Elvira: Mistress of The Dark (1988)
Takeaways:
- In this episode, we dive into the wild world of Halloween traditions and spooky treats, including our favorite candies that have haunted our childhoods. It's a sugar rush of nostalgia!
- We chat about classic Halloween activities and the quirky costumes we wore growing up, revealing some hilarious stories that will make you chuckle and reminisce about those good old days.
- Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, is not just a campy horror film; it explores themes of individuality and empowerment while mixing in a hefty dose of sass and supernatural antics that keep us entertained.
- The podcast highlights the rich connections between characters and actors, including fun facts about Cassandra Peterson and her journey in the entertainment industry that add depth to our appreciation of Elvira's legacy.
Transcript
Close the basement door.
Speaker B:My goodness.
Speaker B:I thought we called someone to be about that.
Speaker A:I'm telling you, that repair guy keeps going down there.
Speaker B:Well, I mean, free rent and all that.
Speaker B:Well, folks, here we are, just a stone's throw from Ol Hallows.
Speaker B:Even more importantly, my.
Speaker B:My.
Speaker B:My brother in the video store.
Speaker B:Here's day of coming through the birth canal.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker B:So we'll have to check in with him and see how that day went.
Speaker B:And so we've already talked about things we've done for Halloween and that's dirty.
Speaker B:And costumes we've worn.
Speaker B:But I thought maybe we could also talk about maybe our favorite Halloween activities or have favorite Halloween treats.
Speaker B:Do you.
Speaker B:Do you have a favorite Halloween candy man?
Speaker A:Oh, I am a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.
Speaker A:That is.
Speaker A:That is probably my favorite.
Speaker A:Although.
Speaker A:So I love Snickers when they have the Snickers pumpkins or the.
Speaker A:Or for.
Speaker A:For Christmas, the Snickers toy soldiers.
Speaker A:Oh, God.
Speaker A:Oh, those are so good.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:How about you?
Speaker A:I know.
Speaker A:You're like a honeycomb or you're like a sugar daddy.
Speaker A:Oh, remember sugar daddies?
Speaker A:And they'd pull it.
Speaker A:Practically pull our teeth out.
Speaker B:I mean, I'm a junk food junkie from way back because Dad's happiest moments of childhood was sneaking out to the movie theater.
Speaker B:So go figure, dad.
Speaker B:Dad always had candy on his end table in the living room.
Speaker B:Yeah, but the things that I like this time of year, I like those candies that are all in the different shapes.
Speaker B:The mellow creams.
Speaker B:They.
Speaker B:They're kind of like just a pile of sugar that melts in your mouth.
Speaker B:And they're in shapes.
Speaker B:Corn cobs and haystacks.
Speaker B:And when I was a little one, they used to have sort of not stereotype candies in it, like bats and they used to have, like, witch hats.
Speaker B:And nowadays they don't have any of that fun stuff in there.
Speaker B:But the, The.
Speaker B:The witches and the bats and.
Speaker B:Oh, and black cats.
Speaker B:They used to be like.
Speaker B:I think they were just chocolate or caramel.
Speaker B:They were brown or they were black.
Speaker B:But I also like those little.
Speaker B:I don't know if they're called Mary Janes.
Speaker B:I always thought of them as peanut butter blossoms.
Speaker B:They're kind of like a. I.
Speaker B:A taffy treat that's a peanut butter flavor.
Speaker A:But no, I don't really remember those.
Speaker B:But those are a couple of my favorites.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:Well, it's not specifically Halloween, but harvest and fall.
Speaker B:A few years back, I think the Brock's Candy Company came out with this version of candy Corn.
Speaker B:And it might have been one of those drugstore exclusives, like you had to go a certain place to get it.
Speaker B:But it was sort of a Thanksgiving themed and it was candy corn for Thanksgiving.
Speaker B:And it was sort of a party trick, kind of like those Harry Potter jelly beans.
Speaker B:So the candy corns were in different flavors like cranberries and what ginger glazed carrots.
Speaker B:And there might have been one that was like stuffing or dressing.
Speaker B:But the absolute worst one, Matt, was the one that, that was supposed to be like green beans.
Speaker B:Oh, and that was so nasty.
Speaker B:And it reminds me of when I was a kid when my mom tried to give me a vitamin.
Speaker B:As a kid you probably wanted like the Flintstones chewables or whatever.
Speaker B:I remember mom offering me a vitamin and thinking that it's going to be something tasty.
Speaker B:Well, it just reminded me of what that green beans Brock's Thanksgiving candy corn tastes like.
Speaker A:Yuck.
Speaker B:But of the ones in that package, honk.
Speaker B:The ones that I didn't consider too bad was the cranberry one and I think the ginger glazed carrot.
Speaker A:So yeah, that's.
Speaker A:That all sounds now did you ever get talking about old school.
Speaker A:Did you ever get like popcorn balls or like that one lady that would like give out like little things of pennies and then there would always be one that had gave you like a caramel covered apple.
Speaker A:And then so there was this.
Speaker A:So this is like the gen generation where I grew up.
Speaker A:We got like random stuff like that.
Speaker A:And then of course, by the time I was like, I don't know, seven or eight, that's when they did all the crazy stuff about oh, razor blades and.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And it's like it.
Speaker A:And it wasn't even true, but it tainted like every generation after that.
Speaker A:Like if it's not sealed, they're like, oh, they're sticking pins in the.
Speaker A:It's like kids just got Halloween ruined.
Speaker A:And there were probably anti Halloween people who.
Speaker A:I mean that started all that.
Speaker B:My ex grew up in New England in Massachusetts and he used to tell this story about the actress who played the wicked witch in the wizard of Oz.
Speaker B:Margaret Hamilton.
Speaker A:Margaret Hamilton, yes.
Speaker B:And apparently she had a vacation home off the coast of Cape Cod or whatever.
Speaker B:And it was sort of his neck of the woods, so to speak.
Speaker B:And he tells the story about how when he was young, kids would dare each other to go up on to that old lady's house and knock on the door as if she was gonna invite you in and throw you in her oven.
Speaker B:At least the story that he told was he did.
Speaker B:And she let.
Speaker B:She invited him in and she just gave him cookies and hot cocoa.
Speaker B:And it was allegedly Margaret Hamilton.
Speaker B:But we hear all these stories and of course, we reinvent it so that now you're suddenly the star of the.
Speaker B:Who knows if that was true or not, But I try not to speak ill of the dead that.
Speaker B:That ex is not with us anymore.
Speaker B:I don't ghost sound effect here.
Speaker A:Neither is Margaret Hamilton, so it's okay.
Speaker B:No, and one of the things.
Speaker B:And we've talked about our favorite things to watch this time of year, and you were talking about Casper.
Speaker B:I just watched last night.
Speaker B:Practical Magic for the first time in many years.
Speaker A:Yes, I believe your exact quote was.
Speaker A:It makes much more sense.
