"ELVIRA, MISTRESS OF THE DARK"// "VAMP"

"ELVIRA, MISTRESS OF THE DARK"

(1988)

Starring: Elvira aka:Cassandra Peterson, W.Morgan Sheppard, Daniel Greene, Jeff Conoway, Susan Kellermann and Edie McClurg as Chastity Pariah.

Directed By:James Signorelli.

"SHE'S THE HOSTESS WITH THE MOSTEST!!!" "Elvira Busts Out In Her Outrageously Funny Feature Film Debut."
DVD Information

Anchor Bay Entertainment - 16 x 9 Enhanced of aspect ratio 1:85.1 - Dolby Digital 5.1 - Theatrical Trailer - Original Theatrical Poster Replica on a insert card.

Ratings: Movie=

Picture=

Sound=

There are two enormous reason why I love Elvira. Ummm..well besides that I love Elvira for her wit and her charm. This gal is loaded and I mean loaded with sex appeal and she knows just how to use it. With hysterical one liners in this film, the jokes are right on target. She delivers these one liners with ease and a uncanny sense of style.

The film opens up with the ending to, "It Conquered the World". We now see the very provocative Elvira sitting graciously upon a couch as she closes yet another night as the Hostess of a cheap horror program. She then receives a telegram stating that her Aunt has died and she must attend the reading of the will in New England. With dreams of fortune, Elvira puts her high heels to the pedal and heads off to quiet small town. The will is read and Elvira has become the heir to Aunts fortune. Her fortune being a large New England mansion,a dog and a very special cookbook. Elvira is then met with her long forgotten Uncle Vincent Talbot. He wants to obtain the book of spells and Elvira is desperate for money. She agrees to sell him the book for $50 bucks but when he comes to retrieve it, it suddenly had disappeared thanks to the help from her new punk rock dog "Gonk".

With her car in the repair shop, Elvira feels abandoned in this weird suburban little town. She enlists the help of the young kids to help and fix up her mansion. Love is also about to blossom for Elvira when she meets the hunky Bob, who runs the towns local cinema. While putting up a marquee Bob drops one of the letters on Elvira's head. He then rushes to her rescue and asks, "How's your head"? Elvira quickly then replies, "I haven't had any complaints yet". Meanwhile the town committee are up in arms over this vamp that has come into their town. Lead by Chastity Pariah (McClurg), the committee will do anything to rid their town of this scarlet of the night. When Elvira invites Bob over for dinner one night, she reaches for her aunts cookbook and cooks up more than she bargained for. A creature appears from the pot and Elvira realizes that is the reason her uncle wants the book so much. Seeking revenge on the towns committee she whips up the same recipe and feeds it to the committee at their outdoor festival. Instead of a monster appearing from the pot this time, Elvira has set the town into a heated frenzy.


Audio Clip.

Back at the cinema, Elvira tells Bob he is showing the wrong movies and she has some really bad monster movies in the trunk of her car. Word gets out to the kids that their will be a midnight show at the cinema hosted by none other than Elvira herself. Patty then finds this out and and seeks revenge on Elvira for taking her boyfriend Bob away. While the towns people are setting up an event to burn this witch at the stake. Will Elvira be burned like her ancestors at the stake? Will her Uncle finally possess the book of spells that is in Elvira's possession? or will Elvira find the powers within her to flee from this gloomy happy little town and find her dreams as a dancer in Las Vegas? Elvira, Mistress of the Dark is a fun and uplifting romp played by the sexy star of the night. Backed by a great cast such as Edie McClurg as Chastity Pariah, who is extremely funny as the angelic town leader who is simply appalled at the sight of this dark vixen of the Macabre. Patty played by Susan Kellermann is also very funny as the jealous ex girlfriend of Bob who seeks revenge "Carrie" style on Elvira.
The DVD by Anchor Bay Home Entertainment is presented in a Widescreen enhandced 16x9, 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The picture on this dvd looks very good, but not as good as i was expecting it to look. There is some noticeable grain through out the film. The colors are very nicely saturated and bright. This is the best "Elvira" ever looked. The soundtrack was re-masted to 5.1 Dolby Digital surround and the results sound good. Though there isn't too much activity in the back speakers until the last 10 mins of the film, it was a nice touch.

