Elvira's Movie Macabre
Elvira's Movie Macabre (or sometimes simply Movie Macabre) is an American comedy television show that airs B-grade horror movies, occasionally interrupted by comments from the hostess, Elvira (played by Cassandra Peterson). In some episodes during intermission, Elvira would get an unexpected phone call from a character called "The Breather" (played by John Paragon) who would only call and tell Elvira weird jokes. The title shown here is the title under which the film was shown on the show; many B-grade horror films were rereleased with different titles.
Origins
In the late spring of 1981, six years after the death of Larry Vincent (who starred as host Sinister Seymour of a local Los Angeles weekend horror show called Fright Night), show producers began the task of bringing the show back. Deciding to use a female host, producers asked 1950s horror hostess, Maila Nurmi, to revive The Vampira Show. Nurmi worked on the project for a short time, but eventually quit when the producers would not hire Lola Falana to play Vampira. The station continued with the project and sent out a casting call. Peterson auditioned against 200 other horror hostess hopefuls and won the role. Producers left it up to her to create the role's image. Her best friend, Robert Redding, and she came up with the sexy punk/vampire look after producers rejected her original idea to look like Sharon Tate in The Fearless Vampire Killers.
Since they were unable to continue with the Vampira character, the character Elvira was used instead. What followed was Elvira's Movie Macabre, featuring a quick-witted Valley girl-type character named Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, with heavily applied, pancake-horror make-up and a towering black beehive wig to conceal Peterson's flame-red hair.
Shortly before the first taping, producers received a cease and desist letter from Nurmi. Besides the similarities in the format and costumes, Elvira's closing line for each show, wishing her audience "Unpleasant dreams", was notably similar to Vampira's closer: "Bad dreams, darlings..." uttered as she walked off down a misty corridor. The court ruled in favor of Peterson, holding that "'likeness' means actual representation of another person's appearance, and not simply close resemblance." Peterson claimed that Elvira was nothing like Vampira aside from the basic design of the black dress and black hair. Nurmi claimed that Vampira's image was based on Morticia Addams, a character in Charles Addams's cartoons that appeared in The New Yorker magazine.
The Elvira character rapidly gained notoriety with her tight-fitting, low-cut black gown which showed ample cleavage. The movies featured on Elvira's Movie Macabre were always B-grade (or lower). Elvira reclined on a red Victorian couch, introducing and often interrupting the movie to lampoon the actors, the script, and the editing. Adopting the flippant tone of a California "Valley girl", she brought a satirical, sarcastic edge to her commentary. She reveled in dropping risqué double entendres and making frequent jokes about her display of cleavage. In an AOL Entertainment News interview, Peterson said, "I figured out that Elvira is me when I was a teenager. She's a spastic girl. I just say what I feel and people seem to enjoy it." Her campy humor, sex appeal, and good-natured self-mockery made her popular with late-night movie viewers, and her popularity soared.
Elvira was a frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and other talk shows. She also produced a long-running series of Halloween-themed television commercials for Coors Light Beer and Mug Root Beer (her trademark cleavage was concealed for the Coors campaign). She appeared in guest roles on television dramas such as CHiPs, The Fall Guy, and Fantasy Island and appeared on numerous awards shows as a presenter. Although she is known primarily as Elvira, Peterson has made out-of-costume appearances as herself for television interviews and specials.
In 1982, with the success of Movie Macabre, Knott's Theme Parks hired Elvira to replace Seymour as the host of its annual Halloween Haunt during October. Elvira appeared nightly at the park, live on stage with a Halloween-themed musical comedy revue similar to her Mamma's Boys act from the 1970s.
The Elvira character rapidly evolved from obscure cult figure to a lucrative brand name and "Mistress of all Media", spawning many products throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including Halloween costumes, comic books,[1][2] action figures, trading cards, pinball machines, Halloween decor, model kits, calendars, perfume, and dolls. She has appeared on the cover of Femme Fatales magazine five times. Her popularity reached its zenith with the release of the feature film Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (co-written by Peterson) in 1988.
