MovieChat Forums > Night of Dark Shadows (1971) Discussion > sloppy edits are telling

sloppy edits are telling

posted 11 years ago by adamwarlock
3 replies | jump to latest

I believe Curtis was forced to edit at the last minute due to 2 scenes that really stand out for sloppy editing.

The scene when Angelique attacks Alex on his couch, after Clarie screams there's cuts to him still being attacked by the formless blob and Clarie now with a lamp on the floor & then turning it on while the upright lamp is now already on. The music lets you know there's been cuts. Was this scene more racy or scary?

Then in the climax, when Tracy is locked in the room in the basement and Quentin is trying to get in. Cuts to her now on the floor & Quentin entering and then another cut to him coming over to her. Again, one assumes this was way longer and scarier. That there was more to it than Carlotta jumping to her death.

I don't get why there isn't a restored copy available. If the work is mostly done, why not finish it? Or even just put the silent footage on as an extra with a commentary by someone who knows what it is. Can't be that expensive to do. Pure laziness on WB's part.

I've seen the future and I've left it behind.

[–] LoneWolfAttack 11 years ago

The scenes you mentioned (particularly the Angelique/Alex one), the score is only like that on the DVD and Blu. It was remixed for the theatrical release and for all prior home video releases to patch up the cuts, and so you didn't hear the music skip all over the place like you do on the disc. There are quite a few differences in the score between prior releases and the in-print one. Entire pieces of music that are present in the soundtrack in one are missing from the other, and vice versa.

There were a lot of little snips made during the Angelique/Alex scene. In the climax, they cut out Alex and Claire being in the basement and, well, pretty much the entire climax altogether. They held a seance. These cuts were done for length and because James Aubrey wanted a 90 minute picture, no other reason. They were done at the last minute; Curtis was only given the last minute to do them.

[–] ElectricWarlock 10 years ago

These cuts were done for length and because James Aubrey wanted a 90 minute picture, no other reason. They were done at the last minute; Curtis was only given the last minute to do them.

And to me, that is shameful. Don't get me wrong, I still love the film the way it is and think it does the television series great justice, but I think if we were able to see the film the way Dan Curtis intended, perhaps it would've been even better. But unfortunately, he was made to sabotage his film and it doesn't look like Warner Brothers has any plans of putting it back together. A lot of people dislike this film and think it's not as good as House of Dark Shadows, but if we were able to see the film the way it was intended to be seen, they might change their mind. Unfortunately I don't see much chance of that.

I've been waiting for you, Ben.

[–] phillindholm 8 years ago

They should have used the theatrical cut for the DVD?/BLU-RAY, because the editing on both is even worse.