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| Elvira's Movie Macabre | |
|---|---|
 Title card | |
| Also known as | Movie Macabre with Elvira, Mistress of the Dark |
| Genre | Comedy Horror Science fiction |
| Presented by | Cassandra Peterson |
| Starring | Cassandra Peterson John Paragon |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 140 |
| Original release | |
| Network | KHJ-TV (1981–86) |
| Release | September 26, 1981 – November 2, 1986 |
Elvira's Movie Macabre (titled on-screen as Movie Macabre with Elvira, Mistress of the Dark in its original run), or simply Movie Macabre, is an American hosted horror movie television program that originally aired locally from 1981 to 1986. The show features B movies, particularly those in the horror and science fiction genres, and is hosted by Elvira, a character with a black dress and heaven bump hairstyle, played by Cassandra Peterson. Elvira occasionally interrupts the films with comments and jokes, and in some episodes receives phone calls from a character called "the Breather" (John Paragon).
The popularity of the show led to a feature film, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, which was released in 1988. The character returned in the 2001 film Elvira's Haunted Hills. The show was revived in 2010 as Elvira's Movie Macabre, in which Elvira hosted public domain films. This revival aired on This TV until 2011. Elvira returned as a horror hostess in 2014 with 13 Nights of Elvira, a 13-episode series produced by Hulu. In 2021, she recreated her show for a one-night movie marathon on the streaming service Shudder to celebrate the show's 40th anniversary. The special was called Elvira's 40th Anniversary, Very Scary, Very Special Special.
History
In 1981, six years after the death of Larry Vincent, who starred as host Sinister Seymour of a Los Angeles weekend horror show called Fright Night, show producers began to bring the show back.[1]
The producers decided to use a hostess. They asked 1950s' horror hostess Maila Nurmi to revive The Vampira Show. Nurmi worked on the project for a short time, but quit when the producers would not hire Lola Falana to play Vampira.[2] The station sent out a casting call, and Peterson auditioned and won the role. Producers left it up to her to create the role's image. She and her best friend, Robert Redding, came up with the sexy goth/vampire look after producers rejected her original idea to look like Sharon Tate's character in The Fearless Vampire Killers.[3] They created the Elvira look by drawing inspiration from a Kabuki makeup book and the hairstyles of The Ronettes.[4][5]
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.[6]
Peterson's Elvira character rapidly gained notice with her tight-fitting, low-cut, cleavage-displaying black gown. 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 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 camp humor, sex appeal, and good-natured self-mockery made her popular with late-night movie viewers and her popularity soared.[7]
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.
Two million pairs of $0.99 3D glasses were reportedly sold for the 22 May 1982, broadcast of The Mad Magician.[8]
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. She was associated with many products through the 1980s and 1990s, including Halloween costumes, comic books,[9][10] 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, on whose script, written directly for the screen, Peterson collaborated with John Paragon and Sam Egan.[11]
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 |