mark.waltz An old friend of mine used to utilize lines from this movie as a part of his routine wisecrack response, whether saying, "If I wanted your opinion, I'd beat it out of you!" or responding to "What should I call you?". "Tonight". Cassandra Peterson, with a bawdy sense of humor and a self-deprecating way of keeping herself in check, makes every moment count. It is obvious that this was a film made for the audiences, not the critics, and it's just the type of popcorn movie that audiences flocked to before society began to take itself way too seriously. Usually, in horror spoofs like this, mere mortals end up in an old dark house, unsure of how to handle the spooky people who live there, but here, the all too goody goody Massachusetts town has the horror brought to them, or at least in ghoulish form. Inheriting part of her great aunt's estate, Elvira heads back to her mother's home town where she finds the prejudices mighty high upon her arrival, especially from the manipulative, Gladys Kravitz like Chastity Pariah (a delightful Edie McClurg) who has absolutely no sense of fun other than tasting everything in bulk at the boring socials that the town throws on special occasions.Immediately noticing that the young people are quite repressed, Elvira sets out right off the bat to change all that, inciting the wrath of nasty waitress Susan Kellerman who is upset that Elvira has enticed her supposed boyfriend, the hunky Daniel Greene. This leads to a bit of mean-spirited revenge that spoofs "Flashdance" but ends up with Elvira soaked with something other than gold glittered water. Elvira, through the help of a mysterious cookbook that her nefarious uncle (W. Morgan Sheppard) wants to get his hands on. In disguise as a supposed respectful townsperson, Sheppard has some nefarious plans up his sleeve, which literally sets the town (and Elvira) on fire. But between Elvira's chesty muscles, her street smarts and a magical dog, Sheppard is going to have his work cut out for him. It's the dark arts vs. the white arts, because it is made very clear that even though she dresses in witch's black and looks like Barbara Steele in "Black Sunday", Elvira ain't into all that Satanic garbage.A great supporting cast helps this become an entertaining mixture of slob comedy, horror spoof and cult classic, with McClurg delightfully stuffy, especially in her description of Elvira past the initial statement of "a woman of easy virtue". Character actor favorites William Duell and Pat Crawford Brown steal their moments as a married couple who own the local motor inn, with Duell much easier going than his judgmental wife, and getting a great last line in on Ms. Brown. Sheppard becomes one of the great campy movie villains, much like Christopher Lloyd in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?". There's also some great music here, including "Shout!" where the teens all willingly help Elvira fix up her house and a campy Vegas number which was Elvira's goal from the start to get away from the syndicated TV station where her only asset for the new station owner was located just below her neck. How she deals with the perverted pig is deliciously funny, as is the repercussions it presents for a stuffy news reporter, a gag later repeated with Kellerman's vindictive waitress.

Paul Magne Haakonsen I remember seeing this movie back when I was a teenager in the late 1980s. The movie was lots of fun back then and still is today, which is a noteworthy feat in itself. I have watched "Elvira: Mistress of the Dark" more than five times since first having on VHS - ah yes, those were the days - and it keeps being as entertaining as it was then.It is the light-hearted comedy and atmosphere of the movie that makes it well-worth watching again and again. But also the acting performances in the movie. Of course the role of Elvira being so amazingly performed by Cassandra Peterson; she is just wonderfully charming, witty and well-cast for the Elvira character. But also William Morgan Sheppard deserved applause here, because he really suits the villain role quite well.The story in "Elvira: Mistress of the Dark" is a magical story which includes scares (sort of), action, sorcery and lots and lots of humor."Elvira: Mistress of the Dark" is a wholeheartedly fun spooky (without actually being spooky) movie that can be seen by the entire Family. It is a good movie for a Halloween movie marathon.I enjoy this movie quite a lot and haven't seen it for the last time, that much is for certain.

jacklyn_lo Wonderful movie with an excellent play by Cassandra Peterson, in the main role of seductive Elvira. It's an action horror comedy about an ambitious, goal-driven entrepreneurial- minded entertainer, who appeared in the town of hypocrites. In this town she is experiencing ups and downs, taking risks, ripping off the masks from the goodies and even facing a real danger. The movie is ending up with Elvira's victory and dreams coming true as a result.The key learning message in the movie could be presented by the quote from Bible: "Separate the wheat from the chaff".Thanks for great job!

gwnightscream 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."