Speaker A:I watched it when I was a kid.
Speaker A:I'm like a kid girl.
Speaker B:Well, I'm young at heart, so in my early 20s, I was.
Speaker B:I didn't know anything of the world coming out of the haystack.
Speaker B:But the other favorite thing that I have to watch is the Paul Lynde Halloween special every year.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Because Margaret Hamilton is in it.
Speaker A:And not only that, but Margaret Hamilton and Witchy Pooh and Kiss and.
Speaker A:And I believe I said on Chubb's Gone Wild the other day on.
Speaker A:Where else can you see Carol Brady doing a duet with Kiss?
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Other than network television in the 70s.
Speaker B:There's a.
Speaker B:There's a famous actor who is also a musician.
Speaker B:I'm forgetting his name, but it was Paul something or other.
Speaker B:And he was in the movie Phantom of the paradise, and he was one of Paul Lynn's musical guests.
Speaker A:Paul Williams.
Speaker A:Yes, I believe.
Speaker A:I believe it was Paul Williams.
Speaker A:Incredible person.
Speaker B:But we.
Speaker B:We talk about movies and TV shows and that.
Speaker B:That vcr.
Speaker B:It's here to do a job.
Speaker B:So I'm gonna go ahead and stick the tape in.
Speaker B:Whoa.
Speaker B:Hey.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:That shot across the room.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:I'm glad that we Scotchgard the.
Speaker A:The desk here in case we had an epiphany.
Speaker B:But 19 something.
Speaker B:From the looks outside there, I see some of the McDonald's containers, and they're Styrofoam, so it's gotta be the 80s.
Speaker B:But we'll.
Speaker B:We'll let the.
Speaker B:The voice inside the machine tell us where.
Speaker C:Good evening, travelers.
Speaker C:You've landed.
Speaker C: In: Speaker C:George H.W.
Speaker C:bush won the US presidency, while the Iran Iraq War finally came to an end.
Speaker C:After eight long years, Pan Am Flight 103 tragically exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, shocking The globe.
Speaker C:The Summer Olympics lit up Seoul, South Korea, and NASA returned to space with the first shuttle launch since the Challenger disaster.
Speaker C:That same year, future stars like Rihanna and Adele were born, setting the stage for global music domination.
Speaker C:Decades later.
Speaker C: Sadly,: Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B: So: Speaker B:I was about 11, and let's see, I think that I was just about.
Speaker B:No, I think.
Speaker B:Well, ninth grade's considered junior high, so I guess I was somewhere between middle school and junior high at the time.
Speaker A:But I was 17 going on 18, and I wasn't in school at all.
Speaker B:Yeah, but you might have been the.
Speaker B:The more of the.
Speaker B:The date night kind of person if.
Speaker B:If you had some peer pressure.
Speaker B:So rustle that old fashioned paper there, Matt, and let me know what our options were for a Friday night and going out.
Speaker A:Oh, my God, you will not believe this.
Speaker A:Rain man, not a date night movie.
Speaker A:That's with Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman, of course.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker A:Whatever happened to Dustin Hoffman?
Speaker A:But anyway, who framed Roger Rabbit?
Speaker A:Adorable Bob Hoskins.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Coming to America.
Speaker A:Go ahead.
Speaker B:And Kathleen Turner did the voice of Jessica Rabbit.
Speaker A:I know, right?
Speaker A:That was such a.
Speaker A:And that was like such a breakthrough movie at the time.
Speaker B:It's like my mantra.
Speaker B:I'm not bad.
Speaker B:I'm just drawn that way.
Speaker A:No, I am bad.
Speaker A:Also coming to America with Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, My mom loved that movie.
Speaker A:Watched it over and over and over.
Speaker A:Big with Tom Hanks, which I loved and watched over and over and over.
Speaker B:And that was Penny Marshall's big break.
Speaker B:She.
Speaker B:That was her first movie.
Speaker B:She was.
Speaker A:Oh, really?
Speaker A:Oh, as.
Speaker A:Okay, I was thinking that.
Speaker A:Yeah, okay.
Speaker A:I was like, wait a minute, I don't remember.
Speaker A:Oh, also twins with Arnold Schwarzenegger, which.
Speaker A:And Danny DeVito, which was one of my.
Speaker A:My mom watched that over and over and over too.
Speaker A:And Crocodile Dundee 2 with Paul Hogan, which my mom watched over and over and over and over.
Speaker A:And then what is not a Christmas movie.
Speaker A:Die Hard with Bruce Willis.
Speaker A:Good movie, but not a Christmas movie.
Speaker A:And of course, our legendary.
Speaker A:Who we lost a few years ago, Snape from Harry Potter.
Speaker A:I can't.
Speaker A:Oh, his name's not coming to me.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Alexander.
Speaker A:No, no, honey, no, no.
Speaker B:I'm always keep.
Speaker B:I keep getting his name wrong.
Speaker A:I. I don't know why it's not coming to me, but let's.
Speaker A:Let's keep going.
Speaker A:So it's also Naked Gun from the files of Police Squad with Leslie Nielsen.
Speaker A:And of course, how timely that they just brought it back with Liam Neeson.
Speaker B:I haven't seen it yet, but it's on my watch list.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's not on mine.
Speaker A:I never really cared for those movies.
Speaker B:But you get to see Liam Neeson in his underwear.
Speaker A:I'll watch the outtake, and that's fine.
Speaker A:Oh, speaking of Liam Neeson.
Speaker A:Oh, no, we'll talk about that later.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:And then also the Beetlejuice with Michael Keaton, Wiona writer, and Catherine.
Speaker A:What's her name?
Speaker B:Well, D. Gina Davis was in the original.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:And, oh, Alec Baldwin with that little furry.
Speaker A:Oh, he was so cute in that.
Speaker A:Oh, I just had such a crush on him in that movie.
Speaker B:I mean, I would have huffed his dryer lint back then.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:And Catherine from Second City, or what was her name?
Speaker A:She's like.
Speaker A:Yes, she's like an icon and I adore her and I can't remember her name.
Speaker A:Anyway, it's also a cocktail.
Speaker A:A second Tom Cruise movie in one year.
Speaker A:That's too much Tom Cruise.
Speaker B:Well, I'm not sure he was wearing the tinfoil hat in public yet, but it was probably in his dressing room table.
Speaker A:That and the Botox was starting, and he's probably only 28 at the time, but.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Anyway, we know when we are now.
Speaker B:Let's figure out what we're going to be talking about.
Speaker B:And I guess Mr. VCR there has something to say about because that clock's blinking and I haven't set the time on it, so it must be something.
Speaker A: nd up back in, like, the year: Speaker B:I mean, if you said it in military time, we could see the future.
Speaker A:Yikes.
Speaker B:Let's find out.
Speaker C: lvira Mistress of The Dark, a: Speaker C:Upon arriving in a small town where Elvira has inherited a rundown mansion from her great aunt, the famous low budget horror hostess must battle her evil uncle as well as the townspeople who want her burned at the stake.
