Alicia I love this movie so much

StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Inadvands Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Morbius Fitzgerald I came into this film with just the barest of knowledge on who Elvira was. I knew she was a horror host in the 80s and some of the 90s and she took off a lot more than any others did (unless you count MST3K) and...that probably would've been it. So, rather curiously and in a way that I can't really explain why, I decided to watch this to get a firm foundation for her character and maybe her show. In the end, it was quite an enjoyable little film.Okay so the plot will probably sound familiar in one way or another - A horror show host named Elvira quits her job as a horror host at a local TV station after finding out its being bought by a pervert who wants to take sexual advantage of her and wants to start up a show in Vegas but to achieve that, she has to come up with $50 000 and, by coincidence, her Great Aunt has just died and the reading of her will is in a few days in a town thats...conservative, to say the least. She is mostly treated badly from everyone there with the exceptions being the teenagers of the town and the local film theater manager, whose the love interest. And it turns out her inheritance is the house from The Munsters (no joke, its the same house!), a punk rock dog and a recipe book which her only other relative (her Great Uncle) wants to get his hands on, on the grounds that its a spell recipe book and wants to use it to become the "Master of the Dark".Okay, whats good here? Well a lot of the jokes do hit the nail in the head, most of the time, in getting a laugh however corny they may be, its a surprisingly creative way to make a film about a horror host, all the actors do well for their parts and its great to just see the film play out. What do I mean by that? A lot of the time Elvira has a "conspiracy" planned against her by the head of the town, Chastity Pariah. Maybe its different for some people but the amount of times the supposed "moral figure" of the town proves just how insane she is and how Elvira the "harlot" is probably one of the few voices of reason in the entire film is just funny to me. My favourite scene is just as Elvira discovers she's a witch and she can do all this, the townsfolk that have all wronged her have a "morality" picnic, as a celebration of the fact that they've kept their morals and values in check. She puts in a potion she brewed up which...turns it into an orgy (well as much of an orgy as you can get from an M rating) (also, while I'm doing this, as much as it will be hard to believe, considering Elvira's reputation the whole 'turning the picnic into an orgy was completely by accident!) and the very next scene is of a town meeting where they constantly blame the other person they were with for coming on to them and being "sex crazed deviants". Again, your opinion may vary on how funny that is.Whats bad? I'm not going to act like there isn't anything. Sometimes the fantasy sequences are a bit tedious, some of the jokes didn't quite make it with a few leaving me groaning but the worst thing, for me at least, was that after everything's done, spoiler alert, Elvira achieves her dream of going to Vegas and we see what her act is. Which goes on for 4 minutes and while the film wasn't awful by this stage my reaction was along the lines of "Movie...your over. Why are we focusing on this when its not even funny?"So is it for everyone? No. The best way to describe this film is "imagine if Hocus Pocus (1993) and The Addams Family (1991) had a child that happened to star one of the most successful horror hosts ever". Get that image in your head, add a tonne of cheese to it (yes, even more than either of those two films had combined) and thats this movie. So if your in the right mood, go check it out.

Michael_Elliott Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1988) * 1/2 (out of 4) TV horror host Elvira (Cassandra Peterson) is notified that the great-aunt she never knew has died and left her a mansion. Elvira shows up in the small town where many of the old-fashioned locals look down on her but even worse is the fact that this old house contains a recipe book, which brings with it all sorts of spells and monsters. I've never been a fan of horror hosts and I never was a fan of Elvira so I really wasn't sure what to expect from this film. I had heard many negative things about this over the years and while the film is pretty bad it also has a certain charm that keeps it somewhat watchable. The entire screenplay is bizarre to say the least because it's never quite sure what type of film it wants to be. I say this because it's kept kid friendly but at the same time you've got all sorts of strange sexual talk that really stands out because you're not expecting to hear it in a movie like this and when you do hear it, it just stands out from everything else going on. All the boob jokes aimed at Elvira is expected and I think a good argument could be made that the film producers would have been much better served had the film gone for a tad bit darker and more adult natured film. The horror elements are all rather weak but I think fans of the genre will get a few smiles out of seeing some cult movies shown here including IT CONQUERED THE WORLD and ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOS. There's also a pretty funny joke involving the first potion that Elvira cooks out. As for Peterson, I'd be lying if I said she gave a "good" performance but she is good at the character she created and there's no question she can play the part well. The supporting players are all good in their parts but no one really stands out and takes over the film. ELVIRA, MISTRESS OF THE DARK has a little charm but certainly not enough to carry a fairly weak story.

