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Original “Dark Shadows” Soap Hitting DVD In A Giant Box Set!

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If you’re a fan of the original “Dark Shadows” or are looking forward to Tim Burton’s upcoming take on the material but are frustrated by the lack of moving images (such as a trailer) accompanying it, you’re in luck. Because the entire series is headed to DVD on May 8th. That’s right, all 1,225 episodes can be yours for $599.98. A high price, but it actually breaks down to less than 50 cents an episode.

MPI will release ‘Dark Shadows: The Complete Original Series’ in a custom coffin shaped box with bonus, in-depth interviews and other video extras, a commemorative booklet and more. The SRP for this collector’s set is $599.98.

Hit the jump for the full press release. The creation of Dan Curtis (The Winds of War, The Night Stalker), DARK SHADOWS premiered in 1966 as a unique series in TV history – a gothic daytime serial set in a forbidding, mist-shrouded Maine estate inhabited by a wealthy extended family as well as ghosts, demons and, most frightening of all, vampire Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid). For five years, 200-year-old Barnabas and his Collins family relatives made their way through hauntings and possessions, jumped through time, mysterious parallel worlds and were the victims of other eerie events. Add in a vengeful witch, a horrifying werewolf, a count with mystical powers, a female doctor obsessed with Barnabas and young, beautiful women encountering love and other dangers – all framed by haunting music – and you have a series that became a nationwide cult sensation.

Now, 41 years after the series went off the air, the cult continues to flourish. DARK SHADOWS has spun off novels, audio dramas, feature films, a Grammy-nominated hit song (“Quentin’s Theme”) and soundtrack album, DVDs, television reruns and regular fan conventions attended by original cast members. On May 11, 2012, director Tim Burton’s hugely anticipated reimagining of the show will hit the big screen, with lifelong “DS” fan Johnny Depp portraying Barnabas Collins. Original series cast members Jonathan Frid (Barnabas), Lara Parker (Angelique), David Selby (Quentin) and Kathryn Leigh Scott (Maggie/Josette) make cameo appearances in the new film.

DARK SHADOWS: THE COMPLETE ORIGINAL SERIES includes more than 100 bonus interviews with the actors and production personnel – its cast included Kate Jackson, Oscar nominee Grayson Hall and Hollywood Golden Era movie star Joan Bennett, plus a 96-page booklet with photographs and episode summaries, DVDs of bloopers, behind-the-scenes documentary and cast reunion – all housed in a coffin-shaped box.

DARK SHADOWS truly lives on in this remarkable release sure to thrill longtime fans and create a new generation of enthusiastic followers.

For fans who do not get the opportunity to purchase the $600 box set, MPI is releasing FAN FAVORITES and THE BEST OF BARNABAS on April 10th. Priced at $14.98, each release offers 9 complete episodes that are among the most popular in the history of the show, serving as an ideal introduction to new viewers as well as an enticing overview for devotees of the series. Included in FAN FAVORITES are Barnabas’ return to Collinwood after being release from his chained coffin; Barnabas and Dr. Julia Hoffman (Grayson Hall) discovering the secret of the werewolf; Maggie Evans (Kathryn Leigh Scott) becoming the victim of a vampire, and more. THE BEST OF BARNABAS includes Julia’s attempts to cure the cursed Barnabas; eerie trips back in time to 1795 and 1897; the popular Parallel Time story line, and more. Each set includes informative new introductions by Kathryn Leigh Scott and Lara Parker (Angelique).

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Gateway Horror Classic ‘The Gate’ Returns to Life With Blu-ray SteelBook in May

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One of my personal favorite horror movies of all time, 1987’s gateway horror classic The Gate is opening back up on May 14 with a brand new Blu-ray SteelBook release from Lionsgate!

The new release will feature fresh SteelBook artwork from Vance Kelly, seen below.

Special Features, all of which were previously released, include…

  • Audio Commentaries
    • Director Tibor Takacs, Writer Michael Nankin, and Special Effects Designer & Supervisor Randall William Cook
    • Special Effects Designer & Supervisor Randall William Cook, Special Make-Up Effects Artist Craig Reardon, Special Effects Artist Frank Carere, and Matte Photographer Bill Taylor
  • Isolated Score Selections and Audio Interview
  • Featurettes:
    • The Gate: Unlocked
    • Minion Maker
    • From Hell It Came
    • The Workman Speaks!
    • Made in Canada
    • From Hell: The Creatures & Demons of The Gate
    • The Gatekeepers
    • Vintage Featurette: Making of The Gate
  • Teaser Trailer
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • TV Spot
  • Storyboard Gallery
  • Behind-the-Scenes Still Gallery

When best friends Glen (Stephen Dorff) and Terry (Louis Tripp) stumble across a mysterious crystalline rock in Glen’s backyard, they quickly dig up the newly sodden lawn searching for more precious stones. Instead, they unearth The Gate — an underground chamber of terrifying demonic evil. The teenagers soon understand what evil they’ve released as they are overcome with an assortment of horrific experiences. With fiendish followers invading suburbia, it’s now up to the kids to discover the secret that can lock The Gate forever . . . if it’s not too late.

If you’ve never seen The Gate, it’s now streaming on Prime Video and Tubi.

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