Speaker C:With the help of the town's teenagers and her new familiar, a punk ass poodle named Gonk.
Speaker A:Oh, my God, that's great.
Speaker A:I love Gonk.
Speaker B:Oh, it sounds like a fun child.
Speaker A: : Speaker A:Something like that.
Speaker A:He had that dog worked.
Speaker B:Well, let's hope their owner or their human spent the money Wisely.
Speaker A:So when you were watching.
Speaker A:When you were watching Elvira when you were a kid.
Speaker A:I was 11 years old.
Speaker A:Did you realize that Elvira was a character?
Speaker B:Well, I. I might have had an inkling.
Speaker B:But you also have to remember that I practically lived in Falwell, the town that this movie was set in.
Speaker A:See, it took me even.
Speaker A:Even.
Speaker A:It didn't dawn on me until like, probably my 20s or something like that.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:Elvira is a character.
Speaker A:Elvira isn't Elvira.
Speaker A:That's like always thinking that Dolly Parton was just always Dolly Parton.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker B:Oh, well, I hear that theme music playing.
Speaker B:Rewind through time into movie night.
Speaker A:Blockbusters, indies in black and white.
Speaker A:From 80s thrills to silver screen dreams.
Speaker B:Trapped in the past by a time machine.
Speaker B:It's time to door for DJ and rap to explore the Lord more.
Speaker B:The past is present and you're gonna want more.
Speaker B:Yes, I'm sure that we have some spookiness that I can insert here.
Speaker B:Here.
Speaker B:Well, that sounds about like Elvira's kitchen in this movie with all the toilet.
Speaker A:All the cheese whiz.
Speaker B:Right, that too.
Speaker B:I mean, you can't get much more 80s than artificial flavors and products in a can.
Speaker A:I know, right?
Speaker A:Fritos.
Speaker B:Talk about product placement.
Speaker B:So, of course, if this movie came out these days, she probably would have had some sort of promotional where Doritos or somebody would have been advertising the movie and you would have had a chance to.
Speaker B:To win, like, her fuzzy dice.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, it probably would have been like Doritos, Flamin Hots or something like that.
Speaker A:And then the creature would have like, breathed fire.
Speaker B:Oh, you know what?
Speaker B:In this.
Speaker B:In this time frame, we still were putting prizes in cereal boxes.
Speaker B:So they probably would have given you a glove inside the bag of Doritos where you could poke your hand through like it was the creature coming out of the cooking pot.
Speaker A:Oh, that's a good one.
Speaker A:Or I'm surprised they didn't have like, little slimers that they gave away in like, cereal boxes for Ghostbusters and stuff.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:Well, so getting your mind around this story here.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Let's pitch a few breadcrumbs to you about what this is about.
Speaker B:So Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.
Speaker B:It was released in 88 and directed by James Cinerelli.
Speaker B:Sounds like a.
Speaker A:An Italian signore.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Mancha stars Cassandra Peterson in her iconic role.
Speaker B:And if you didn't know, Elvira behind the wig was is Cassandra Peterson.
Speaker B:And the film follows the character of Elvira, a campy horror hostess With a quick wit and outrageous wardrobe and big dreams of headlining in Las Vegas.
Speaker B:But what she doesn't expect is that a family inheritance will send her into a small or into small town chaos.
Speaker B:Now, when I was a kid, I had this terrific music teacher who played a guitar, acoustic guitar, sat on his desk, took requests and we all learned words to popular songs.
Speaker B:And when I was a kid, I remember hearing a song about Elvira and not realizing.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And not realizing that it wasn't the same Elvira that was in the movies and on tv.
Speaker B:Oh.
Speaker B:So Matt, what's the, the next point here of the movie?
Speaker A:Well, okay, let me tell you a little bit.
Speaker A:Basically her quote unquote normal world is a career that is stuck in late night TV because she's basically a horror hostess.
Speaker A:And so she's paired with dreams of a glitzy stage show until she finds out she has to have $50,000 to even go to Las Vegas and put on the show.
Speaker A:So she heads to Falwell, Massachusetts, Interesting name.
Speaker A:And she's going to claim her inheritance and become her go to Las Vegas.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker A:But she is met with suspicion.
Speaker A:And the Scandalized Town folk with Edie McClurk.
Speaker A:So Elvira, basically, she's too flamboyant, she's independent, and she clashes with their uptight conservative values like today.
Speaker A:And she basically creates this creates the perfect setup for comedy and conflict.
Speaker A:I mean, my, I mean, right off the bat when she rolls up and Andy McClurg's like, well, I never.
Speaker A:And Elvira says, yeah, you're never going to when you dress like that.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:With those soup cans on your head.
Speaker A:Oh my God, that was so funny.
Speaker A:Like these.
Speaker A:Even this day and age, who wears those big curlers out in public like that?
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Well, and then of course, starting the movie off kind of mirrors Cassandra Peterson's because in the early days of her career, which we'll get to, she actually worked at a local TV station, which is where Elvira starts the film off.
Speaker B:And she has a run in with the new owner of the station.
Speaker B:And we can talk about that a little bit in a little bit.
Speaker B:But yeah, she's, she's opinionated.
Speaker B:She is not afraid to dress to reveal, and she doesn't put up with people's or.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And honestly, for the late 80s, they still expected, I mean, the, the, the guy that was like, they were all like trying to grab her breasts and manhandler and everything.
Speaker A:And it was just like accepted that that was okay and like that would not fly.
Speaker A:Now this awful and of course, it.
Speaker B:Wouldn'T be an Elvira feature if it didn't have some innuendo, so.
Speaker A:Definitely.
Speaker B:I mean, what did they say?
Speaker B:Good for the goose is good for the gander for as much attention as she was.
Speaker A:And you can gander at these, right, but you just can't goose them.
Speaker A:I'm sorry.
Speaker B:As much attention as she was getting, she was giving it back.
Speaker B:So, yeah, quite a bit of deliciousness in this movie.
Speaker B:But I will go ahead and continue on with the story here and we'll talk about maybe things like the setting of the film, where it was made and that sort of thing, but the inciting incident, like there's just one.
Speaker A:Okay, yeah, right.
Speaker B:We're talking about Elvira here.
Speaker B:She's got many restraining orders, I'm sure, but Elvira inherits her great aunt Morgana's mansion and her poodle Gonk Algonquin, in long form.
Speaker B:I mean, I.
Speaker B:If I had to be given a name like that, I'd want to shorten it too.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Mysterious recipe book.
Speaker B:That's actually a powerful spell book.
Speaker B:Suddenly the struggle isn't just about fitting in.
Speaker B:It's about battling greedy relatives, winning over the townsfolk, and deciding how to use her newfound magical inheritance so she learns a thing or two about her past.
Speaker B:I mean, that kind of happens when you get into your genealogy.
Speaker B:You.
