The Corner Penthouse

With her jet black beehive, slinky low cut dress, curvaceous figure, and ample cleavage, Elvira is arguably the most famous horror hostess in film and television history. In 1988, the world was treated to la femme fatale's first feature film, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. It was everything her character was in dozens of movie cameos, tv appearances, and video hosting gigs... campy, creepy, and oh-so naughty.

ELVIRA ON FILM

In 1987, actress/comedienne Cassandra Peterson (in the guise of her voluptuous alter ego Elvira) attended the Cannes Film Festival, where New World Pictures announced that her first feature film was on its way. The movie was in partnership with NBC Productions (whose head honcho at the time, Brandon Tartikoff, had helped champion it) and Queen B Productions, the company run by Peterson and her husband, producer Mark Pierson.

The script for ELVIRA, MISTRESS OF THE DARK was written by Sam Egan (TV's THE FALL GUY and AUTOMAN), John Paragon (a member of the L.A.-based comedy improv troupe, the Groundlings, who also portrayed the genie, Jambi, on PEE-WEE'S PLAYHOUSE), and Peterson herself. Chosen to direct the feature was James Signorelli, whose biggest credit at the time was the Rodney Dangerfield flop, EASY MONEY.

Filming of the $20 million feature took place at Burbank Studios and Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, which housed the town of Falwell, Massachusetts, home to as self-righteous a pack of townspeople as its preacher namesake might suggest. The cast was peppered with a number of familiar faces from Hollywood's character actor crowd, with Elvira's main foes portrayed by Edie McClurg (another Groundling alum) as Chastity Pariah, and W. Morgan Sheppard as evil uncle Vincent Talbot.

THIS IS A BUST

The ELVIRA film features numerous in-jokes, some of which will be visible best on this DVD. Look for the sign outside the building at which baby Elvira is left: PICK AND SAVE ORPHANAGE." Watch the Elvis Presley T-shirt Elvira wears when waking up from a dream: a real-life encounter with "The King" was partial inspiration for Peterson's stage name. Count the WIZARD OF OZ references. Look for co-writer Paragon as the flatulent Gas Station Attendant. And note that Uncle Vincent's name is a combination of horror legend Vincent Price and Lyle Talbot (whose screen time in 1958's PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE was shared by an Elvira predecessor, Vampira).

Another cool element in ELVIRA, MISTRESS OF THE DARK is her "Macabre Mobile," a tricked-out 1958 Thunderbird. The vehicle was customized with leopard-print interiors, skulls lining the dashboard and paneling, barbed wire ringing the rear-view mirror and license plates, skull-and-crossbones on the tires and steering wheel, and a figure of death on the dashboard. Is it any wonder that the license plate reads "KICK ASS"?

But the elements of the film that get the most mileage are Elvira's breasts. After all, as she says at the film's opening, she is "the gal who put the boob back into boob tube." Over 25 jokes and sight gags about Elvira's cleavage culminate in the tassel-twirling finale in which her huddled masses finally breathe free. In interviews, Peterson has revealed that she learned the tassel trick at 14, and used it when she was a go-go dancer in Colorado!

GIRL GHOULS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN

Released in most U.S. theaters the final weekend of September 1988, ELVIRA, MISTRESS OF THE DARK opened to reviews that mainly tut-tutted the feature as if the reviewers were members of Chastity's Morality Club. The L.A. Times called Elvira "a kind of punk Mae West crossed with Vampira," but groused that the movie's "sex jokes are so erude that most parents wouldn't want their children to hear them."

The Village Voice was nicer, comparing the star and film to her fellow Groundlings alum Paul Reubens' character: "Still feeling burned by BIG-TOP PEE-WEE? Then try ELVIRA, MISTRESS OF THE DARK - the story of a woman with her own big top... Despite her in-the-face voluptuousness, Peterson's biggest talent is her ability to deliver the dumbest double entendres imaginable and still keep her cool." Britain's Film Review critic chuckled, calling the film "rather jolly, rather schoolboyish comedy which pokes fun at the horror film genre."

Unfortunately, the film was a disappointment for cash-strapped New World, bringing in a less than ample $5.6 million. Thankfully, the picture did good business in France, Belgium, Spain, England, Germany, Australia, and Japan, but both the television version and some international versions of the film cut the tassel-twirling finale. ELVIRA, MISTRESS OF THE DARK found a stronger audience on video in 1989, eventually reaching #12 on the Billboard charts.

Since her film's release, Peterson/Elvira has hosted or appeared in hundreds of television shows and personal appearances (even at Disney World!), including a line of Halloween-themed spook houses. In the spring of 2001, Peterson and producer/husband Pierson finished production on Elvira's second feature film, ELVIRA'S HAUNTED HILLS, completely self-financed and shot in Romania and Transylvania, and again co-written by John Paragon and Peterson.

It looks as if Elvira, Mistress of the Dark will be wishing us "Unpleasant Dreams" for many years to come!

~ Andy Mangels

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