Episode list
Season 1
Episode | Film shown | Ep # | Date |
---|---|---|---|
01 | Grave of the Vampire | 1 | September 26, 1981 |
02 | Silent Night, Bloody Night | 2 | October 3, 1981 |
03 | The House That Screamed | 3 | October 10, 1981 |
04 | The Fall of the House of Usher | 4 | October 17, 1981 |
05 | The Dunwich Horror | 5 | October 25, 1981 |
06 | Blacula | 6 | November 1, 1981 |
07 | The Comedy of Terrors | 7 | November 7, 1981 |
08 | The Thing with Two Heads | 8 | November 15, 1981 |
09 | The Werewolf of Washington | 9 | November 21, 1981 |
10 | Cry of the Banshee | 10 | November 29, 1981 |
11 | Count Yorga, Vampire | 11 | December 5, 1981 |
12 | Murders in the Rue Morgue | 12 | December 12, 1981 |
13 | Baron Blood | 13 | December 27, 1981 |
14 | Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde | 14 | January 3, 1982 |
15 | The Crimson Cult | 15 | January 10, 1982 |
16 | The Murder Clinic | 16 | January 16, 1982 |
17 | Horror Express | 17 | January 23, 1982 |
18 | The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant | 18 | January 30, 1982 |
19 | Horror Hospital | 19 | February 6, 1982 |
20 | Rattlers | 20 | February 13, 1982 |
21 | Disciple of Death | 21 | February 20, 1982 |
22 | Frankenstein | 22 | February 28, 1982 |
23 | The Devil's Rain | 23 | March 6, 1982 |
24 | Psychic Killer | 24 | March 13, 1982 |
25 | Necromancy | 25 | March 20, 1982 |
26 | The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe | 26 | March 27, 1982 |
30 | The Deathmaster | 30 | April 1, 1982 |
27 | Peeping Tom | 27 | April 3, 1982 |
28 | Legacy of Blood | 28 | April 10, 1982 |
29 | Deathdream | 29 | April 18, 1982 |
31 | Beware! The Blob | 31 | May 1, 1982 |
32 | Good Against Evil | 32 | May 8, 1982 |
33 | The Brotherhood of Satan | 33 | May 15, 1982 |
34 | The Mad Magician | 34 | May 22, 1982 |
35 | The Turn of the Screw | 35 | May 22, 1982 |
36 | Count Dracula's Great Love | 36 | May 29, 1982 |
37 | Jennifer | 37 | June 12, 1982 |
38 | Masque of the Red Death | 38 | June 19, 1982 |
39 | The Tomb of Ligeia | 39 | June 26, 1982 |
40 | The Incredible Melting Man | 40 | July 3, 1982 |
41 | The Fearless Vampire Killers | 41 | July 10, 1982 |
42 | Terror House | 42 | July 17, 1982 |
43 | The Baby | 43 | July 24, 1982 |
44 | The House of Seven Corpses | 44 | July 31, 1982 |
45 | Psychomania | 45 | August 7, 1982 |
46 | Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? | 46 | August 14, 1982 |
Season 2
Episode | Film shown | Ep # | Date |
---|---|---|---|
01 | War-Gods of the Deep | 47 | September 4, 1982 |
02 | The Oblong Box | 48 | September 11, 1982 |
03 | The Raven | 49 | September 25, 1982 |
04 | The Conqueror Worm | 50 | October 2, 1982 |
05 | And Now the Screaming Starts! | 51 | October 9, 1982 |
06 | Blood from the Mummy's Tomb | 52 | October 16, 1982 |
07 | Madhouse | 53 | October 23, 1982 |
08 | The House That Dripped Blood | 54 | October 30, 1982 |
09 | Tales of Terror | 55 | October 30, 1982 |
10 | The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde | 56 | November 7, 1982 |
11 | The Day It Came to Earth | 57 | November 13, 1982 |