Speaker B:You find your family names in small town newspapers because they didn't have anything better to talk about before there was cable.
Speaker B:But yeah, more Great Aunt Morgana and maybe secretly put.
Speaker B:She was long lived for a reason.
Speaker B:We'll get to that.
Speaker B:But Elvira, she was.
Speaker B:She was an orphan.
Speaker B:She was left on a doorstep.
Speaker B:And I don't know if you noticed it, but this is just so full of camp.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker B:The cornerstone, I guess is what you'd call it, the sign that was on the gate to the orphanage as she was being dropped off in a flashback sequence that Pick and Save orphanage.
Speaker B:Oh.
Speaker B:So, yeah, Elvira is an orphan and she doesn't know anything about her family's past until she gets called into this situation where she's actually going to get something in the will.
Speaker B:But, Matt, there.
Speaker B:There is actually a couple of moments where they involved will.
Speaker B:One, which was the actual reading of the will.
Speaker B:But right there was the part that was Elvira's imagination of.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Where it turned into practically a game show.
Speaker A:Let's tell her what she won.
Speaker B:And that was just such a terrific moment because she got to act out the extremities of her personality.
Speaker B:She jiggled up and down and showed us the goods.
Speaker A:My favorite.
Speaker A:My favorite part.
Speaker A:One of my favorite parts in the beginning, which is just sets up who the character of Elvira is, is when she picks up the guy who's hitchhiking, and he's obviously a crazy ax murderer.
Speaker A:And like, a little bit later, she stops and he runs out of the car without a shirt on, and she's like, here, you forgot your ax and throws it.
Speaker A:And then you just hear this.
Speaker B:He froze.
Speaker A:So did you.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Yeah, and.
Speaker A:But that is.
Speaker A:That is like, totally Elvira.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:And of course, part of that scene was the hearing of the ax being thrown.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:The wind whistling around it.
Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker B:So, Matt, there was a behind the camera that was in charge of telling the story and the direction of the art, who brought us Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, and gave Cassandra Peterson a paycheck for this.
Speaker A:Well, that would be James Signorelli, who was a veteran American film director and cinematographer whose work has left a distinct mark on television and film.
Speaker A:Now, oddly enough, she wanted Tim Burton to direct this film, but he.
Speaker A:By the time they got this going, he was already directing Beetlejuice and couldn't do it anyway.
Speaker A:But Mr. Signorelli, he began his career as a director in photography on cult classic blaxploitation films like Superfly and Black Caesar.
Speaker A: r on Saturday night live from: Speaker A:I mean, that is incredible.
Speaker A:He directed and produced over 400 episodes and helped craft the show's signature comedy parody style.
Speaker A:Now, his broader filmography also includes works on titles such as Easy Money and, of course, Elvira.
Speaker A:But on the personal side, he was.
Speaker A:He has shared experience through guests.
Speaker A:His shared his experiences through guest lectures at, like, New York Film Academy.
Speaker A:And his career is just a long dedication to comedy and visual storytelling.
Speaker A:And, I mean, when you're Saturday Night Live producer for decades.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, decades.
Speaker A:Over 400 episodes, dude.
Speaker A:That's incredible.
Speaker B:I swear, we're swirling our fingers in the candy dish of directors because the very last film that we discussed had a Saturday Night Live cast member in it, Lorraine Newman.
Speaker B:So I. Lorraine probably knew Mr. Signorelli, and she probably could have had an option to be in this Elvira movie.
Speaker B:Maybe she's an extra.
Speaker A:Well, from what I gather, it seems like Cassandra, or from that Elvira was the primary casting person.
Speaker A:I mean, obviously, she probably had other people on the little panel, but she seems to have been like the big, like, yes.
Speaker A:No person.
Speaker A:But, yeah, Lorraine Newman.
Speaker A:That would have been great, too.
Speaker B:I mean, she probably would have been the.
Speaker B:The One of the town hall people.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:But before we go on some of the.
Speaker B:The setting of this film, you only have to watch TV shows from that time and understand how the studio system worked to realize that the little town of Falwell is basically what they call the back lot of the studios.
Speaker B:I think it was Warner Brothers at the time.
Speaker B:And there are so many other programs that have used those buildings that when you watch something like Elvira Mistress of the Dark, you can imagine that was the clock tower in Back to the Future, or that's the church on the Gilmore Girls.
Speaker B:And watching this, it reminds me of in the 90s.
Speaker B:There was a live action version of the.
Speaker B:The Flash.
Speaker B:And the town that.
Speaker B:That took place in had a lot of sets in this back lot area there.
Speaker B:So while watching Elvira Mistress of the Dark, I was thinking of the.
Speaker B:The very handsome guy in the.
Speaker B:The red suit from the 90s there of the Flash.
Speaker B:Talking about the first.
Speaker B:Well, the leading lady in this film, the person who had a role to fill, but.
Speaker A:She filled it well.
Speaker B:She did Popping Fresh Dough or as Edie McClurg's character.
Speaker B:And I actually.
Speaker B:Maybe I should just look and see what her character was called here.
Speaker A:Edie McClurg.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Edie Mc Chastity.
Speaker B:El Pariah.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Jesse Pariah.
Speaker B:So chastity is Edie McClurg's character who we'll talk about in a little bit.
Speaker B:She was the.
Speaker B:The goody two shoes in town that was in charge of making sure that nobody had a good time.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:As the.
Speaker B:The leading man in the story presented here.
Speaker B:But Ms. Cassandra Peterson was born in Kansas, of all places, the land of the tornadoes and the Emerald King, the.
Speaker A:Home of the LGBTQ community icon.
Speaker B:She began her career at 17 because when you're old enough to leave home, you got to get a job.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:She was a Las Vegas.
Speaker B:She was Las Vegas's youngest showgirl in Vive Leguels.
Speaker A:And that's incredible.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:She was encouraged by Elvis Presley, although putting that together is kind of creepy to think it's 17, but hey, yeah.
Speaker B: films like Fellini's Roma in: Speaker B:After returning to the US she toured with her comedy show Mama's Boys and joined the Groundlings, which, of course, don't know what that is.
Speaker B:It's an acting troupe that has a lot of talents that have been featured in many shows over the years.
Speaker B:And not only was Cassandra Peterson in the Groundlings, but people like Edie McClurg and Paul Rubens, aka Peewee Herman.
Speaker B: So in: Speaker B:And over four decades, Peterson has expanded Honk Elvir in films, TV specials and streaming projects while championing animal welfare and HIV AIDS awareness.
Speaker B:And Cassandra is 73 these days?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:Well, she's bisexual.
Speaker A:She.
Speaker A:She had a husband for a while, but she's been in a partner with a woman for many years.
Speaker B:And I want to say it was not at the beginning of the pandemic, but maybe during the pandemic she, she started speaking publicly about things because, I mean, maybe she had her webcam on during a zoom call.
Speaker B:And who's that person in the background?
