Dark Shadows Begins Screening Online; New Documentary on its Way
There was a day when millions of fans would race home to catch the exploits of the nefarious Barnabas Collins when “Dark Shadows” aired during its television run. Now, those golden years are making a comeback for the modern age!
From the Press Release:
MPI Media Group, premier independent producer and distributor of films, TV series and specialized programming, today announced a major new avenue for the company: a subscription streaming service of one of its crown jewels – DARK SHADOWS. The gothic TV series, which MPI has distributed for decades on VHS and DVD, will be available for the first time in its entirety for unlimited streaming, beginning October 31, 2017.
The new streaming service will give fans access to the entire original series at www.darkshadows.tv, as well as exclusive bonus content and behind-the-scenes archival footage. Subscribers also will get a first look at the DARK SHADOWS feature-length documentary due out in 2018.
Fans can have streaming access to the series at a subscription price of $7.99 a month, or $79.99 a year. The company is offering a free 14-day trial. Customers signing on before November 22, 2017, will be entered in a contest to win a free lifetime subscription to the complete series at www.darkshadows.tv.
The remarkable DARK SHADOWS has rarely been out of the public consciousness over the last 50 years. Creator Dan Curtis’ one-of-a-kind series was a first for daytime television when it debuted on ABC in 1966. What began as a soap opera with an eerie edge grew into a gothic horror and supernatural drama. In the years before VCRs, DVDs and DVRs, fans in growing numbers tuned in every afternoon to catch the ongoing saga at Collinwood, an immense, gloomy mansion situated high above the rocky Maine shore. With the introduction of Barnabas Collins (played by Jonathan Frid), a vampire released after more than a century chained inside a coffin, the series had a bona fide hero who would remain its tormented heart and soul until the show’s end in 1971.
MPI is home to the largest Dark Shadows library in the world. The company has been catering to fans for years, releasing various collections of episodes on VHS and DVD, supplemented by new interviews and bonus material, as well as the deluxe “coffin box” containing all 1,225 episodes on 131 discs. MPI has also been instrumental in organizing conventions where fans can meet the stars.
The streaming service, available through the Vimeo subsidiary VHX, will also will offer curated playlists of select episodes grouped by theme – e.g., episodes set in 1897 or 1795, the “parallel time” arc, werewolves! – to give viewers a different way to experience the series. Additional bonus content will be added regularly.
MPI Media Group President and Co-founder Malik Ali said, “Like vampire Barnabas Collins himself, DARK SHADOWS can never die, and this exciting new digital service puts the entire series at the fingertips of fans old and new.”
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