Line #17 Series/Darkroom


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/darkroom.jpg]]
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3	->''"You're in a house. Maybe your own... maybe one you've never seen before. You feel it. Something evil. You run, but there's no escape... nowhere to turn. You feel something beckoning you... drawing you into the terror that awaits you in the [[TitleDrop Darkroom]]!'"''
4	-->--'''OpeningNarration''' from the TitleSequence
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6	''Darkroom'' is an horror anthology series that ran for 7 episodes in 1981 and 1982. Each episode had either two or three segments of varying length, all of which had a TwistEnding, and was hosted by Creator/JamesCoburn. It was notable for featuring numerous notable guest stars who were or would go on to be big names in both film and television, including Creator/DavidCarradine, Creator/RonnyCox, Creator/GrantGoodeve and Creator/HelenHunt.
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8	!!This series provides examples of:
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10	* ActuallyNotAVampire: In "The Bogey Man Will Get You" (from the Creator/RobertBloch story of the same name) a young woman believes her big sister's boyfriend is a vampire. He isn't. [[spoiler:He's actually a werewolf.]]
11	* AffablyEvil: Network head Bill Bellamy from "Closed Circuit", who is polite and friendly to Greg Conway, but is willing to do anything for money, even [[spoiler:have his stars trapped for the rest of their lives, [[GildedCage albeit in total luxury.]]]]
12	* BaitAndSwitch: At the end of "Closed Circuit", it seems Bill Bellamy is going to kill Greg Conway. Instead, [[spoiler:he leaves him trapped inside a prison underneath the network building [[GildedCage where he can have everything he wants... except freedom.]]]]
13	* BreakingSpeech: In "Closed Circuit", Greg Conway is given one by a simulation of himself to get him to comply with Bellamy’s plan. It works.
14	* BuriedAlive: The fate of the pimp in "Needlepoint", who has a voodoo doll of him buried, resulting in him asphyxiating.
15	* CruelTwistEnding: A staple of the series. Pretty much every episode has a twist that means the lead character is going to suffer either death or a FateWorseThanDeath, even if they did nothing to deserve it. About the only exception was Creator/BillyCrystal's character hitting the KarmicJackpot in "Make-Up."
16	* DeadPersonImpersonation: A horrific example in "Uncle George". A homeless man (Dub Taylor) is approached by a kindly couple (Claude Akins and June Lockhart) with a strange offer. They will provide him with a place to live, watch over him and provide him with food and comfort if he agrees to impersonate their Uncle George, who recently passed away. George has been receiving regular checks from the railroad, and the couple have come to rely on that money to keep afloat. Its only after he agrees to the deal that he learns the reason why George was receiving this money from the railroad. [[spoiler: George had lost his legs in an accident while working for the railroad, and in order for them to convince anyone from the railroad who comes to check on George, the homeless man must lose his legs as well. Cue the chainsaw.]]
17	* DyingTown: "The Partnership" is set in a dying, backwoods Southern town where the residents have mostly moved out, with the exception of a few old-timers.
18	* FakingTheDead: In "A Quiet Funeral", crook Marty Vetch (Robert F. Lyons) double-crosses his partner Charlie Provo (Eugene Roche), a skilled forger, and leaves him for dead. Later, he reads about Charlie's upcoming funeral in a newspaper, and visits the funeral home to pay his last respects, knowing if he didn't show, his fellow crooks would get suspicious. [[spoiler: It turns out the funeral notice was a forgery made by Charlie for the purpose of getting Marty to the funeral home. With the help of a friend, Charlie puts Marty inside his own coffin and locks him in, to return the next day so that they will hold a quiet funeral for Marty.]]
19	* TheFilmOfTheBook: Some episodes were based on short stories.
20	** TheRemake: One of these, an adaptation of Creator/CornellWoolrich's "Guillotine", had previously been filmed as an episode of ''Series/{{Thriller}}'', another GenreAnthology featuring a celebrity host (in ''Thriller'''s case, Creator/BorisKarloff) and produced by Creator/{{Universal}}.
21	* HorrorHost: The owner of the eponymous darkroom, a mysterious photographer played by Creator/JamesCoburn. The German version of the show replaced the photographer with a shopkeeper played by Carl-Heinz Schroth.
22	* IntrepidReporter: Subverted. Greg Conway of "Closed Circuit" fancies himself one of these, but as the simulation of him points out, he has long since sold out.
23	* SouthernGothic: "The Partnership".
24	* TheVietnamVet: Neil from "Siege of 31 August" is a Vietnam veteran, who is still blinded by patriotism and is trying to force his son into a career in the military. The episode implies that this is a result of trauma he experienced in the war.

Context Series / Darkroom