Speaker A:It's another actress who you're in love with.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:A quite butch actress, by the way.
Speaker B:So Elvira's top films?
Speaker B: to: Speaker A:And 41 films and 70 television shows.
Speaker A:Oh, my God, what a career.
Speaker B:Wow, that's quite a few contributions to keeping the lights on there.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:In 85, before Elvira's mistress of the Dark, this film came out.
Speaker B:Paul Rubens had his big silver screen debut in Peewee's Big Adventure that Cassandra took a part in.
Speaker B:She was a motorcycle mama in that.
Speaker B:And in 88, of course, the film we're talking about right now of Ira, Mistress of the Dark.
Speaker B:And then in 86, just a couple of years before, she was in Alan Quartermaine and Lost City of Gold, which is sort of an Indiana Jones style story.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So time to.
Speaker B:To get out our nerd brain trading cards here and compare our notes.
Speaker B:So we're going to be talking about our Cassie cards now.
Speaker B:And of all of those 41 films, how many you think I have seen?
Speaker A:I would say 19.
Speaker B:Oh, maybe.
Speaker B:Unless somebody is often a leading player in a film, it's hard to say you've seen all of their roles because.
Speaker A:Well, I sent you a list and she's got huge roles.
Speaker B:I mean, they're Hawaiian sweet roles.
Speaker A:No, Their milk toast.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:But I think that in all fairness, if I were more of the sort who enjoyed horror on a regular basis, I probably would have seen more of her films.
Speaker A:But remember, pronounce here ours.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker B:And the W is silent.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:But I've seen four of Cassandra Peterson's movies, of course.
Speaker B:Oh, most of those have been Elvira titles, but I Remember in the 90s on MTV.
Speaker B:She was one of the personalities that would often be a guest on things.
Speaker B:And I could have sworn that she used to do commercials for Coors beer, but it was actually Bud Light.
Speaker B:And at the time, the dog, I forget what kind of breed it was like Jack Russell or something, was.
Speaker A:He was a terrier.
Speaker B:Oh, terrier.
Speaker A:Bull terrier or something like that.
Speaker B:Now, let's also get our genders right.
Speaker B:I think that Mackenzie was a girl.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:And they were.
Speaker A:They were.
Speaker A:And they were a dog.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So Cassandra briefly represented mug root beer, which was a change in direction there because in the, in the 90s, it had been a long time since cigarettes could be advertised.
Speaker B:I think that right.
Speaker B:In the 70s, even though we didn't stop smoking in public until somewhere in the 90s, we could still advertise booze.
Speaker A:Remember.
Speaker A:Remember seeing the, the reruns of like Betty Bette Davis and stepping on a talk show, puffing and puffing and puffing?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, I remember going into restaurants as a kid and my parents being asked about smoking or non smoking.
Speaker B:So I've been here that long at least.
Speaker B: yeah, I remember in the early: Speaker B:And the purpose of the reality show was to find sort of a stand in.
Speaker B:So all those, like beauty contests where they say that if for whatever reason you can't fulfill your duties, you're the.
Speaker B:The runner up.
Speaker A:Right, yeah.
Speaker B:So it's that idea they had the next Elvira.
Speaker B:It was a contest to basically find who Cassandra considered to be worthy of representing her brand.
Speaker B:And while there was a winner, the actress's name was April Wallen.
Speaker B:This person is used to playing supporting roles and if you look them up on IMDb, a lot of times the work they are doing these days is as a stand in or a stunt type person.
Speaker B:So without being the leading person in a production, April Wallen had difficulty finding work as Elvira.
Speaker B:Nobody wanted to believe that somebody else could be Elvira.
Speaker B:So yeah, there went Cassandra's thoughts on retiring from the brand, or at least semi retiring.
Speaker B:But April Wallen continues to act and Cassandra Peterson is of course a vocal member of the LGBTQ community plus community.
Speaker B:And yeah, a quite talented person, the.
Speaker B:The brains behind this film and many other things.
Speaker B:But Matt, how many of Cassandra's films have you seen?
Speaker A:Well, I'll tell you, I've seen a lot more of them than you have.
Speaker A:So I have seen five.
Speaker A:Not just four, but five.
Speaker A:Of her films and many, many, many, many of her television appearances.
Speaker A:Because, I mean, I love Elvira.
Speaker A:I've seen been many things that she did, but I was surprised.
Speaker A:I actually haven't seen that many films.
Speaker A:And of course my favorites are Elvira are Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.
Speaker A:I watch it every year, faithfully.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:I finally this year watched Elvira's Haunted Hills all the way through.
Speaker A:I'd never really seen it before.
Speaker A:It was very fun.
Speaker A:I wouldn't say that it was groundbreaking, but it was fun.
Speaker A:And of course, Pee Wee's Big Adventure.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:How could we not know that one?
Speaker A:But those are my top three favorites.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, Elvira was sort of the precursor to what I grew up in.
Speaker A:Or grew up with.
Speaker B:She set the precedent for being a horror host and certainly there were others before her, but for the time she set the mark and right when I was coming of age, yeah.
Speaker B:My late night hosts were Rhonda Shear and Gilbert Godfrey, who brought the low budget movies to USA Networks.
Speaker B:Up all Night.
Speaker A:Aw.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:For those who don't know Rhonda Shearer, she's a household name, don't you know, because you can find her women's undergarments on the end cap at Walmart.
Speaker B:She made the Abra Kadabra.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:So, okay, so all right, so continuing on about the story, Elvira's biggest obstacles are the judgmental townspeople and her sinister Uncle Vincent, who.
Speaker B:I'm not sure if we've got this in the notes, but did you, Elvira originally want, or Cassandra originally wanted her mentor, Mr. Vincent Price to be in this movie?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Unfortunate.
Speaker A:And why he wasn't in the movie.
Speaker B:Too much boob in the tube.
Speaker A:Yes, actually, that is correct.
Speaker A:He.
Speaker A:He actually.
Speaker A:What was it?
Speaker A:He said that it had too much racy material in it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And so he wouldn't.
Speaker A:He wouldn't be in it.
Speaker A:And that's sad because she.
Speaker A:They were good friends.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Still, unki.
Speaker A:Uncle Vinnie got a starring role, so that's good.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker B:The actor who actually ended up playing Vincent.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:That.
Speaker A:That would be Mr. W. Morgan Shepard.
Speaker B:Morgan Shepard, actually, believe it or not, is our Star Trek connection.
Speaker A:Yes, he is.
Speaker A:I looked it up.
Speaker B:Oh, well, somebody's been spending too much time with me.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:So tell me, Matt, what is the Star Trek connection for this episode?
Speaker A:Okay, there's actually four.
Speaker A:Oh, really, Mr. Mr. D. Well, there's.
Speaker A:Okay, so Mr. W. Shepherd.
Speaker A:Uncle Vinnie is the connection.
Speaker A:But he was in four different Star Treks.
