As a boy growing up in the 1960s — in Farmington Hills, Michigan — my
neighborhood friends thought I was very strange (and I guess I was), what with
my love of the Marvel Comics universe that-very-early-on featured: “Iron Man”;
“Captain America”; “Sub Mariner”; “The Mighty Thor”; and, “The Hulk” cartoons.
Not too long after that, “Spiderman” made it to Saturday Morning Cartoons.
Thank goodness very few, if any, knew of my fascination with “Dark Shadows”
(though I DO remember discussing Angelique’s curse with somebody back
then). Was it Steve Brodie – that great illustrator in 5th and
6th Grade Alameda Elementary? Or, was it someone else I have quite
forgotten?
Needless-to-say, I’m not sure I “rushed” home like Tim Burton, Madonna or
Johnny Depp did to catch “The Shadows”; but I did watch plenty of
“The Shadows,” and, for some strange reason – was fascinated by Barnabas
Collins. In fact, before Barnabas was introduced – this someone informed
me that there was a show that had “ghosts” on – and that certainly
enticed me…as I believed in ghosts from my earliest “Wizard of Oz” viewings;
and, back-in-the-day — everyone had to have seen “13 Ghosts.” Little
did I know that a vampire would become part of the supernatural stable. Post
hoc, I realize that this was a time of intense LSD and marijuana experimentation
in the U.S.A.: so most “things” that departed from the norm (like ‘Star Trek’)
— were of considerable interest to the altered mind.
I was also fascinated by Tim Burton’s observation that there was something
abstractly magnetic about a “soap opera” featuring a vampire as its main
character; and, while I’m not a “huge” Burton fan – Tim and I seem to have
connected on this point.
As I contemplated Tim’s words in a beloved Times interview, I realized that
Barnabas Collins was the first, “screen” vampire AFTER Dracula, and, made his
entree long before any contemporary vampiring (though Christopher Lee’s
‘Dracula’ followed either close-on-the-heels of ‘Dark Shadows’, or, occurred
simultaneously). Like Christopher Lee, Jonathan Frid was far from a sex symbol
– but somehow, was part of over 594 “Dark Shadow” shows; while Christopher Lee
ruled those Hammer “Dracula” flicks.
I don’t know if either Jonathan Frid or Christopher Lee understood Bram Stoker’s
Dracula, set in Victorian England, and, that Dracula was Bram Stoker’s
wannabe alter ego (as Bram DID NOT like European Counts) – but their
vampire characters seemed to mesmerize…like Count Dracula
himself.
And that’s much of the reason I’ve always loved “the vampire”: tortured;
misunderstood; but powerful, and, capable of exacting revenge when necessary –
not to mention the vampire’s power over women, who, whether “turned” or not,
were the vampire’s devoted slaves.
Enter Kate Beckinsale: Long live “The Underworld” franchise! As a sexy;
street-smart savvy; and, incredibly powerful vampiress – Kate has turned the
male-dominated, vamping business on-its-ear. High time…although she does have
an abiding love for her Baby’s Daddy! And I hear many suggesting that Anne
Rice’s Queen of the Damned had some influence on genderized vampiring.
Hell! Even the Queen fell prey to Lestat’s charms…but Elvira seems to have
always held her own.
Still, who would have guessed that the vampire concept (like my Marvel
mania [and my obsession with ‘The Lord of the Rings’]) would have taken such an
incredible turn – with Johnny Depp AND Michelle Pfeiffer bringing Dark Shadows
home to roost…I don’t know if I have always had good taste, or, have merely been
jousting with windmills…