12 | The Blood on Satan's Claw | 58 | November 20, 1982 |
13 | Crucible of Horror | 59 | November 27, 1982 |
14 | Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde | 60 | December 4, 1982 |
15 | The Devil Within Her | 61 | December 12, 1982 |
16 | The Bat People | 62 | December 19, 1982 |
17 | The Return of Count Yorga | 63 | January 1, 1983 |
18 | Inn of the Frightened People | 64 | January 8, 1983 |
19 | Craze | 65 | January 29, 1983 |
20 | The Monster Club | 66 | February 6, 1983 |
21 | The Creature's Revenge | 67 | February 12, 1983 |
22 | Beast of the Dead | 68 | February 19, 1983 |
23 | The Island of Living Horror | 69 | February 27, 1983 |
24 | The Devil's Wedding Night | 70 | March 5, 1983 |
25 | The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism | 71 | March 12, 1983 |
26 | Curse of the Vampires | 72 | March 20, 1983 |
27 | The Vampire People | 73 | March 26, 1983 |
28 | Scream and Scream Again | 74 | April 2, 1983 |
29 | The Human Vapor | 75 | April 9, 1983 |
30 | Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural | 76 | April 16, 1983 |
31 | The Haunted Palace | 77 | June 18, 1983 |
32 | The Doomsday Machine | 78 | August 27, 1983 |
Season 3
Episode | Film shown | Ep # | Date |
---|---|---|---|
01 | They Came From Beyond Space | 79 | September 17, 1983 |
02 | Blue Sunshine | 80 | October 1, 1983 |
03 | Screamers | 81 | October 29, 1983 |
04 | Willard | 82 | November 5, 1983 |
05 | The Time Travelers | 83 | November 12, 1983 |
06 | Maneater of Hydra | 84 | November 20, 1983 |
07 | They Came From Within | 85 | December 11, 1983 |
08 | Gamera: Super Monster | 86 | December 24, 1983 |
09 | New Year's Evil | 87 | December 31, 1983 |
10 | Homebodies | 88 | January 28, 1984 |
11 | Dracula | 89 | February 4, 1984 |
12 | Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! | 90 | March 3, 1984 |
13 | Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype | 91 | March 17, 1984 |
14 | Alien Contamination | 92 | March 24, 1984 |
15 | Village of the Damned | 93 | April 14, 1984 |
16 | Monstroid | 94 | May 12, 1984 |
17 | The Beast in the Cellar | 95 | May 19, 1984 |
18 | House of the Dead | 96 | May 26, 1984 |
19 | Circus of Horrors | 97 | June 10, 1984 |
20 | The Pigs | 98 | June 17, 1984 |
21 | Schizoid | 99 | June 24, 1984 |
22 | The Godsend | 100 | June 30, 1984 |
23 | Blood Bath | 101 | July 8, 1984 |
24 | Kiss Daddy Goodbye | 102 | July 14, 1984 |
25 | The Love War | 103 | July 28, 1984 |
26 | The Human Duplicators | 104 | August 5, 1984 |
27 | Mark of the Devil | 105 | August 11, 1984 |
28 | So Sad About Gloria | 106 | August 19, 1984 |
29 | Night of the Zombies | 107 | August 26, 1984 |
Season 4
Episode | Film shown | Ep # | Date |
---|---|---|---|
01 | Inn of the Damned | 108 | September 1, 1984 |
02 | Tombs of the Blind Dead | 109 | September 8, 1984 |
03 | Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks | 110 | September 15, 1984 |
04 | The Capture of Bigfoot | 111 | September 22, 1984 |
05 | Village of the Giants | 112 | November 3, 1984 |
06 | The Legend of Hell House | 113 | November 10, 1984 |
