Elvira, Mistress of the Dark
| Elvira, Mistress of the Dark | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | James Signorelli |
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| Music by | James B. Campbell |
| Cinematography | Hanania Bier |
| Edited by | Battle Davis |
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Production
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| Distributed by | New World Pictures (20th Century Fox) |
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Release date
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Running time
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96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $7.5 million |
| Box office | $5,596,267 |
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark is a 1988 comedy horror film directed by James Signorelli. Cassandra Peterson plays the role of horror hostess Elvira in the character's feature film debut. The screenplay was written by Peterson, John Paragon and Sam Egan.
Los Angeles TV horror hostess "Elvira, Mistress of the Dark" (Cassandra Peterson) quits her job after the station's new owner sexually harasses her. She plans to open an act in Las Vegas, but needs $50,000 for the project. Upon learning she is the primary beneficiary of her deceased great-aunt Morgana, she travels to Fallwell, Massachusetts, to claim the inheritance, which includes a mansion and Morgana's pet poodle, Algonquin.
In Fallwell, Elvira's worldly attitude and revealing clothes set the conservative town council against her. But theater operator Bob Redding (Daniel Greene) befriends her. The town's teenagers quickly accept her, to the chagrin of their parents, who consider her a bad influence. Bowling alley owner Patty (Susan Kellermann) is interested in Bob, and with help from members of the school board and the PTA, she humiliates Elvira by sabotaging the late-night film festival she was presenting at Bob's theater. Elvira struggles to sell the house, so she can depart for Las Vegas. Meanwhile, she is unaware that her seemingly-harmless uncle Vincent is actually a warlock who is obsessed with obtaining Morgana's spellbook; he plans to kill Elvira and conquer the world, and has been fuelling the townspeople's hostility.
Elvira tries to impress Bob with a home-cooked dinner, but mistakenly uses the spellbook as a cookbook and summons a creature that attacks them. Elvira learns that the book was her mother Divana's spellbook, and that Morgana hid her to protect her from Vincent. When Elvira tries to unleash the creature against the Morality Club at their picnic, she prepares the brew incorrectly and it instead has an aphrodisiac effect; the adults remove each others' clothing indiscriminately and are arrested for indecent exposure. When Patty confronts Elvira, the resulting fistfight ends up humiliating Patty by revealing that her bra is stuffed.
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