Dark Shadows and Beyond - The Jonathan Frid Story

Dark Shadows and Beyond - The Jonathan Frid Story is a delicate portrait of the star (the aforementioned Jonathan Frid) of the late 1960's day time serial 'Dark Shadows'. The show maintained a large cult following due to Jonathan's sympathetic portrayal of his vampire character, Barnabas Collins. Typical of the time was to portray monsters as just that - monsters. Instead Frid's performances dug into the psyche of having to commit heinous acts for self preservation. The archival footage shows the commitment and exceptional care the actor went through to create a one of a kind character. Many times actors won't know which role is going to be their career defining role - so what is so fascinating here is how Jonathan perfected his craft while embracing Barnabas Collins as his generational defining character. All the while, Frid was an exceptional classically trained actor, first obtaining notice for his Shakespearen roles. The documentary does an excellent job of taking us through the actor's entire life and career while remaining exceedingly engaging and offering insider insight into the extraordinary life of an extraordinary human. Even viewers not familiar with the show 'Dark Shadows' will be extremely entertained and appreciate the detail of this defining biographical doc.

This is a very interesting documentary about Jonathan Frid in general. They show photos which you won't find online, archival footage and recording. I spent all my earned credits on Prime to rent it and I'm not disappointed. There are a lot of references to Dark Shadows, Interviews with actors who played there. Lot's of good stuff. The only reason I didn't give this movie 10 stars is because they tried to compare Jonathan and Johnny Depp. It was only for a minute or two but long enough to leave a disgusts expression on my face.

I really wanted to like this more. The segments of Jonathon Frid's pre-Dark Shadows career were lengthy and I found to be quite tedious. Once through those segments, the pace picked up and was quite interesting including the cultural phenomenon that Frid was a part of. Nice to see the interviews of former co-stars and so much from the Dark Shadows era.

I had always been a Dark Shadows/Barnabus Collins fan but I had no idea he had such interesting life and acting career. He was mesmerizing as Barnabus Collins but there is so much more to this man. I found this documentary interesting and informative. I wish I had known more about his theatre and acting and all the famous people he worked with in his lifetime. I am so glad this documentary was made and I was able to watch it. It was worth the time to get to know more about this remarkable man.