07 | The Other | 114 | November 25, 1984 |
08 | The Navy vs. the Night Monsters | 115 | December 1, 1984 |
09 | The Last Bride of Salem | 116 | January 12, 1985 |
10 | Yeti: The Giant of the 20th Century | 117 | February 9, 1985 |
11 | The Revenge of Frankenstein | 118 | March 10, 1985 |
12 | Curse of Bigfoot | 119 | March 24, 1985 |
13 | The Great Alligator | 120 | May 4, 1985 |
Season 5
Episode | Film shown | Ep # | Date |
---|---|---|---|
01 | House of Dark Shadows | 121 | June 22, 1986 |
02 | The Horror of Death | 122 | unknown |
03 | Kill and Go Hide | 123 | unknown |
04 | The Legend of Lizzie Borden | 124 | unknown |
05 | The Mad Butcher | 125 | unknown |
06 | The Meateater | 126 | unknown |
07 | The Mighty Gorga | 127 | unknown |
08 | Scream, Baby, Scream | 128 | unknown |
09 | Strait-Jacket | 129 | unknown |
10 | They Saved Hitler's Brain | 130 | unknown |
11 | Tomb of the Living Dead | 131 | unknown |
12 | The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll | 132 | unknown |
13 | The Boy Who Cried Werewolf | 133 | unknown |
14 | Let's Scare Jessica to Death | 134 | unknown |
15 | Horror of the Zombies | 135 | unknown |
16 | House of the Long Shadows | 136 | unknown |
17 | Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things | 137 | unknown |
18 | Empire of the Ants | 138 | unknown |
19 | Nightwing | 139 | unknown |
20 | Nightmare City | 140 | unknown |
2010-11 series
In September 2010, Elvira's Movie Macabre returned to television syndication in the U.S., this time with public-domain films. Twenty-six episodes were produced, six were left unaired but found a home on both DVD and iTunes.
See E1 Entertainment for DVD releases.
s#e# | Film shown | ep | Week of |
---|---|---|---|
s1e01 | Night of the Living Dead | 1 | September 20, 2010 |
s1e02 | The Terror | 2 | September 27, 2010 |
s1e03 | The Giant Gila Monster | 3 | October 4, 2010 |
s1e04 | The Brain That Wouldn't Die | 4 | October 11, 2010 |
s1e05 | The Satanic Rites of Dracula | 5 | October 18, 2010 |
s1e06 | Scared to Death | 6 | October 25, 2010 |
s1e07 | The Werewolf of Washington | 7 | November 1, 2010 |
s1e08 | Eegah | 8 | November 8, 2010 |
s1e09 | Teenagers From Outer Space | 9 | November 15, 2010 |
s1e10 | Santa Claus Conquers the Martians | 10 | December 20, 2010 |
s1e11 | I Eat Your Skin | 11 | January 17, 2011 |
s1e12 | Don't Look in the Basement | 12 | January 24, 2011 |
s1e13 | Untamed Women | 13 | January 31, 2011 |
s1e14 | Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter | 14 | February 7, 2011 |
s1e15 | Lady Frankenstein | 15 | February 14, 2011 |
s1e16 | The Manster | 16 | February 21, 2011 |
s1e17 | Tormented | 17 | April 25, 2011 |
s1e18 | Manos: The Hands of Fate | 18 | May 2, 2011 |
s1e19 | Hercules and the Captive Women | 19 | May 9, 2011 |
s1e20 | A Bucket of Blood | 20 | May 16, 2011 |
2014: 13 Nights of Elvira
13 Nights of Elvira, was an all-new series produced for Hulu by Brainstorm Media. A new episode streamed each day through Halloween.[3] The series teamed with film distributor Full Moon Features; it provided the majority of the films chosen for the series.