Vomitron_G Since the start of her career in the 70's and vastly throughout the exuberant 80's, Elvira (Cassandra Peterson) has grown into a modest icon and genuine cult figure in the world of horror & bad monster movies. While Ms. Peterson has taken on various supporting roles in motion pictures, covering a wide variety in genres, it was her TV-character Elvira that brought her the most fame. Part of her charm – and respect from the fans – lies in the fact she never turned her back on the horror genre that made her famous (unlike many other big name actors & actresses that like to distantiate themselves from their "early" work). I've seen only bits & pieces of her TV performances, but her cameo role in Ghoultown's recent tribute song "Mistress of the Dark" really encouraged me to check out more of her stuff. One thing had been clear to me already long before this music video: Over the years, Elvira had become a force of influence herself by the time the mid-80's came around.And in 1988, after films like "Fright Night" and "TerrorVision" incorporated homages to and spoofs on her TV-work, it finally happened: "Elvira, Mistress of the Dark", the motion picture. Now, I had seen the trailer for it already back in the VHS rental days, but it took me until last week to finally see the actual film. A few years ago, I did manage to watch "Elvira's Haunted Hills" (made in 2001), but for some reason it didn't impress me all that much. Was it really that forgettable, or should I give it another watch? I actually really do feel like re-watching it now, as this first Elvira film from '88 really convinced me. Though perhaps partly responsible for making this film work, might be Sam Egan and John Paragon with their contributions to the script, there really is no way to deny it: Cassandra Peterson has a great feel for comedy (she also co-wrote the screenplay).When Elvira learns she's one of the beneficiaries of a Great Aunt (she never heard of before), she takes it as the long cherished opportunity to start up her own show in Las Vegas. Out to claim her rightfully inherited money, she travels to a quiet New England town. But the uptight townspeople of Falwell are in for a treat. In less than no time she manages to shock and insult all noteworthy inhabitants of the conservative little town with her (often unintentionally) provocative behaviour. To make things worse, her inheritance turns out not to be what she expected: A rundown mansion, a cookbook and a poodle. But what she doesn't know, and her evil uncle Vincent Albot does, is that her Great Aunt was a witch, and the cookbook contains recipes to concoct the most hellishly dark powers imaginable. And if you haven't turned off the movie yet by the time Elvira has cooked up her first dish from the recipe-book, then rest assured, you're going to sit out this ride with a smile on your face.It's surprising how a script rigged together with boob-jokes, witty one-liners, movie references, inside jokes and bade taste merriment also manages to tell a coherent story. Simple, of course, but coherent. While other movies, heavily relying on gag-like situations, often make you loose track of the story completely (like the "Naked Gun" films, for example), this film doesn't. A lot of horror-comedies were being produced during the 80's, but not a lot of them actually worked. Let alone a horror-spoof that doesn't derail at some point ("Killer Party", although I'm grateful for this one going completely bonkers during the finale) or becomes too tedious too quickly ("Saturday the 14th"). Although "Elvira" is more comedy than horror, it doesn't loose track of what it's doing and consistently builds up towards a mildly grotesque finale, complete with a supernatural showdown in the streets of Falwell between newborn witch Elvira and evil uncle wizard Talbot, including a real honest-to-god witch hunt and Elvira's very own burn-at-the-stake moment.I'm telling you, there's no power in hell that could make this movie unfunny. One of the first giggles I got was during the opening credits already, when Daniel Greene's name appeared. Daniel who? Oh yes, I recognized his name (and later on his dim-witted macho-face). How can one not forget Daniel Greene once you've seen... "Atomic Cyborg aka Fists of Steel"! But if you haven't seen "Atomic Cyborg", then I'm sorry, but you won't be able to laugh with his face in this one. And on a side-note: I never could have imagined Elvira looking this cool while ignorantly driving away from a gas station. Even Robert Rodriguez could not have made that shot look any better.

lost-in-limbo I never saw any of the TV shows, but we know where the eyes will be heading, but it's the character's main draw-card and this aspect is played for the laughs. 'Elvira' is light-headed in its context, but quite low-brow with its humour, as a sizzling siren Cassandra Peterson laced up in her spunky Gothic wardrobe resembles a Mae West with her sharp-witted (although not always funny, but they're either bad and good) wisecracks. This film is pretty much a living parody, as it follows horror TV show hostess Elvira quit her job in the dream of performing in Las Vegas… but to keep that show alive, she needs money to pay for it. She learns she will be receiving an inheritance from her deceased auntie in a quaint, conservative little rural town. Hoping for money, she ends up with the house, dog and a family cook book (or is it just a cook book?). Which for some reason her uncle Vincent would do anything to get his hands on that book. Its loopy camp of a very one-joke kind, which patterns itself into contrived silliness. It moves by fast enough, even though it does become starved of gags due to simply relying on its same-old collection of its 'fish out of water' gags of a performance that's more than just an act. Director James Signorelli colourfully spruce handling uses cheeky references and builds a certain likable charm. William Morgan Sheppard and a dynamically ripe Edie McClurg are quite fun their roles… in what you can call the meanies of the film. In the end it knows what it is, and purposely keeps it to that; simple-minded, crude and carefree kitsch.