There was a Vhs version available a few years ago from a company named "Starmaker" that included 2 featurette's and interviews. Unfortunately the only extras included on this DVD are the films teaser trailer, full trailer and a text written Cassandra Peterson Bio. I was very surprised that being that this DVD is from Anchor Bay that none of their usual extras were included. Hopefully this film will be re-visited one day with more extras including a commentary with Cassandra Peterson. Overall the film itself is a fun 90 minutes, though the film drifts a little down hill in the last 20 minutes. Being a fan of Elvira i liked this film allot. This is Highly Recommended Fluff. oh and before I forget.... PLEASANT DREAMS....

Back To The Top

"VAMP"

(1986)

Starring:Chris Makepeace, Sandy Baron, Robert Rusler, Dedee Pfeiffer and Grace Jones as Katrina.

Directed By:Richard Wenk.

"The First Kiss Could Be Your Last."
DVD Information

Anchor Bay Entertainment - 16 x 9 Enhanced of aspect ratio 1:85.1 - Dolby Digital 2.0 - Theatrical Trailer - Audio Commentary with Director and Cast - short film "Dracula Bites The Big Apple" - Behind-the-Scenes Rehearsal Footage -Blooper Reel - Photo Galery - TV Spots - Original Theatrical Poster Replica on a insert card.

Ratings: Movie=

Picture=

Sound=

When two fraternity guys enlist the help of a nerdy chinese frat brother to go in search of strippers and dancers, this trio get more than they bargain for. With their young blood boiling for some action and a good time, they head to the dark side of town to a place called, "The After Dark Club". Once inside the doors, they enter a weird and bizarre world where things are not what they appear to be. The door man is a bug eating psychopath, while the dancers turn out to be bloodthirsty vampires . Katrina (Jones) is about to take the stage. She performs a wild and erotic dance and the boys simply go crazy for her. After her performance one of them go backstage and ask if she would be willing to go back to the fraternity with them for a reasonable amount. Katrina then seduces the boy by licking his body all over. Her eyes roll back in her head and her fangs escape from her mouth. She lifts her head up and we and we see a horrible looking vampire. She pushes down with all of her might and takes a bloody bite out of the boys neck.

Meanwhile, his friends are becoming concerned. They enlist the help of one of the bar maids (Pfeiffer), to help find their friend. Suddenly the truth is out. The vampires have taken over the night and the club. Can they survive a night of vixens and vamps, or will the armies of the undead take the ultimate bit out of the night? "Vamp", is a fun, creepy and offbeat comedy/horror very dated to the 80's genre of bad movies. Although slow paced at times with some cheesy one liners, the combination of both horror and comedy make. "Vamp", was a fun and frightful mix. Long before such films as, "From Dusk Till Dawn", and "Bordello of Blood" there was "Vamp". Grace Jones plays Vamp to the fullest. Although she has no speaking lines in the film, her presence as the Vamp will leave you mesmerized from first glance at her.

Anchor Bay entertainment brings "Vamp" to DVD with some very nice extras as well with a great film transfer.
the disc is presented in a new Enhanced 16x9 in it's 1.85:1 ratio transfer. The picture looks great. Sharp and colorful i never seen this film look so good. The sound is also very good for a 1986 film producing a very clear and crisp soundtrack.

This DVD contains many extra which I found to be most enjoyable and entertaining. The Disc contains an audio commentary with co Writer/Director Richard Wenk and stars Christopher Makpeace, Dedee Pfeiffer, and Gedde Watanabe. this commentary is very funny and highly entertaining. The disc also contains Theatrical Trailers and TV Spots. An earlier short film from director Richard Wenk called, "Dracula Bites The Big Apple" that runs 22 mins., also a Blooper Reel and a very funny Behind-the-Scenes Rehearsal Footage, where Grace Jones shows that she is simply mad as she takes the Vamp character to the fullest extent. Overall the film isn't that good and could have been much better but as for the DVD's extras, especially the very entertaining commentary this DVD is very entertaning and recommended.

Back To The Top
Return To DVD Reviews
Return to the Drive-In Lobby