R.I.P. Jonathan Frid

RIP: Original Barnabas Collins of Dark Shadows, Jonathan Frid

by Shock Till You Drop
April 19, 2012

The man who played the original Barnabas Collins on the ever popular Dark Shadows series, Jonathan Frid, has passed away at the age of 87. According to Digital Spy, he died of natural causes.

The actor's final acting credit was the forthcoming Dark Shadows film, by Tim Burton, in which he has a cameo. Frid also appeared in The Devil's Daughter and Seizure.

He will be missed by a legion of Dark Shadows fans.

Here's a link you may want to check out if you're further interested which I won't copy & paste the article right now:

http://www.fearnet.com/news/b26083_rip_original_dark_shadows_barnabas.html

I'm a big Dark Shadows fan & was first exposed to it as a young boy when it actually aired which is 'dating' myself but anyway. It aired as reruns on the Sci-Fi Channel back in the 90's but I don't know what happened to it there now. Jonathan Frid was by far the best Barnabas Collins! Part of my concern is the upcoming DARK SHADOWS film, directed by Tim Burton & starring Johnny Depp in the lead. Here's some pics of Frid as the vampire:







I don't know why that 2nd pic is so large. That's also from a magazine that was a personal favorite of mine. Byt why am I so concerned? Well, I've wondered about this day for some time because I knew he was old & heard very little about him anymore. I hate that he passed but the thing that's really had me concerned lately is the new film. It appears that Burton has turned it into somewhat of a SPOOF. To me it's like saying 'Scary Movie' if you get the analogy. Now, I don't think it's quite that campy but here, judge for yourself:



And for contrast, here's a couple of clips from the original TV series that I just quickly found without doing much research:





It's hard to beat the original! It wasn't perfect but for a 'horror gothic soap opera' I haven't seen it bested yet, not even by newer versions. And Frid literally saved the show from cancellation & turned it into a hit! Yet Burton seems to be presenting his remake as a spoof or a satire or something. It still looks interesting but weird & has Tim Burton written all over it.

And here's another concern about the new film:

It's release date is 5/11/2012. Exactly one week after THE AVENGERS! You'd think the studio would've known better than this, no?

It is sad news, on the eve of the film. My mom loved the show.. I myself caught reruns from time to time growing up. So many famous folks died this week.

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/04/21/johnny-depps-tribute-jonathan-frid-who-has-passed-away-aged/

Johnny Depp’s Tribute To Jonathan Frid, Who Has Passed Away Aged 87
Written on April 21, 2012 by Brendon Connelly in Film, TV

Jonathan Frid was TV’s beloved Barnabas Collins, starring in the offbeat supernatural soap Dark Shadows from 1966 until 1971. He has passed away at the age of 87.

In less than three weeks, Frid will be making his last screen appearance with a cameo in the Dark Shadows movie.

Rather than writing something myself, I want to pass along the tribute paid by Johnny Depp, the new Barnabas Collins.

Jonathan Frid was the reason I used to run home from school to watch Dark Shadows. His elegance and grace was an inspiration then and will continue to remain one forever more.

When I had the honor to finally meet him, as he so generously passed the torch of Barnabas to me, he was as elegant and magical as I had always imagined.

My deepest condolences to his family and friends. The world has lost a true original.

More than ever, we will be looking to Depp and Tim Burton to honour cherished memories.

Goodbye, Mr. Frid.

I thought about opening a new thread for this but maybe multiple threads ain't necessary. This is more about the new DARK SHADOWS film by Tim Burton than it is about Jonathan Frid. Nevertheless it's similar subject matter so I'll keep it here. Jonathan Frid did indeed have a cameo in the film but it only lasted a few seconds & was a non-speaking role. He was walking into the party that Depp-Barnabas was throwing I believe with a couple of women but I didn't get a good enough look at them due to being distracted by my wife. They may have been from the original TV series too but I was being slightly aggravated & not in a good way (she doesn't like such films).The party had ALICE COOPER as it's entertainment. And yes, I actually saw this in the theater Friday evening.

