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"Lewis Vendredi made a deal with the Devil to sell cursed antiques. But he broke the pact, and it cost him his soul. His niece Micki, and her cousin Ryan, have inherited the store, and with it, the curse. Now, they must get everything back, and the real terror begins."
This late 80's TV series had nothing to do with the Jason Vorhees slasher movies. Instead, it told the story of two cousins trying to recover cursed antiques that their uncle sold. With the help of Jack Marshak, they were successful in recovering almost all items. Each item had a unique curse that would encourage it's owner to commit some devious act (usually killing or hurting someone else) in exchange for some powerful assistance for the owner. They essentially granted dark wishes for the owner.
This was a good show in its day, originally airing on the fledgling FOX network in the US. In the first and third seasons, two episodes detailed objects involved with vampires.
In the first season, episode 13, "The Baron's Bride", the item is a cape and clasp. When the cape was worn, it transformed the wearer into a vampire. Moreover, when the clasp itself had blood dripped on it, it transported the wearer through time. Micki and Ryan found the owner, but Micki fell under the vampire's sway. When Ryan tried to get Micki away from the vampire, her blood fell on the clasp, and all three were carried through time into 19th Century London. As Micki ran happily off with the vampire, Ryan bumped into a young writer named Abraham and enlisted his help (after his wife was next under the vampire's sway) to save Micki, Abraham's wife, and get the cape back. When they succeed in returning back to their own time, Jack pointed out that the writer they befriended was none other than Bram Stoker; their adventure undoubtedly inspiring him to write, "Dracula". Shot in black and white when in the past, this episode was seductive and gothic, and full of great music, setting the perfect mood for a classic episode, which won a few awards if memory serves.
In the third season, episode 8, "Night Prey", the item is actually a cross, a holy relic called the Cross of Fire. An old vampire hunter has stolen the ancient cross which has the ability to incinerate vampires. It only does this after someone is killed by being stabbed with the hidden blade within the cross. Ironically, it is the vampire being hunted by the old man who contacts the Antique store for their help in getting it back. There were very many wonderful twists in this episode, the mark of a series that was finally learning their craft. It is a shame the series only lasted three seasons. This episode is also unique in that it was the only one where a holy relic is used to destroy evil, but still twists that "good deed" into something dark and sinister, requiring an innocent to die for that power. This is noted in Jack's narration at the beginning of the episode, "I just don't know anymore. It used to be so simple; there was good and there was evil. Now they're blending, mixing together. I can't tell where one ends and the other begins. I'm not sure I know the difference anymore."
NOTE: Episodes not on DVD yet, but I found the soundtrack available on Amazon. See the buy link. Track 3 is the Suite from "The Baron's Bride", and you can listen to a sample from the Amazon site.
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