Elvira: Mistress of the Dark

This movie is simply the best horror-film parody ever made. And it's also just one darned enjoyable flick. I guess you could call it a guilty pleasure. True, it is pure cornball, but I have grown to love it, and I watch it regularly every year around Halloween, since (naturally) several channels on TV routinely feature it as part of that select batch of Halloween pictures that just scream for annual broadcasting.

Extremely well filmed (IMHO), I am always really amazed at how nice it is to see it again each year – it holds up well and looks fantastic even today, after 13 years.

From a physical perspective, Elvira (Cassandra Peterson) - with that showgirl figure and that over-the-top tight-fitting black costume - just grabs your attention with both, um, *hands*, from the get go, and never lets go. But there's much more to revel in here than just her physical assets: her acting, her ditzy charm and irreverent risqué sense of humor will just have you lapping it up. In short, you'll just love Elvira from top to bottom (unlike the townies in the story, many of whom decidedly did not take kindly to her sudden arrival in their up-tight little burg in Massachusetts).

This movie is just busting out all over with titillating, slightly off-color humor (or: off-colour humour for those of you on the other side of the Atlantic) from start to finish. There are many funny and memorable lines in this movie of the double-entendre variety; it's hard to keep abreast of them all. (I'd list a few of my racier favorites here, but in the interest of not offending the delicate sensibilities of anyone reading this who is NOT into that sort of humor, well, it might be best for you to just go watch the movie and compile your own list).

I can't say anything bad about this movie at all, except that sadly it does end, and you are left wanting more (of Elvira). LOTS more. Alas, c'est la vie.