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")

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.

When her Great Aunt dies, famed horror hostess Elvira (Cassandra Peterson) heads for the uptight New England town of Fallwell to claim her inheritance of a haunted house...

This film actually scared me as a child, and watching it now, I am still not surprised. Sure, it is largely a comedy, but the "casserole" scene is still creepy in much the same way as "Gremlins" is creepy. Sometimes the scariest moments come when thrown into an otherwise tame film.

Relying on many movie references, some horror, and plenty from "The Wizard of Oz", this is a movie fan's film. While not quite a parody, it shows a light-hearted love of pop cinema that I think will touch a lot of people.

Vincent Talbot (W. Morgan Sheppard) is the ultimate villain. He has that look, that voice... he comes from the same mold as Vincent Price, Peter Cushing and Roddy McDowall. Except, sadly, I feel like he is largely unheard of, even with his endless list of credits under his belt.

I love that this comes from the same ingredients as "Pee Wee's Big Adventure", a film Peterson made a cameo in. Paul Reubens and Peterson were in comedy troupe the Groundlings together, as was John Paragon (here a gas station attendant, but otherwise better known as Jambi the Genie) and Edie McClurg. Perhaps they would make a good double feature?

Mike Mayo seems to accept this movie for what it is when he says "the story could rely less on well-worn gimmicks, but Elvira's flippant feminist irreverence goes a long way." Indeed, it does use some lame gags, but that also seems to be the point. The film tries nothing other than to be the B-movie that it is. There is the subplot of her opening the eyes of the children (much like "Ernest Goes to Camp"),and if you want to call her antics feminist...