Dark Shadows

Like many people I used to rush home from grammar school to see this Gothic soap opera. I distinctly remember being petrified of the werewolf and running out of the room when Barnabas bit somebody.

Seeing it now it's still sort of creepy. It moves very slow (of course) and the black & white seasons are extremely dull with really pathetic special effects and threadbare settings. But when the series switched to color and started to really be popular (in 1967) it really got going. The special effects improved, the settings and costumes got more elaborate and the plot lines went barreling out of control. Also they had a good cast who played all their roles seriously. That's good, because if they had camped it up or winked at the audience it would have fallen apart.

A good, fun horror soap. It's a good thing it's available on video and DVD now.