Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988) on Netflix
Elvira quits her horror-hosting job and needs $50,000 for a Las Vegas act. Her great-aunt's estate sends her to Fallwell, Massachusetts, where a prudish town council and a sinister uncle await.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.6/1023,464 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes58%
Trailer
Plot summary
Elvira hosts horror movies on Los Angeles television until a new owner takes over the station and sexually harasses her, and she walks off the job. Her great-aunt Morgana Talbot has died and left her a mansion in the town of Fallwell, Massachusetts, along with a recipe book and a poodle named Algonquin, which Elvira renames Gonk. Elvira wants to sell the house and open an act in Las Vegas. Fallwell's town council, led by Chastity Pariah, objects to her clothes and her manner, while the local teenagers take to her and their parents do not. Theater operator Bob Redding befriends her, and bowling alley owner Patty is interested in him. Elvira's uncle Vincent offers to buy the recipe book.
Cast
- Lee McLaughlinas Earl Hooter
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- A young Brad Pitt was one of two finalists for the teenage character Randy, but star Cassandra Peterson picked Kris Kamm instead, worried Pitt was so handsome that Elvira would ignore Bob and fawn over him.
- Elvira's poodle co-star Binnie was so uncooperative that missed cues caused costly retakes and the dog bit actor Kurt Fuller's ankle hard enough to leave permanent scars, forcing some scenes to be dubbed to hide the off-camera trainer's commands.
- The character Bob Redding is named for Robert Redding, Cassandra Peterson's collaborator who helped create Elvira's look and painted the portrait used for Morgana Talbot in the film; he died of an AIDS-related illness in 1986, and the film is dedicated to him.
- Kurt Fuller, cast as the town realtor, was actually working as a real estate agent at the time and was so sure he had bombed his audition that he told his own agent he was quitting acting, only to be offered the role later that same day.
- Distributor New World Pictures went bankrupt right as the film was released, shrinking its planned rollout of up to 3,000 theaters down to as few as 150.
