Elvira: Mistress of the Dark

Today is the first day of February, which means it's the beginning of Women in Horror Month!  At least once a week I'll be posting reviews that salute the ladies of horror in one way or another.  I thought I'd start it off by having some nice cheesy fun with the horror icon Elvira.  Growing up in the 80s I remember seeing Elvira all the time in commercials and other television appearances.  She's certainly hard to miss!  I always loved her cheesy sense of humor.  I hadn't seen her film before now so I decided to check it out.

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark is a fun blend of cheesy 80s comedy and a salute to classic horror films that ends in an over the top music video.  Apparently Cassandra Peterson was nominated for a Razzie for the film and most reviews of it are abysmal.  But frankly I think anyone that is hard on this film and tries to take it seriously is missing the point.

Elvira is fired from her horror hosting job after she refuses to put up with her boss sexually harassing her.  Fortunately for the plot her great-aunt has just passed away and left her an inheritance, so we're off to Falwell, Massachusetts, an ultra wholesome community, where Elvira gets a dilapidated house, a poodle, and a recipe book.  The adults, led by the fabulous Edie McClurg, are not happy to see her arrival, but the teenagers of the town are absolutely delighted.  There's also her great-uncle, who was left out of the will and really wants that recipe book. (Hint: It's really a spellbook!)  The plot is ultra-thin and predictable, but the movie is really all about the gags and jokes so it's hard to care.  Elvira turns the fluffy poodle into a punk rock dog and  the teenagers help Elvira paint her house to look like something ready for Mardi Gras.

Just tell me this isn't awesome.

It turns out that Elvira's mother was a powerful witch and Elvira herself has inherited those powers.  The evil great-uncle also has powers of his own.  After the townspeople try to burn her at the stake, we get a really fun witch battle between Elvira and her uncle.  The dialogue is cheesy and the special effects outdated, but that is largely the point!  It's clear this was meant to be a tribute to the type of schlocky films that Elvira would introduce on her show, and it works really well in that respect.

Once she defeats her great-uncle, she inherits his riches, giving her enough money to start her own show in Las Vegas.  This is where the music video kicks in, switching from a Madonna style ballad to rap to heavy metal.  It's ridiculous cheesy fun and I loved every second of it.

There's apparently a sequel that Cassandra Peterson and her husband financed on their own back in 2002, called Elvira's Haunted Hills. Its plot sounds just as wonderfully ridiculous as this film.

Elvira may not seem like your average candidate for "strong female character" but I think she fits it quite well.  She flaunts her assets but she's also independent and in control.  She speaks like a valley girl but she's definitely not a bimbo.. bimbos can't tell as many quick witted puns as she does!  I think it's also safe to assume that her Movie Macabre show introduced a lot of people to horror and B-movie films they might never have seen before, and that in and of itself deserves to be applauded.

The other films I'm reviewing this month will be a bit more serious, but for now I just had to salute the lady I've associated with horror from a very early age.