Dark Shadows

Dark Shadows (1991)

13 mistakes - chronological order

(0 votes)

Episode One (Pilot) - S1-E1

Factual error: Willie opens the secret room in the Collins family mausoleum, and a flock of bats flies out. It's a hidden chamber that's been sealed (without even small openings - it's imprisoning a vampire) for 200 years. There'd be no way for the bats to get in. (00:15:00)

Jean G

Episode Two - S1-E2

Continuity mistake: When an entranced Daphne leaves the house, she opens just one of the two French doors. When Joe and Deputy Harker wake up to find her missing, both the doors are standing open. (00:08:20 - 00:10:20)

Jean G

Episode Two - S1-E2

Continuity mistake: When Julia comes to the Old House to confront Barnabas, Willie lights a tier of four candles, but one goes out again, leaving only three burning. In full shot, candle 4 remains unlit. In a close-up from the same angle, candle 4 is burning and 3 is unlit. (00:41:50)

Jean G

Episode Three - S1-E3

Continuity mistake: Julia holds up the hypodermic before injecting Barnabas, and the hypo is half full of green fluid. In the next shot, as she starts to inject him, it's completely full. (00:02:15)

Jean G

Episode Five - S1-E5

Revealing mistake: The mirror over Barnabas' mantel hangs flush against the wall. Yet when he shatters it, the candlestick he throws can be seen to go through the glass instead of bouncing back as it should have done. (00:43:45)

Jean G

Episode Six - S1-E6

Revealing mistake: A vampire-entranced Carolyn uses a butcher knife to push open Julia Hoffman's bedroom door. The wood is otherwise pristine, but near the knife's point, you can see scratch marks left by the knife during previous takes. (00:30:15)

Jean G

Episode Six - S1-E6

Continuity mistake: When Angelique's wailing spirit appears above the stairs, Willie is standing on the same level as Julia with his arm around her. In the very next shot, he's one step down from her with one hand on her shoulder. (00:34:05)

Jean G

Episode Seven - S1-E7

Continuity mistake: When Victoria first arrives in 1790, she "translates" the three mystic symbols on her dress label for Abigail, saying that they mean "Machine Wash, Tumble Dry and Low Iron." But when Abigail shows the dress to Reverend Trask, she tells him that Victoria told her the symbols meant "Tumble Dry, Low Iron and Permanent Press." Victoria never mentioned Permanent Press. (00:32:15)

Jean G

Episode Eight - S1-E8

Continuity mistake: During his fight with Barnabas, Jeremiah suffers a cut to his cheek just to the right of his mouth. The next morning at their duel, the cut has moved up higher and is now at his cheekbone. (00:34:05 - 00:42:15)

Jean G

Episode Nine - S1-E9

Continuity mistake: At the kitchen table, Willie grabs his milk and starts gulping it down. When the camera angle changes, there's more milk in the glass than there was in the previous shot. (00:27:35)

Jean G

Episode Ten - S1-E10

Revealing mistake: Willie kneels beside Barnabas' coffin in the secret room. The only opening is the single door behind him, but the light source for the lightning flashes illuminating the room comes from behind the camera, where there should be nothing but a solid wall. (00:10:30)

Jean G

Episode Twelve - S1-E12

Continuity mistake: When Joshua says that he won't send Naomi away because Collinwood is her home, the actor mispronounces the mansion's name as "Collingwood." Definitely not a character choice: Joshua, who founded the Collins family dynasty, would neither forget nor mispronounce the name of his own estate. (00:14:45)

Jean G

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.