Elvira: Mistress of the Dark

PG-13 6.6
1988 1 hr 36 min Horror , Comedy

Arriving in the small town of Fallwell, Massachusetts to claim her inheritance, horror hostess Elvira receives a less than enthusiastic reception from the conservative locals -- amongst them, her sinister uncle Vincent, who, unbeknownst to her, is an evil warlock.

  • Cast:
    Cassandra Peterson , William Morgan Sheppard , Daniel Greene , Edie McClurg , Susan Kellermann , Jeff Conaway , Ellen Dunning

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Reviews

Hellen
1988/09/30

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

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Voxitype
1988/10/01

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

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Cooktopi
1988/10/02

The acting in this movie is really good.

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Kaydan Christian
1988/10/03

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

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Claudio Carvalho
1988/10/04

When a chauvinist millionaire buys the TV network where the sexy Elvira (Cassandra Peterson) is the horror hostess of a late show, she quits her job with the intention of producing a show of her own in Las Vegas. However the producers demand 50 thousand dollars from her and Elvira does not have the money. Out of the blue, she receives a telegram informing that her great aunt Morgana died and she has an inheritance to receive. Elvira drives to Fallwell, in Massachusets, where her car breaks. While repairing the car, Elvira inherits an old house, a recipe book and a poodle. Her great uncle Vincent Talbot (W. Morgan Sheppard) proposes to buy her book, but the poodle hides it in the sofa. Meanwhile the conservative council of Fallwell feels uncomfortable with Elvira's clothes and behavior and does not let her find a job. But the cinema owner Bob Redding (Daniel Greene) and the local teenagers help Elvira. When she decides to cook a dinner to impress Bob, she uses Morgana's recipe and finds that it is indeed a spell book that belonged to her mother Divana. Further, Morgana has protected her from the warlock Vincent that wants the book to take over the world and destroy Elvira, who is a powerful witch. When Elvira refuses to sell the spell book to Vincent, her convinces the council that she is a witch that must be burned at the stake. How will Elvira stop the evil Vincent?"Elvira: Mistress of the Dark" is a funny cult-trash that works for the fans. This cheesy film is hilarious despite all the silliness and the sexy Cassandra Peterson is the responsible for making it worthwhile watching. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Elvira: A Rainha das Trevas" ("Elvira: The Queen of the Darkness")

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gwnightscream
1988/10/05

Cassandra Peterson, W. Morgan Sheppard, Daniel Greene and Edie McClurg star in this 1988 horror comedy. Peterson plays the title character who is a horror hostess and heads to Fallwell, Massachussetts for her late, great Aunt's will reading. She inherits her old house, a powerful recipe book and a shape-shifting dog. She also finds romance with nice guy, Bob Redding (Greene) who runs a local movie theater and meets her great uncle, Vincent Talbot (Sheppard) whom she learns is an evil warlock who wants the book. McClurg (Carrie) plays Chastity Pariah, a woman in town who doesn't like Elvira very much. I grew up watching this and always enjoyed it. It's a good 80's horror comedy that pays tribute and pokes fun at horror & b-movies and Peterson & the cast are great in it. I recommend this and "unpleasant dreams."

