As seen in Tim Burton's Shadows (2012) 2012 film adaptation of Dark Shadows, Widows' Hill is a towering cliff near Collinwood that juts out sharply from the mainland. It forms a single precipitous point over the craggy rocks far below, which are lashed by the crashing waves of the Atlantic. The cliff appears mostly barren other than tall windswept grass, but prominently features a single gnarled and bare-branched tree. Widows' Hill is the scene of two tragic events in the film, which are similar though they occur 196 years apart.
During the film's opening sequences, the narration by the protagonist, Barnabas Collins, alludes to several prior tragedies which have occurred at Widows' Hill, though the nearby fishing village of Collinsport has apparently been settled for only about 16 years at the time to which he refers.
[If you have not yet seen the film, key plot details below may contain spoilers.]
The first of the two tragedies at Widows' Hill that are depicted in the film takes place during the same opening narrative, in 1776. Barnabas' beloved, Josette DuPres, plunges to her death from Widows' Hill, falling backward as she pleads with Barnabas to help her. Josette's seeming suicide is a result of a spell placed upon her by the beautiful but spiteful witch Angelique Bouchard, whose wrath has been aroused by Barnabas' spurning her in favor of Josette. In despair, Barnabas leaps after Josette, only to find he has survived the fall as a result of Angelique's curse, which transforms him into a vampire.
The second tragedy at Widows' Hill unfolds in the final scenes of the film, in 1972. Though she has been destroyed, Angelique's final magic spell compels Barnabas' new love, the governess Victoria Winters to repeat Josette's plunge from Widows' Hill. However, Barnabas succeeds in "saving" Victoria by plunging immediately after her and draining her of blood, as the two embrace while falling together. As Barnabas cradles her limp form in the waves on the rocks beneath Widows' Hill, Victoria is revived as a vampire, seemingly accomplishing the final defeat of Angelique's revenge.