Episode | Film shown | Date |
---|---|---|
01 | Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death | October 19, 2014 |
02 | Puppet Master | October 20, 2014 |
03 | Demonic Toys | October 21, 2014 |
04 | Hobgoblins | October 22, 2014 |
05 | The Gingerdead Man | October 23, 2014 |
06 | Dollman | October 24, 2014 |
07 | Trancers | October 25, 2014 |
08 | Oblivion | October 26, 2014 |
09 | Shrunken Heads | October 27, 2014 |
10 | Hideous! | October 28, 2014 |
11 | Evil Bong | October 29, 2014 |
12 | Seedpeople | October 30, 2014 |
13 | Night of the Living Dead | October 31, 2014 |
DVD releases
Time Life
In 2004 Time Life released a series of special Elvira DVD's titled "Elvira's Horror Classics" which was done in a similar fashion to Movie Macabre. Each DVD had two films and they were later released in a box set titled "Elvira's Box of Horrors". The films featured were all in the public domain. They included:
- The Little Shop of Horrors
- Night of the Living Dead
- House on Haunted Hill
- The Brain That Wouldn't Die
- Carnival of Souls
- Dementia 13
Shout Factory
Shout! Factory has released a small number of Movie Macabre episodes to DVD, in both single and "double feature" format. The DVDs allow the material to be shown complete with Elvira's interruptions or uninterrupted. Unlike the original broadcasts, the original films are complete and uncensored.[4]
Single DVDs
- Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks
- Count Dracula's Great Love
- Legacy of Blood
- The Devil's Wedding Night
- The Doomsday Machine
- The Werewolf of Washington
Double Feature DVDs
- Blue Sunshine and Monstroid
- Gamera: Super Monster and They Came From Beyond Space
- Maneater of Hydra and The House that Screamed
- Count Dracula's Great Love and Frankenstein's Castle Of Freaks
- Legacy of Blood and The Devil's Wedding Night
- The Doomsday Machine and The Werewolf of Washington
E1 Entertainment
Following the revival of Elvira's Movie Macabre in 2011, E1 Entertainment began releasing episodes of the new series on DVD. Unlike the Shout! Factory editions these releases were released in their edited format as aired on syndication.
Single DVDs
- Satanic Rites of Dracula
- I Eat Your Skin
- Night of the Living Dead
- The Brain That Wouldn't Die
- Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
- Beast From Haunted Cave (previously unaired)
- The Terror
- Hercules and the Captive Women
- The Wasp Woman (previously unaired)
- The Wild Women of Wongo (previously unaired)
- Wild Women
Double Feature DVDs
- Night of the Living Dead and I Eat Your Skin
- Satanic Rites of Dracula and Werewolf of Washington
- The Terror and Eegah!
- The Brain That Wouldn't Die and Manster
- Scared to Death and Tormented
- Lady Frankenstein and Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter
- Santa Claus Conquers the Martians and Beast from Haunted Cave (previously unaired)
Four Feature Sets
- Wild Women featuring Untamed Women, The Wild Women of Wongo (previously unaired), Hercules and the Captive Women and The Wasp Woman (previously unaired)
- Giant Monsters featuring The Giant Gila Monster, Attack of the Giant Leeches (previously unaired), Teenagers from Outer Space, and Monster from a Prehistoric Planet (previously unaired)
- Bloody Madness featuring A Bucket of Blood, The Killer Shrews (previously unaired), Manos: The Hands of Fate and Don't Look in the Basement
Parodies
The Simpsons character Boobarella is loosely based on Elvira.
See also
- List of films in the public domain
- List of Cinema Insomnia episodes
- List of Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes
References
- ↑ Elvira's House of Mystery DC Comics (11 issues) at the Grand Comics Database
- ↑ Elvira, Mistress of the Dark Claypool Comics (166 issues) at the Grand Comics Database
- ↑ Turek, Ryan (2014-10-02). "Elvira Heads to Hulu for All-New Series". Shock Till You Drop. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
- ↑ http://www.chud.com/articles/articles/12460/1/DVD-REVIEW-ELVIRAS-MOVIE-MACABRE-DOUBLE-FEATURES/Page1.html
External links
- Movie Macabre at the Internet Movie Database
- Elvira's Movie Macabre at the Internet Movie Database
- 13 Nights of Elvira at the Internet Movie Database
- Elvira's Movie Macabre E1 Entertainment releases via TVShowsOnDVD.com