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Scott LeBrun
1988/10/06

"Elvira: Mistress of the Dark" is pretty harmless stuff, an unmemorable but lightly enjoyable horror spoof. If it does anything well, that's the way that it showcases the talents of its star, the still-very-sexy-after-all-these-years Cassandra Peterson. Here she gets to bring her popular character to the big screen in this amiable vehicle. It's never exactly scary, but it's not trying to be, either. Admittedly, it is very silly, but it's hard to imagine anybody going into this expecting anything different. The cast plays the material for all that it's worth.Cassandra co-wrote the script, with her fellow Groundlings castmate John Paragon and Sam Egan. The idea is that TV horror host Elvira loses her job and desperately needs money in order to put on a Vegas production. Wouldn't you know it, a relative dies, a great aunt named Morgana, who lived in a small town named Falwell. Elvira shakes up the ultra conservative nature of this place, which is loathe to permit people to actually have fun. Ultimately, she must deal with a variety of nemeses: stuck up Patty (Susan Kellermann), local busybody Chastity Pariah (ever lovable Edie McClurg), and her own great uncle Vincent (William Morgan Sheppard). Vincent wants to get his hands on the book that Elvira inherited; Elvira thinks it's just a boring old recipe book but Vincent knows different.Cassandra is full aware of her greatest assets, with dozens of breast jokes for the occasion. She's as fun as she's ever been playing this character, fully embracing the campy approach and its loving mockery of low budget horror. The special effects are generally quite amusing, especially the pot monster. Daniel Greene is perfectly likable as Elviras' hunky nice guy love interest Bob Redding, and there's a number of familiar faces in this supporting cast: Kris Kamm, Ira Heiden, William Duell, Jeff Conaway, Frank Collison, Kurt Fuller, and Hugh Gillin. Buffs will be pleased to note the use of Roger Cormans' "It Conquered the World" as it gets mocked during the opening minutes. All in all, the movie moves at an adequate pace and is pleasant enough.Six out of 10.

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thesar-2
1988/10/07

I will never apologize for absolutely loving the rock-solid hilarious Elvira: Mistress of the Dark feature film. I won't even label it as a "guilty pleasure;" I have no guilt in my pleasure in laughing out loud every time I watch this.Actually, it's probably been two decades since I last viewed this and though I remember watching it back then repeatedly, this viewing brought back everything. I could all-but recite every line, every joke and see everything coming two chapters ahead. And that's not a bad thing; I still laughed out loud all over again in a movie that's 25-years-old this September.(And speaking of which – where is the 25th Anniversary BluRay Special Edition for this absolute classic?)It helps that I used to watch her show, about her hosting and commenting on terribly bad and unintentionally hilarious B-movies, live – and watched it for different reasons most boys did my age. It also helps that I transitioned, following her, into Mystery Science Theater 3000. But, none of that accounts for the full-movie she helped write here. In fact, aside from the opening act (the set-up,) a few mentions of movies she likes, a brief live-edition in the midsection and the spoof of making a movie mimicking her B-movies, the movie really stands on its own.Yeah, that didn't come out right. But, what I mentioned was only part of the whole experience. And though it's not entirely based on an original idea, Cassandra Peterson's Elvira has such great wit, delivery and charisma, it makes the old setup fresh and very funny.Elvira's fired from her show (see description above) and lucks out with "perfect timing" of her Great Aunt's passing and an inheritance that might fund her Las Vegas' Flamingo show. (Which, by the way, I would die to see…)Breaking down, her car that is, in a small, obviously Red State kind of town, she must spend a few days reinventing the locales to her "big" – ha – city ways.To add in the elements of her B-movie story come to life, there's the evil Uncle who needs a witchy book of dear, ole Great Aunt to have supreme power. Will Elvira, and her new followers, be able to stop such a warlock?In truth, and as stated it's been approximately 20 years since I last saw this, I didn't know I would still roll with laughter. Also, I didn't think I'd see her as a hypocrite: constantly she flirts, flaunts her huge…attributes and then bashes whoever makes a sexual move toward her. I did think she was a hypocrite, until it made sense: She was mocking, very cleverly, indeed, women who either have big breasts, or buy them, make advances and then shuns those who take the bait. Smart girl. Cassandra, that is.Anyhoo, this movie meant a lot to me growing up. It defined a lot of my own humor and I still, to this day, use the lines in my every day routines. There are so many to mention, but the number one quote I unabashedly repeat constantly:"Hey, does anyone know what that movie was about? I'll tell yah what it was about: it was about an hour and a half too long!" - Elvira(Technically, when I don't like a movie, or just wanna make someone laugh, and they ask me: "What was that movie about anyways?" I respond: "'Bout an hour and a half too long!" Or, whatever the length was.)If you liked those small-town, road trip antic films, like To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, you'd love this. I believe it holds up strongly today and sadly, so do a lot of the ignorant behaviors initially shown here in this film.…And until next time, (un)pleasant dreams.

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