User Reviews

The waves crash violently outside Collinwood with a shot of the Maine cliff being bellowed by thunderous waters below. Carolyn is pensive and confides all of her old fears of the past in regards to Collinwood to her growing friend Victoria. This is one of the most gothic episodes, ten weeks into the series, and a whistling ocean wind is quite disturbing as if it is calling one of the young ladies to observe the action below.

Meanwhile, that little prince of macabre, David Collins, claims to be seeing ghosts, and aunt Elizabeth is comforting him. The mystery is overwhelming with several storylines having been hinted at yet not fully developed. Elizabeth is tense over the disappearance of Bill Malloy, yet Carolyn's continued discussion of the Collinwood legends begins to spook even the usually fully composed Liz.

I mentioned I a previous review of an earlier episode of the obvious similarities to films based upon Edgar Allan Poe short stories, and it becomes all the more clear here. The word "death" appears on Victoria's mirror, which Carolyn refers to as "the password of the night". The legend of the cliff is discussed, giving insight into possible future stories. It's obvious that the end of the tenth week is building up to a big cliffhanger, and it's not someone hanging off of the Collinwood cliff.

Episode 50 bypasses all of the preceding nonsense about Malloy's disappearance and Sam's mysteries to go for some familiar, but efficient, old-fashioned gothic tropes. Victoria once again shows up to be menaced by the legend of the widows who jumped to their death from the clifftop. The twist ending has her seeing a body laying at the foot of the cliff. This is a cheap but fun little episode.

Out for an evening walk, Vicki (Alexandra Moltke) meets Carolyn (Nancy Barrett) on Widow's Hill. Carolyn asks Vicki if she believes in ghosts. "I haven't seen one yet," Vicki replies. Carolyn likens the howling wind to the wailing widows. Ironically, they discuss the still missing Bill Malloy, who has been a Collins family friend for over 25 years. Back at Collinwood, Liz (Joan Bennett) is having trouble getting David (David Henesy) to bed. Later, she questions Roger (Louis Edmonds) about Malloy's disappearance. Roger says he went to Malloy's cousin's house, where he learned nothing about Bill's whereabouts...

Upstairs, Vicki finds the word "DEATH" written on her bedroom mirror and (correctly) suspects David. He tells her "the widows" are responsible. Herein, Liz says two widows jumped to their death from the cliff; she's correct, but the story was later altered to three ghostly women. When Carolyn discovers she's misplaced her wristwatch, she and Vicki go to look for it atop Widow's Hill. Returning there, the young women see a body washed up on the rocks below...

***** Dark Shadows 1966 ABC #50 (9/2/66) John Sedwick ~ Joan Bennett, Alexandra Moltke, Nancy Barrett, David Henesy...