#john karlen

[cirilee]

time for a redraw !!!

[creepynostalgy]

Delphine Seyrig in Les Lèvres Rouges aka Daughters Of Darkness (1971)

[dare-g]

Daughters of Darkness (1971)

[countesspetofi]

Today in the Department of Dark Shadows Actors Spotted in the Wild: John Karlen guest stars on “Semper-Fidelis,” the twentieth episode of Season 4 of Quincy, M.E. (original air date March 15, 1979).

In his capacity as a Naval reserve officer, L.A. County coroner Dr. Quincy is called in to give a second opinion on the death of a Marine PFC who died in an apparent training accident under the command of a drill instructor with a hardnosed reputation played by Johnny. He gives one of his trademark tough-talking but devastatingly vulnerable performances that gives you a glimpse of what might have happened if Willie Loomis had gone to Vietnam instead of Collinsport.

Quincy was sort of the Columbo of the coroner's office: a kindly eccentric who became obsessed with the medical mysteries that came across his autopsy table every week, doggedly unable to let go until he tugged all the threads into place and justice was done. The show also explored social issues of the day and the latest medical and scientific breakthroughs.

It was one of my mother's favorite shows. She was suffering with several un diagnosed and untreated chronic illnesses at the times, and it gave her hope that even if the medical community didn't take them seriously during her lifetime, maybe someone would after her death. And I always get a giggle remembering watching reruns with her as a kid; in typical Hollywood fashion, Dr. Quincy dated a lot of younger women. When I asked her about it, she quipped, “Better an old man's sweetheart than a young man's fool.” I reminded her of this while I was writing this post, and she laughed and said, “I ubly said that because it's what MY mother always said!”

[schlock-luster-video]

Wishing a happy birthday to Dark Shadows star John Karlen!

[whatithinkaboutdarkshadows]

Episode 598: I thought you might be looking for Adam

Occult expert Timothy Eliot Stokes is searching the room in the long-deserted west wing of the great house of Collinwood where heiress Carolyn has been hiding Frankenstein’s monster Adam since #539 in July. Strange and troubled boy David Collins saunters into the room and greets him with a casual “Hello, professor.” When a flustered Stokes makes up a story about Carolyn sending him to the room to…

[flock-of-cassowaries]

Somehow we’ve gone from omnidirectional assault-threat Willie Loomis to ultimate soaking-wet little meow-meow Willie Loomis in the space of like, three episodes.

(The fact that they have apparently issekaied original Willie Loomis to a new dimension, and replaced him with his taller, infinitely more pathetic cousin Billie, probably helps; but holy macaroni.)

[twittercomfrnklin2001-blog]

Daughters of Darkness

Any director can make a film in which a decadent vampire intrudes on a normal heterosexual relationship. The horror genre is predicated upon the monstrous other attempting to queer the status quo. In Harry Kümel’s DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS (1971, Criterion Channel, Shudder, both of which have the European version rather than the heavily cut U.S edition) there is no normal. The marriage vampire Delphine Seyrig sets out to invade is already a twisted mess.

Stefan Chilton (John Karlen) has told his new bride (Danielle Ouimet) his snobbish mother will have a hard time accepting her. He pretends to have called “Lady Chilton” and gotten no answer. While they’re staying off-season in a hotel in Ostend (“cold as the wind without an end”), he says he’ll go ahead to see her, but he never leaves. When we finally see his mother, she’s a he, a wealthy gay man (Fons Rademakers) who’s been keeping Karlen. The young man also has an odd obsession with a series of murders in nearby Bruges. You’d almost suspect he was a serial killer if Seyrig hadn’t shown up and registered at the hotel as Countess Elizabeth Bathory.

DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS is such a visual feast you may need to check your blood sugar and cholesterol after viewing it. Kümel composes his shots elegantly and sometimes holds them an extra beat or two as if asking you to appreciate their sheer beauty. At its center is Seyrig, an elegant figure dressed in imitation of Marlene Dietrich. And she’s one of the few actresses who can pull it off. She uses fur, feathers and spangles as tools with which to ensnare the unsuspecting, and she purrs out her lines with a wit all the more impressive since she the film was shot in English. DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS is such a lush visual experience, you can even forgive it one howler, when Ouimet asks Karlen what’s happening to them after he’s lied to her, beaten her and cheated on her.

This isn’t a total inversion of horror tropes, however. Seyrig’s chic lesbianism isn’t some liberating force saving Ouimet from a controlling husband. The vampire is just as controlling. She arrives at the hotel with a secretary/lover (Andrea Rau, with a Louise Brooks bob) totally under her control. Seyrig decides when the younger woman can feed and even orders her to seduce Karlen. For Ouimet, succumbing to the vampire’s seduction simply means trading one autocrat for another.

[larmaro]

Ha ha, very funny. (Daughters of Darkness, 1971)

[certifiedhousewife]

Just watched daughters of darkness..... someone better pay for my damn therapy 😭

[vintage1981]

House Of Dark Shadows (1970) Review & History ⚰️ 🧛‍♂️ 🩸 |  Radical Retro Rewind

Growing up with the original gothic Soap Dark Shadows on reruns in the 90's, I do a small history of the show and dive into a summary and review of the 1970 film version called House of Dark Shadows.

House of Dark Shadows is a 1970 American feature-length horror film directed by Dan Curtis, based on his Dark Shadows television series (ABC, 1966–1971). In this film expansion, vampire Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) searches for a cure for vampirism so he can marry a woman who resembles his long-lost fiancée Josette (Kathryn Leigh Scott).

[letterboxd-loggd]

A Small Town in Texas (1976) Jack Starrett

January 1st 2023

[countesspetofi]

Dark Shadows stars in The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries

Roger Davis as an amnesiac naval officer in S1E01, "The Mystery of the Haunted House," airdate Jan. 30, 1977.

Thayer David as the head of a diamond smuggling ring in S2E08, "The Strange Fate of Flight 608," airdate Nov. 6, 1977. He would only make two more screen appearances before his untimely death.

John Karlen as a kidnapped boxer in S2E13, "The Lady on Thursday at Ten," airdate Jan. 1, 1978.

Karlen is particularly charming, and has a really fun, buddies-on-the-run chemistry with Pamela Sue Martin's Nancy Drew. The episode ends with them making a date for the roller derby!

[schlock-luster-video]

On August 5, 1991, Night of Dark Shadows debuted on German television.

[collinsportmaine]

Untold Tales of Dark Shadows

A few years before the unfortunate events of 1897, the men of Collinswood participated in an annual ritual. No, not summoning the undead. They participated in the New Year’s Morning swim across the Collinsport Bay.

In the photo above you’ll find Dirk Wilkins and Collins brother Quentin, Edward, and Carl.

(Why the watermark? Like others on the internet, I’ve discovered someone (on Etsy) has taken something I posted and is selling.)

[collinsportmaine]

There must have been a Wicker Man like ritual in Collinsports past. I can see another in the line of Reverend Trasks being sent to Collinsport to bring the word of gawd to those heathens.

Trask is welcomed with open arms by characters played by Joan Bennett and Louis Edmonds. And hes seduced by one of Pansy Faye’s descendants.

A scruffy dude played by John Karlen tries to warn him. But it’s too late. Trask finds in self trapped in a giant tinderbox about to be set on fire!