Written by Sam Egan, John Paragon and Cassandra Peterson
Directed by James Signorelli
Starring Cassandra Peterson, W. Morgan Sheppard, Daniel Green, Jeff Conaway, Susan Kellermann and Edie McClurg
USA
Elvira was everywhere in the 80s but, like many characters who become famous more for their personality than for whatever vehicle they’re in, as a kid I was often confused as to what she was. I got that she was a horror hostess, but how could she have a movie then? I’d see the big standee of her tied to the stake in the local video store and wonder what an Elvira movie could possibly be about. Was it for adults? Kids? Why did my Intergalactic Trading Co. catalog have so much Elvira merchandise in it? It was a mystery.
Now that I’m an old man, I’ve finally seen her feature film debut, and I have to say I liked it a lot. It starts off with her getting fired from her horror hosting gig (for turning down the lecherous advances of her gross boss), and moves on to her inheriting a house from a deceased relative she didn’t know she had, in a small conservative town where she stops off on her way to seek fame and fortune in Vegas with a stage show.
The movie exists in kind of a Pee-Wee Herman-esque parallel reality where it’s sort of the 1950s all the time – the teens in town are starving for rebellion, and the local city council simply won’t have it. Luckily here comes Elvira to shake things up.
It’s funny how these counter-culture icons that break into the mainstream always stand for positive ideals like inclusiveness and being true to your own weird self, while the mainstream society they break into only cares about maintaining the status quo. Elvira doesn’t look like a role model, but as the titular (get it?) Mistress of the Dark, she spreads a liberating message to have fun, don’t take yourself too seriously, and don’t worry about what other people think.
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