Speaker A:He was in the Next Generation.
Speaker A:He was a Klingon, and then he was in Voyager as a Qari, a legendary demon of the Delta Quadrant who hunted monsters for centuries.
Speaker A: , and then he was also in the: Speaker A:So he is an epic Star Trek connection.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Okay, I have this thing where my lights are turning off.
Speaker A:You haven't seen them enough?
Speaker B:Well, no, I've got them on a schedule and it's only supposed to do this during the work week.
Speaker B:And I'm like, yeah, it's five o', clock, but it's not a weekday.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Okay, yeah, let me go down to the list here, because it doesn't show him on the main page for some stupid reason.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Hold on.
Speaker A:Yeah, I didn't.
Speaker A:I didn't even think about adding him.
Speaker B:That's okay.
Speaker B:Okay, so, yeah, William Morgan Shepard, as you were saying now, who I tend to point him out as because his presence is just so.
Speaker B:Well, it's just right there in your face.
Speaker B:You can't not pick him out from a crowd because he's got a very distinctive voice and without a lot of prosthetics, he's got a very distinctive look.
Speaker B:But to me, he was the judge, the Klingon judge in Star Trek 6 when Captain Kirk was sent to prison.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:So I know that he's been in a lot of other things, but that was a very commanding presence because, of course, Star Trek 6 also highlighted the importance, importance of cultural ties.
Speaker B:And you have not experienced Shakespeare until you've read it in the original Klingon.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's scary.
Speaker B:So, okay, getting back to that here.
Speaker B:So, okay, so the midpoint shifts when Vincent reveals his plans to seize the spell book.
Speaker B:And of course, Elvira, when she moves to town, doesn't know it's a spell book.
Speaker B:She's told that it's her great aunt's recipe book.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:But Vincent has plans to seize the spellbook and harness its power.
Speaker B:And the stakes escalate, no longer just about small town approval, but about life, death, and supernatural control.
Speaker B:Because there is a reason that her long lived haunt is no longer with us.
Speaker B:Her brother was causing trouble in River City there.
Speaker B:So the stakes escalate and no longer just okay.
Speaker B:Elvira realizes that her wit and charm aren't enough.
Speaker B:She's endowed with certain talents, but she'll talents.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And she'll need to embrace her heritage as Morgana's heir to survive.
Speaker B:And that name's very important because as Elvira is given her first tour of the house when she moves to town.
Speaker B:There is a portrait on the wall of her great aunt.
Speaker B:And of course, some of the trivia of the movie is that that's actually a portrait of Cassandra out of character.
Speaker A:It is.
Speaker A:And it also was painted by a very famous painter at the time as well.
Speaker A:Yeah, but.
Speaker A:Yeah, but one of the things is that she, her character shows up and just wants to sell up and get the hell away from these people.
Speaker A:But the more that she finds out she has to stay there for a while, she.
Speaker A:And she faces ridicule and gossip and sabotage because the other ones are like, sabotaging or getting a job.
Speaker A:They're sabotaging, like, all this stuff for her.
Speaker A:And then so she starts to battle this frustration and loneliness, really kind of starting to wish she had some acceptance.
Speaker A:And the only, of course, the only ones that are doing that for her are the kids, because the kids love her.
Speaker A:They want change.
Speaker B:Because when she comes to town shortly after she.
Speaker B:She meets the strapping man who first appears at the bowling alley, Bob, which.
Speaker B:So you should know, folks, as you listen to us here, the character of Bob in Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, is a tribute to one of Cassandra's many friends and talents that are in her life.
Speaker B:He was a man who is, I believe, a makeup artist, had worked with her for a long time that passed away after the.
Speaker B:Well, during the course of the.
Speaker B:The AIDS crisis.
Speaker B:So this, this leading man, this love interest for Elvira was named after her departed friend Bob.
Speaker B:But Bob tells Elvira that the town of Falwell is concerned that somebody might be having a good time.
Speaker B:And yeah, it's certainly not the kids in town because just like the movie from a few years before in the 80s Footloose, they're not allowed to enjoy themselves.
Speaker B:No rock and roll, no dances or anything like that.
Speaker B:And when Elvira is going to have her.
Speaker B:Her big moment in town when she figures out what she could do for a paycheck, she is in the hangout of the kids and she's trying to talk to them about her.
Speaker B:Her big.
Speaker B:Her big affair, if you will.
Speaker B:What had she figured out that she could do to.
Speaker B:To.
Speaker B:To get a paycheck in that little town that she was stuck in?
Speaker A:Well, of course she.
Speaker A:Bob, he runs the local theater.
Speaker A:Well, Elvira, she has a ton of old movies that the kids would just love to see.
Speaker A:They're cheesy horror movies.
Speaker A:And so she decides that she's going to basically host a horror night at the movie Theater and all the kids can come and they can watch them.
Speaker A:And she will do her running commentary, laying on the couch as she does.
Speaker A:And then, well, she decides to really give a big performance at the end, which is going to be her doing a reenactment of the Flashdance dance.
Speaker A:And at the end of it, she will grab a rope and pull down a bucket full of glitter all over herself, and she will shine brightly like a diamond.
Speaker A:Such a beautiful concept.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Bright like a diamond.
Speaker A:Bright like a diamond.
Speaker B:All right, so we are at about the halfway mark in our show, so we're going to take a brief break for some nostalgia, some ads and jingles from the mid to late 80s.
Speaker B:I try not to use any beer commercials, any alcohol, because those are things that are not allowed in advertising.
Speaker B:But certainly Ms. Cassandra was involved with some of those publicities because, you know, they were part of her.
Speaker B:Her presence on tv because she was on MTV quite a bit to promote.
Speaker A:She certainly had a big presence.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:So we'll see what we can dig up.
Speaker B:Oh, was that a Halloween P.
Speaker D:Elvira here, mistress of the dark and sometimes surfer babe.
Speaker D:Because Coors Light is the official beer of Halloween.
Speaker D:And the party's at the beach where you can hang ten.
Speaker D:Look, Frankie and Annette.
Speaker D:And of course, when it's time to chill, just reach for that cooler.
Speaker D:Of course, aged, ice cold, never frozen stiff.
Speaker D:It's the right beer now for Halloween.
Speaker D:Just look for the super bowl and smooth display and sing up your friends now for a party at the beach.
Speaker D:Happy Halloween, dudes.
Speaker D:When it goes psycho with me, Elvira here at the Bates Motel.
Speaker D:Look for me wherever they sell mug root beer.
Speaker D:And enter the ghost cycle with Elvira content this, you can be my guest at Universal Studios in Hollywood for a monstrous bash at the Bates Motel.
Speaker D:Shower, anyone.
Speaker D:This Halloween, go psycho with Elvira and win a party with mug root beer and me.
Speaker B:I love my mug.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker D:Nasty weather got the little monsters uptight.
Speaker D:Make it a Blockbuster night.
