Horror hosts have been a staple on TV since its early days
when packages of old horror movies were put together to be shown on late night
television. To this day there are still a wide number of them out there but the
heyday of the horror host was the sixties. Then in 1981 a new hostess came
along the changed all that. With a curvaceous figure, long black hair, low cut
top and a fun sense of humor actress/comedian Cassandra Peterson gave the world
Elvira.
The character was filled with double entendre, displaying
her body in provocative ways and making fun of the movies that were being
shown. Loosely based on the character of Vampira, an earlier host, Peterson
combined that similar look with a valley girl style that made her unique. It
was popular enough that the series was syndicated and released on VHS and she
garnered numerous promotional gigs as well. So it was only natural that this
character would eventually get a film of her own.
ELVIRA MISTRESS OF THE DARK tells the story of Elvira as a
horror host who longs to take the stage in Vegas. The problem is she needs
$50,000 to produce the show. When the new station owner sexually harasses her
she quits and it seems her dreams are over. Then she gets a telegram: her
great-aunt Morgana has passed away and she is in the will. Having never met
Morgana but not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, she heads to Fallwell,
Massachusetts to collect.
When she arrives she finds a less than welcome reception.
Fallwell is a town stuck in the fifties complete with a theater that only shows
G rated movies and a gaggle of gossipers who find Elvira’s appearance
outrageous. But Elvira is not one to accept the norms and she finds a place to
stay until the will is read. Needless to say she is stunned when she inherits
Morgana’s house. Even more so when she gets to the house to find it run down
and in need of attention.
With the help of the town’s young people, mostly guys
attracted by her “assets”, she soon has the house looking better. Unfortunately
the local real estate agent is more interested in what he can get out of her
than what she can get out of him. The one possibility for her is a recipe book
that her great-uncle Vincent (W. Morgan Sheppard) seems interested in and
willing to pay for.
What Elvira isn’t aware of is that the book is actually a
book of spells and that her great-aunt Morgana was a witch who kept it from
Vincent, a powerful warlock intent on doing the world harm. Elvira had been
sent away as a young child but has it in her to become as powerful a witch as
Morgana and save Fallwell from Vincent and themselves.
Fueled by the same off the wall humor that her TV show had
the movie offers plenty of laughs, most of them based around the anything goes
appearance and attitude of Elvira herself. The reality is that in the long run
Elvira is mostly harmless and fun loving than anything else and that humor is
no more offensive than a mild dirty joke you wouldn’t feel uncomfortable
telling your parents. It’s all done in good humor and only those who would be
looking for something to be offended by would do so.
Released in 1988 the film was supposed to kick off a series
of films but failed to click enough to do so. It didn’t stop Peterson from
continuing to make appearances as Elvira and to continue that career though. To
this day she still makes appearance across the country as Elvira and fans
clamor to see her.
The movie may not be Oscar worthy material but there is a
certain amount of fun to it. It’s not meant to be taken seriously any more so
than the character herself. Instead it sets out to entertain and give you
something to laugh at and it succeeds more often than fails in that respect.
Arrow Video is pulling out all stops on their release of the
film starting with a 4k scan from original film elements making the release
look better than ever. And like every great Arrow release there are plenty of
extras on hand as well starting with an introduction to the film by director
James Signorelli. Also included are a 2017 audio commentary track with
Signorelli hosted by Fangoria editor emeritus Tony Timpone, a 2017 audio
commentary track with Patterson Lundquist the webmaster of
elviramistressofthedark. com and judge of the US TV show “The Search for the
Next Elvira”, archival audio commentary with actors Cassandra Peterson, Edie
McClurg and writer John Paragon, “Too Macabre – The Making of Elvira: Mistress
of the Dark a newly-revised 2018 version of the feature length documentary on
the film, “Recipe for Terror: The Creation of the Pot Monster” a newly-revised
featurette about the concept and design of the pot monster from the film as
well as other special effects, original storyboards, an extensive image
gallery, the original US theatrical and teaser trailers, a reversible sleeve
with original and newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck and for the first
pressing only an illustrated collector’s booklet featuring writing by Kat
Ellinger and Patterson Lundquist.
For fans of Elvira and this film in particular this will be
the version to add to your collection. It’s been placed in caring hand with the
release by Arrow and once again they show why they are the premiere company
when it comes to saving films that would otherwise have been lost.
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