I may write more when it's not so late but suffice it to say, Depp and Burton butchered this franchise! It strayed so far from 'Dark Shadows canon' that it ain't even funny! I haven't really researched it yet but I recall reading online a while back that Johnny Depp actually bought the DS franchise from the estate of Dan Curtis, who was the producer for the TV series. Why? Because he so loved this series as a kid (so did I). And Tim Burton is also a self-professed DS junkie. So why did they do this to this franchise?!

Ya know how THE MAN OF STEEL is not following Donner but yet it's still very much Superman? Except for the trunks of course. But otherwise, very much Superman & quite possibly very much respectful to the canon that's come before it. Well, you can forget that with this film!

I'm not saying that it had to be a carbon copy of the TV series but c'mon! They changed so much stuff I probably don't even have the space to explain it all! And I'm aware that not everyone is a fan of this franchise so you might not have any idea what I'm talking about anyway. At least not without research.

A brief explanation of this film would be that the characters from the TV series were like caricatures here. And get this! Jackie Earl Haley is in this film & he's such a waste! I mean, I can't believe it! He was an awesome RORSHACH! Totally! But then he tried to take over Freddy Krueger from Robert Englund & well, not so good. But his 'Krueger' was like an Oscar performance compared to his portrayal of Barnabas' servant WILLIE LOOMIS! Don't believe me? Well, watch the film & then go online or DVDs or whatever & look at Willie in the TV series. He was played by John Karlen, & man, the dude nailed it! Quite possibly some of the best acting on the show. But Haley in the role? Uhhhhh............Duhhhhhhhh! And don't even get me started on the other characters, which I may come back to later anyway.

But one of my biggest complaints was the lack of the theme music! I know, I know, for Superman I think we're all in agreement that it's time for a new heroic theme. But this ain't Superman. Dark Shadows is so synonymous with it's theme that they're inseparable IMHO. In this film? I didn't hear a HINT of it anywhere, not even a nod! And the music was by Danny Elfman, that is, what wasn't classic rock & pop from the early 70's. Alice was good though. But the real theme should've been present somewhere:



I actually own that album on both vinyl and CD. The first few seconds of that theme are what plays at the beginning of every episode of Dark Shadows & what people recognize. It was also composed by Robert Cobert & his music was pretty good overall on the program besides the main theme.

Now here's the 2012 Elfman version:



Does that sound anything alike to you?! In that 2nd vid though, I did just detect a slight nod to some of Cobert's other music on the show, right there at the tail end.

Now, am I totally bashing this film? No, not exactly. Let me put it this way. If you're a TIM BURTON FAN, you'll probably love it. Like all his films, his style is unmistakeable, the visuals, the elaborate sets, the works. For a 150 million budget it should, right? If you're not particularly a fan of this show, then you can probably watch it & be entertained 'for what it is', Tim Burton's latest. It works on that level. But my problem is that I'm too emotionally invested in the original source material & I find the changes to be appalling! Even the 1991 TV mini-series remake didn't deviate this far. It changed some things, yes, changes I didn't particularly like, but even it was like 'canon' compared to this story!

But what I found interesting is that we went to the 4:35 PM showing at a nearby theater & guess what? There were only TWO PEOPLE in attendance. Yep! My wife and I! Except for the annoying theater employee who wanted to mess with the curtains at the beginning of the film.

Unbelievable!

I haven't seen the film myself yet. But my mom saw it last night. And she too prior to seeing fikm didn't like the comedic tak they where doing. But she did say she liked the film. And isn't really a burton fan. But I do wonder why tim and johnny decided to go the way they did?

webhead2006 wrote:I haven't seen the film myself yet. But my mom saw it last night. And she too prior to seeing fikm didn't like the comedic tak they where doing. But she did say she liked the film. And isn't really a burton fan. But I do wonder why tim and johnny decided to go the way they did?

The thing is, the comedy really ain't that good. Here's the deal. You get more of the comedic take from the trailers & commercials but..........when you actually watch the film, think more along the lines of SWEENEY TODD or SLEEPY HOLLOW. Actually from what I remember Sweeney Todd was more humorous than this. But you may want to ask your Mom why she specifically liked this? It's OK for your typical Burton film but for DARK SHADOWS?! That's where I feel it comes up short but I'm not unbiased either.