Dark Shadows Episode 217: Willie's Mysterious "Illness"

Episode 217 of Dark Shadows begins with Willie Loomis writing in bed. Jason McGuire examines him, and the removes the bandage on his wrist. The wound appears to be no more than a scratch, but his arm has turned gray. It is as if the blood had been drained from his arm.

Carolyn tells Vicky that Willie looks like a different person, a person who doesn't want to hurt anyone, and doesn't want to be hurt by anyone.

"Don't let it get dark again. I'm scared."

Victoria brings Willie a tray of food, which he shows no interest in, and Jason McGuire witnesses him fall into a deep sleep. As he leaves the room Willie awakens. It is now dark. He goes to the window and seems to answer the call of some master who beckons him. Could it be?

Jason catches Willie trying to leave the new house and confronts him. Willie says he just has to leave this house. Jason tries to coax him back upstairs, but Willie bolts from the house.

Interestingly, we hear the sound of a car being started and driving off, but no car is seen. We then hear the sound of a car slowing down and someone getting out at the cemetery, but once again, no car is seen. 

Jason follows Willie to the cemetery and witnesses him entering the Collins family crypt. Willie trips the mechanism that open the door to the secret crypt where he first found Barnabas Collins' coffin. Jason follows.

Unable to find Willie in the small, enclosed crypt, Jason seems to become bewildered and frightened. He leaves the crypt and we hear the sound of heartbeats. 

This is two consecutive episode with no appearance from Barnabas Collins, instead focusing almost entirely on the "sickness" of Willie Loomis. I got an answer to my query about cars. Maybe they will be shown later in the series, and they're certainly in the two movies, but so far the action is confined to four locations. On to episode 218. 

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Dark Shadows 215: Is Willie Loomis a Vampire?

Episode 215 of Dark Shadows opens at the Blue Whale, where we learn that Burke Devlin has previously thrown Willie Loomis out of the place. Willie has disappeared again, however, and Burke and Jason McGuire find themselves wondering where he has gone.

Then Joe Haskell arrives with some startling news. A young calf on his uncle's farm has been found dead with its blood drained.

Well, that's probably nothing.

Jason eventually confronts Willie at the Blue Whale and offers him the $500 Elizabeth Stoddard gave him to leave Collinsport. Willie refuses. Whatever has happened to him, he no longer wants to leave. Considering how desperate everyone previously was to get Willie Loomis out of town, his sudden determination to remain in Collinsport probably isn't going to improve anybody's situation.

Maggie Evans also appears in this episode. I'm still not entirely sure how she fits into the larger story, although I know she appears in the movie House of Dark Shadows as one of Barnabas Collins' victims. Since I'm watching the television series without knowing exactly how all these characters and storylines eventually fit together, I'm trying not to get too far ahead of myself.

What I learned from Episode 215: Willie may be a vampire.

At this point, I officially have no idea who half these people ultimately turn out to be, what their relationships will become, or why Josette figures so prominently in both of the Dark Shadows movies and apparently in this storyline as well. I don't even know when Josette is going to appear in the television series.

That's actually becoming part of the fun of watching Dark Shadows this way. I know fragments of the mythology from the movies and from popular culture, but not enough to know how the television series gets from where I am now to the story I vaguely recognize. Barnabas has arrived, Willie is acting very strangely, livestock is turning up without blood, and everybody else is still trying to conduct their ordinary Collinsport business as though nothing supernatural is happening.

Dark Shadows 215 Willie Why Are There Specks of Blood On Your Sleeve?

“Willie, why are there specks of blood on your sleeve?”

That's probably nothing, too.

On to the next episode.

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Karen Black and The Zuni Fetish Doll From Trilogy of Terror

Who is the most frightening movie villain of all time?

The question gets asked endlessly, and everyone has an answer: Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Leatherface.

But to a five-year-old boy watching Trilogy of Terror on ABC, there could only be one answer.

The Zuni Fetish Doll.

That little freak scared the hell out of me.

Trilogy of Terror was a 1975 television anthology starring Karen Black in three different stories. The one everybody remembers is the final segment, "Amelia," in which Black's character brings home a small wooden Zuni warrior doll as a gift. The little bastard comes to life and spends much of the story racing around her apartment trying to kill her.

It was terrifying.

The fact that the doll was tiny somehow made things worse. A full-sized monster had to come through the door. The Zuni doll could be anywhere.

Under the bed.

Behind a chair.

Under the couch.

I am not exaggerating when I say that movie affected my willingness to reach underneath a couch until I was about 27 years old.

Anyone who remembers Trilogy of Terror probably remembers the ending. Karen Black crouched on the floor, transformed, grinning horribly as she repeatedly drove a large knife into the floor.

That's the image the movie leaves you with.

Karen Black died today.

She appeared in well over 100 films during an extraordinary career that included Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, The Great Gatsby and Nashville. I can never forget the final scene of Five Easy Pieces, when she comes out of the diner and discovers what has happened.

Later in her career she became a familiar presence in low-budget and independent horror, but she had already earned a permanent place in the genre through movies such as Burnt Offerings and Trilogy of Terror. Decades later she appeared in Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses.

But I'll always associate Karen Black with that little wooden monster.

It's strange how childhood fear works. You eventually understand that it's a prop. You learn about actors and directors and special effects. You can watch the movie as an adult and see exactly how everything was accomplished.

None of that entirely matters.

Somewhere in my brain, the Zuni Fetish Doll is still under the couch.

And I'm still not reaching under there.

Repose en paix, Karen Black.

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