Speaker D:Blockbuster has something for everyone.
Speaker D:Even the fussiest little beast settled down to enjoy Blockbuster.
Speaker D:I just love a family night.
Speaker D:If the weather's a fright, make it a block buster.
Speaker A:Now.
Speaker D:There'S this weird guy on Channel nine this fall, and I guarantee he'll give you nightmares.
Speaker D:His name is Freddy something or other.
Speaker D:But immediately following Freddy, I'm back.
Speaker D:Now, if I'm mistress of the dark and Freddy's gonna give you nightmares, I would think twice before falling asleep Saturday night.
Speaker D:Remember, don't miss A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Speaker D:Freddie, his nightmare, and me Elvira Saturdays beginning at 10pm Nowhere else but Channel 9.
Speaker B:Elvira's movie macabre tonight at 11.
Speaker D:You know what a teaser is, darling?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker D:Well, let me Elvira give you an example.
Speaker D:You can win a thousand bucks in the Coors Light spring green sweet steaks when I give you this phone number.
Speaker A:Silence.
Speaker D:And if you're the 50th caller, voila.
Speaker A:You win.
Speaker D:But I ain't giving it to you just yet.
Speaker D:Find out when.
Speaker D:At this pores and Coors light display.
Speaker D:And that, darling, is a teaser.
Speaker D:I'd give you another one, but I'm not that kind of girl.
Speaker D:So nobody's perfect.
Speaker B:Hey, we are back.
Speaker B:But of course she's got some competition in the town Patty, who runs the, the snack counter at the bowling alley.
Speaker B:Well she's, she's Mr. Bob's main squeeze, if you will, but is filling her shoes besides her feet.
Speaker B:She's, she's got at least a box or two of Kleenex in there, if you catch my drift.
Speaker B:But yeah, Elvira shows up at the kids hangout because they're the only ones who have her best interests at heart.
Speaker B:And they're the only ones that help her out when she wants to sell the house because she's gotta figure out how to raise some money because she's got her sights set on Vegas.
Speaker B:Yes, the, the neighborhood children, for lack of a better term, the young adults.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Whip her place into shape.
Speaker B:Although their ulterior motive is really just the.
Speaker B:The young male red blooded American boys have their hormones raging and they get to watch Elvirite action.
Speaker B:Literally, she's scrubbing the floor and shaking her tush.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker A:And the rest of her.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:And the girls are there just because they love having some representation of something different in town.
Speaker A:Someone that's nice to them and don't.
Speaker B:Mind if they wear makeup.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:But I will say that I, I really enjoyed the moments that the kids were hanging out with Elvira.
Speaker B:And what they did with that house was actually pretty amazing.
Speaker B:I, I actually considered the coloring that they did on the exterior there was, was very modern.
Speaker B:I mean it wasn't like garish or anything.
Speaker B:That's something that I could see being done to a house of that time frame even today.
Speaker B:Because you put a new coat of paint on something and you shine it up, you're gonna grab attention.
Speaker B:And that's kind of Elvira's specialty.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Well.
Speaker A:And yeah, the house was, was quite, quite fun.
Speaker A:But that all wasn't even supposed to be in, that wasn't in the original screenplay?
Speaker A:No, no, because there were no kids or, or any of that in the original screenplay came about because the studio executives wanted to market the film toward the youth demographic and get that part of.
Speaker A:Get that part of the market in.
Speaker A:So they made them put the whole parts of the kids it which cut a lot of the other character screen time.
Speaker A:But I actually think it worked out well because those are some of my favorite moments too is the way that she kind of turned from combating the.
Speaker A:The other town people into being kind of a mentor.
Speaker A:And so I think that went over well.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So tell us a little about Elvira's flaws, Matt.
Speaker A:Elvira has no flaws.
Speaker A:What are you talking about?
Speaker A:Well, she is kind of impatient.
Speaker A:She's very sassy.
Speaker A:I don't find that flaw though.
Speaker A:And she has a tendency to stir the pot, if you will, several times in this movie.
Speaker A:But she basically makes every confrontation even more explosive by and which I think is kind of unfair because basically she's just not taking other people's poo.
Speaker A:And yet she.
Speaker A:And yet that she's kind of labeled as the one who is making it more.
Speaker A:Oh well, you're the one that won't let it go.
Speaker A:You're the one that's making it worse.
Speaker A:And it's like no hun anyway.
Speaker A:But I mean those same traits also keep the audiences rooting for her because we all feel that way too.
Speaker A:We all have chastity pariahs in our lives.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But the rising action really balances the.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:I mean this is slapstick comedy.
Speaker A:It's camp.
Speaker A:Camp horror.
Speaker A:Although very little on the horror.
Speaker A:For me I would just go full camp.
Speaker A:But I guess for some people it's scary.
Speaker A:But Elvira is like her, her one liners, her.
Speaker A:The whole thing just reminds us that the boldest personality in town is also the bravest.
Speaker A:And, and she really is like he's.
Speaker A:She'll take him on.
Speaker A:She might lose, but she'll still take him on.
Speaker A:Is his seat taken?
Speaker B:Oh, yes.
Speaker B:And we'll talk about that in a moment here.
Speaker B:Yeah, but yeah, I mean for me the horror part is the idea of living in a small town again.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker B:So Matt, the other person in front of the camera that sharing the screen with Cassandra is an old friend.
Speaker B:Tell us a little bit about Ms. Edie McClurg.
Speaker A:Well, Edie was born in Kansas.
Speaker A:Kansas City, Missouri, not Kansas.
Speaker A:Like Elvira was Cassandra Peterson.
Speaker A:And she began performing at the age of five in the Kansas City Rhythm Kids.
Speaker A:But anyway, she retired after the troop's teacher was arrested on a morals charge, as you do.
Speaker B:Chastity Pariah, anyone?
Speaker A:Yeah, but she earned a bachelor's degree in speech education and a master's from Syracuse University, where later she was actually teaching radio at the University of.
Speaker A:Of Missouri, Kansas City.
Speaker A:While working at npr, she actually served as a dj, a newswoman, a producer, earning recognition for portraying John Ehrlichman in the Nixon tape Transcripts broadcast.
Speaker A:So anyway.
Speaker A:But she's quick witness, has a talent for satire.
Speaker A:Long, long career of improvised.
Speaker A:We'll go with that.
Speaker A:Improvisational.
Speaker A:I got it.
Speaker A:Comedy, including an acclaim to tenure with the Groundlings, which is where she and Cassandra Peterson and a lot of others met.
Speaker A:She's currently 80 years old, and her last credited film was credited as her last, so.
Speaker A:Yeah, but she's still.
Speaker A:She's still around.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well, that just means she planned it.
Speaker B:But maybe, as some folks say, if the right one comes along, she'll maybe peek her head out of retirement.
Speaker A:I certainly hope so.
Speaker A:I hope she's able to, but.
