't know what's going on with my mind when it comes to remembering to post about the graphics from the original NoDS slideshow, but once again I forgot to mention that a line we didn't quote this time around was included in the original slideshow -

NoDS: Scene #254 - Tracy: 'Quentin, what's the matter?'

I guess some of these posts have so much content to them - and reply #647 certainly does - that by the time I deal with all of it, I can barely remember my own name, let alone the original slideshow's entries.    But I'll try to do better with hoDS...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

That ending leaves a lot of questions unanswered, which of course is part of the fun.

Exactly, which is why I hope for us to have a conversation about what we all think.

Looking at these beautiful captures, I wonder if Angelique had become fully embodied again at this point. She looks fully alive, not just a ghost, in these shots.

That's definitely one of the big questions I've been wanting to bring up. Recall that back in Scene #192 the script indicated:

... reveal Angelique, now more real than ever, as        she stares down at him.

Though in subsequent Scene 224 Angelique is described as -

... the mist-like ghostly figure of        Angelique.

- when she's moving in to attack Tracy. And that, along with Strack's reference in Scene 119 to the "strange death of Reverend Herridge" and the UPI reference to the eyewitness account that before the Jenkins' car crashed it "filled with thick white smoke" got me to thinking.

It all begs the question of whether Angelique in NoDS was actually a Witch, or not.  I personally feel that the story makes no sense unless she was actually a Mistress of the Dark Arts, but it's left open for each viewer to decide for themselves.

What if Angelique really was a witch in life - and what if one of her witchly powers was the ability for her astral self to turn mist-like to dispose of her enemies. What if it had nothing to do with Angelique's later existence as a ghost? That *might* explain how, *IF* Angelique has indeed become fully embodied again at the end of the film, she could still use her smoke/mist-like astral self to dispense with Alex and Claire...

[Gothick]

I was just on youtube looking for the Robert Cobert composition "Joanna," subsequently used as the title theme (and lovers' theme) for NoDS, and I found this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRkVySyOXA0

There are some photos here I've either never seen, or maybe only seen once.  Cool!

The shot of Clarice Blackburn and Monica Rich I'd particularly love to get a closer look at.  There is also at least one of the funny publicity shots that Chris Pennock did with Nancy.  Of course they didn't have any scenes together in the movie.

G.

[Uncle Roger]

Cool stuff indeed! I have a picture of Clarice Blackburn and Monica Rich that i got from one of the Friends of the 1991 DS events but i like the shot in this video a lot better.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Yes, that is a great shot of Mrs. Castle and Sarah from the funeral. I had also never seen it until it popped up in that video. And there's one of Nancy Barrett posing on a log that I'd never seen. All the others seem to be a combination of stills mixed with screen caps. If something looks too close to the way it actually appears on screen, then it's definitely a screen cap because none of the stills are exactly the same as the way things appear in the film. In some cases, stills are often really way off, as is the case with the still of Carlotta welcoming Quentin and Tracy. That still is taken in the foyer - but in the film we never see the three of them in the foyer because the action moves from the vestibule right to the drawing room. However, what is interesting is that Carlotta welcoming Quentin and Tracy is indeed scripted to take place in the foyer but DC shot it in the vestibule. The only thing I can think is that still was taken before DC decided to switch the location...

[Gothick]

While looking for some clips to add to my new Grayson Hall playlist on Youtube (inspired by yesterday's discovery of all that wonderful OLTL footage), I found this promo clip from one of my favorite NoDS scenes featuring Grayson and Selby:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYEZmEqDako&list=PLA2BTDLOSc-WIpyUMiX9s9R8RXk3emQYK&index=12

Posted by WB's official Youtube channel to promote the "Blu Ray" issue a few years ago.

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

What a great clip for a promo! It's also one of my favorite scenes in the film - everything has been building up to Carlotta's big revelation!!

[Gothick]

"Theme from Night of Dark Shadows," music which also bears the title "Joanna," is one of my favorite of Bob Cobert's compositions for the DS projects. I found this charming piano arrangement recorded by a fan on Youtube and I thought others might enjoy hearing it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnDAMZMCBsM

Best, G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Very nice, Gothick - thanks so much for sharing the link. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Apparently those of us here who've believed for a long time that NoDS is superior to hoDS aren't alone. While doing research in Shadowgram for something entirely different, I came across these excerpts that SG 69 (July 1994) shared from a Video Watchdog review of the hoDS/NoDS laser disc:

'Video Watchdog 4-94 felt the laser disc is "prestigious, eminently collectible." It gave background on the films and observed, "Despite their individual shortcomings, the films have never lost their place in history." HODS "has points of interest, but they are heavily outweighed by various technical flaws.... There are some lovely images but it's all in the lighting and art direction.... The disc transfer is colorful and lovely in the film's most brightly-lit moments."
NODS "compares favorably in all respects. The transfer is superb.... Though not as well-known, it's a significantly better film, an appropriately anachronistic Gothic melodrama with a seductive premise, moody photography, and roles that provide nearly every actor with a chance to shine." Overall, "it is consistently well-handled by Curtis, and the downbeat finale is stimulating."'