When her great aunt dies, famed horror hostess Elvira heads for the uptight new England town of Falwell to claim her inheritance of a haunted house, a witch's cookbook and a punk rock poodle. But o...
Elvira: Mistress of the Dark naively blossoms as the campy witch that rules over cult classics. The words “cult” and “classic” have always made me sceptical. My sudden apprehension that I may not understand or appreciate the gradual following a certain feature has acquired over time. None more so than Elvira. Both a horror and LGBT icon, this comedy horror was slated upon its initial release. But since then, many have flocked to it with its ever increasing popularity. Where do I stand amidst the spook-thirsty yet “boobilicious” crowd? Well, suffice to say I had an absolute blast. Hand me that recipe book, because of I’ve got some euphemisms to reel off! Horror hostess Elvira quits her job and plans to open an act in Las Vegas, to which she claims the inheritance of her recently deceased great-aunt which coincidentally will fund her act.
Upon the first ten minutes, much like Elvira I had an inclination of déjà vu. ‘To Wong Foo...’, another LGBT classic, followed the same narrative premise as Elvira years later. Alternative person(s) venturing into a traditionally conservative town where they eventually extend their unconventional personality upon the conventional, slowly opening their closed minds. And it somewhat cemented the ingenuity of this structure, because the most relatable hilarity is when the townsfolk are oblivious to such unorthodox behaviour. Subconsciously it’s also delivering character development for everyone. In this case, Elvira comes to terms with her descendants whom have passed down the knowledge of witchcraft. The entirety of Fallwell, Massachusetts (obviously...), coming to terms with Elvira’s eccentricities. And punk rock poodle Algonquin is rocking that pink dye.
The real bright light amidst the eternal darkness of the underworld however, is the comedy. As with every review, I state I have no sense of humour. And it’s true. I don’t. So it’s with a huge enthusiastic grin on my face that I have the pleasure in stating that Elvira was absolutely hilarious. The plethora of sexual innuendos, euphemisms and borderline harassment all work. Signorelli’s light yet buoyant tone complements the facetious script that wholly acknowledges the sumptuous campiness. The camera consistently zooming in on Elvira’s voluptuous bosom. The flamboyant fourth wall breaks as she seductively winks at the camera. Even the effortless euphemisms that she naturally blurts out unintentionally. Whilst adding sexuality to her character, the screenplay never exploits Elvira’s curvaceous figure to the point where she is viewed as a diminished object. She is always in control. She knows exactly what she’s doing, for example shoving her breasts and buttocks in front of teenagers to convince them to help out with the decorating (classic Elvira...). And she knows how to make me laugh. It’s the inner child within me that sneakily chuckles whenever oral sex is mentioned. I’m a mess!
None of this though would’ve been nearly as effective if it wasn’t for Elvira herself. Peterson was enigmatic. An absolute pleasure to watch her steal the spotlight and completely own it. Heck, even the conclusive stage show that, more often than not forced me to cringe behind my cushion, was lavishly personalised by her performance. The seamless comedic timing, exaggerated bodily movements and use of sexualisation has secured the character as one of the greatest.
The third act tonal shift from comedy to tragedy unfortunately doesn’t work, and attempts to conclude an underdeveloped story that no one particularly cared for. Sheppard was decent as the antagonistic warlock, with some fantastic prosthetics later on, but then Greene is pushed forward more as the love interest and his acting is beyond mediocre to say the least. Typical B-movie schlock I suppose. Still, this Mistress of the Dark did quite the opposite by shining a new light on a potential personal classic. Camp, sexy and, above all, hilarious. Elvira had me under a spell.
