Review of Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988) by Mr. B — 10 Feb 2014

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark is known as a television personality concocted by Cassandra Peterson. Elvira is known for hosting a television show in the eighties dedicated to showing bad horror and sci/fi movies. Her style was to make comments on the film she was hosting while doing brief gags in between the film itself. Her look was directly taken from Vampira who was also known for hosting horror movies. Elvira was a huge sensation and it wasn't just the rack either. Well, the rack may have had something to do with it, but so did her sarcastic wit and charming persona. It wouldn't be long before Elvira would be the star of her very own movie.

Peterson, however, has been known for many films. She started out first as an actress and it was usually her valley girl approach that got her roles. Even some of that valley girl in herself spilling over into Elvira. Sadly the only roles she could ever get were bit parts or small supporting roles in certain films. Her biggest one would be of course the lovable and sexy Mistress of the Dark, Elvira.

In her first feature, Elvira quits her tv hosting job and discovers she had an Aunt that recently deceased. The Aunt has a Will and Elvira is determined to get some cash so she can head to Vegas and star in her very own show. When she arrives in Fallwell, Massachusetts she shakes up the locals (including the young boys) by her appearance. That huge rack being ever so hypnotizing the men and enraging the women. When it turns out that her Aunt only left her the Mansion along with a certain cookbook in the Will, Elvira sees that she's stuck in Mayberry forever with the locals. And those locals are getting nastier and nastier by the day. Especially the elderly ones. The teenagers are cool with her though.

This film doesn't have much in terms of a plot other than it's about Elvira having to protect a special cookbook from her Uncle. The cookbook is really a spellbook that the Uncle wants so he can take over the world. There are a ton of sexual innuendos and puns and one very funny scene at the town's morality picnic where one of Elvira's spells go wrong sending everyone into an orgiastic state. That had me chuckling.

Even though this film does suffer from a state of excessive irreverence, it only works thanks to Elvira and is the only reason to watch the film. I think that's good enough to warrant a recommendation.