Speaker A:Okay, so you want to know her top five films?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:What.
Speaker B:What are our ED Cards?
Speaker A:Well, let's see.
Speaker A:Let's start out with the.
Speaker A:With, she has done over 90 films and 55 television shows, and that includes shows that she was in for multiple seasons like the Hogans and Herb Tarlok's Wife on WKRP in Cincinnati and things like that.
Speaker A:Anyway, so her top five films were Ferris Bueller's Day off, where she played Grace, the school secretary with the iconic team.
Speaker A:I mean, just.
Speaker A:Oh, he's a righteous dude.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:She was in Back to School and that.
Speaker A:She appeared as Marge Sweetwater and Planes, Trains and Automobiles, where she was the car rental agent.
Speaker A:I watched this film quite recently, and she had me rolling.
Speaker A:I didn't even remember this film.
Speaker A:Like, what happened in the film.
Speaker A:And, oh, gosh, she was perfect.
Speaker B:There was.
Speaker B:There was a recent interview.
Speaker B:Well, I don't know how recent, but I saw a clip recently on social media with more recent acting personality Ryan Reynolds, and he was talking about watching some of his favorite movies from what he was growing up, and those included planes, trains, and automobiles.
Speaker B:And he was quoted as saying that his kids have the movies memorized.
Speaker A:His.
Speaker B:His daughter's favorite thing to reenact was Edie McClurg seen as the car rental desk lady.
Speaker A:That's priceless.
Speaker A:Yeah, she's.
Speaker A:She.
Speaker A:And that's the thing, is that she could take this little bit part and turn it into just the best thing in the movie.
Speaker A:She was also in the Little Mermaid.
Speaker A:She voices Carlotta.
Speaker A:And okay, get this.
Speaker A: on in Natural Born Killers in: Speaker A:Let me tell you, that was a scary movie for its time.
Speaker B:They had Woody Harrelson in it, right?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:He ruins everything.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:All right, so how many Eden McClurg films have you seen?
Speaker B:Well, surprisingly.
Speaker B:And I. I didn't know how many she had done until we did this, of course, but I've seen nine of her films.
Speaker B:And you forget that when somebody's not in front of the camera, they have options.
Speaker B:Some people disappear from being in front of the camera and go behind the camera.
Speaker B:Like, Goldie Hawn became a director.
Speaker B:So Diane Keaton, who we, of course lost recently, but Edie McClurg, when she wasn't in front of the camera, she was the voice of characters.
Speaker B:She did voice acting for animation a lot.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So my favorite, though, of course includes Ferris Bueller's Day off for playing Grace when she was itching her scalp with the end of her pencil and she was talking down about the kid that was thinking he was cool.
Speaker B:But I also.
Speaker B:Planes, Trains and Automobiles is one of my favorites.
Speaker B:And I swear, in the 90s, the.
Speaker B:They parodied that in the Jack Lemon movie, My Fellow Americans, that had Dan Aykroyd in it and James Garner.
Speaker B:It was a similar scene where these guys go to a rental desk, but in this case there was a.
Speaker B:Like a farm agriculture convention and all the cars in town were gone and they were stuck with, like, the Toyota Corolla.
Speaker B:But they.
Speaker B:I think that at that time they had personalities from Saturday Night Live that were filling those shoes instead of people as.
Speaker B:As magnanimous as Edie McClure.
Speaker B:But I think that it's a good an act.
Speaker B:It's a.
Speaker B:A testimony of a screen presence when we get people who play these parts.
Speaker B:And I mean, sure, they could be known as a character, quote, unquote, actor, because they're known for playing supporting roles.
Speaker B:But I think.
Speaker B:I think that what I find the most sad about us being at this stage of Edie McClure is that we haven't gotten to see her in a leading role.
Speaker B:And I. I, for one, would love to have seen her in a leading role, especially since in the 90s we got such things as Stuart Smalley Saves his family, the I'm beautiful and I Love myself kind of stuff.
Speaker B:I could have seen Edie McClurgan something like Steve Martin when he plays.
Speaker B:I forget his name, but that film critic that he plays as an older man.
Speaker B:And I would have loved to have seen Edie McCooler against something like that.
Speaker B:She could have been his sister or his neighbor or something and told him off.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Well, I mean, when you.
Speaker A:When you.
Speaker A:In this day and age, when you have pairings like Melissa Carthage McCarthy and Jason Bateman.
Speaker A:Okay, okay, so.
Speaker A:And we'll.
Speaker A:We'll pick it back up.
Speaker A:But when you have, like, you.
Speaker A:We have pairings like McCarthy, Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman getting together for, like, their road trip movie and stuff like that.
Speaker A:I mean, there is.
Speaker A:There's been, like.
Speaker A:There's just, like, no reason that you couldn't have had, like, an Edie McClurg.
Speaker B:And that would have been a reunion, too, because Jason Bateman was on the Hogan family.
Speaker B:So now we're going to have a new game that we play.
Speaker B:We're going to have Edie McClurg connections.
Speaker A:Yeah, we should do that because she's.
Speaker A:She was in so much.
Speaker A:So you have been.
Speaker A:You saw nine films, right?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Nine, huh?
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Well, let's see.
Speaker A:I tallied in at a respectable 24.
Speaker A:Oh, yes.
Speaker A:So 24 Eden McClurk films, which surprised me.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And there were a number of them, too, that were, like some of the voice work that she did.
Speaker A:But I think my favorites, of course, are Vira, Mistress of the dark, because she had an expanded role, and it was so funny.
Speaker A:And I'm sorry, the iconic.
Speaker A:Is this seat taken?
Speaker A:That will always be My favorite Edie McClure film Moment of all time.
Speaker B:And we have to talk more about that moment there.
Speaker B:So besides her.
Speaker B:Besides Elvira working with the kids to restore the house that she's inherited, Elvira tries to get the just desserts served because she knows that chastity pariah is the one who's been trying to.
Speaker B:What do they call it?
Speaker B:Fix her wagon.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Drive her out of town.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:When she was trying to find a job.
Speaker B:So after Elvira has dusted off her great aunt's cookbook, if you will, and she had a fateful date night topped with.
Speaker B:Topped with potato chip crumblings and cheese whiz, she decides to try out her skills in the kitchen again.
Speaker B:And what did she do, Matt, that brought us to that moment with Edie McClurg?
Speaker A:Well, she thought that she was going to set a monster loose on them that would eat them all and scare them and teach them a lesson.
Speaker A:But, well, she had to substitute some ingredients and cheez whiz and fritos and things like that.
Speaker A:And, well, it turned out to be an amazing casserole and the whole town eat it and thankfully they sent the kids kids to the end of the line.
Speaker A:So it was done by the time they got there.
Speaker A:Nice trick movie people.
Speaker A:But yeah, they all, all the townspeople ate it and it turned out to be a very powerful aphrodisiac.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:That I want to say is that was one of my most favorite moments in the movie because yeah, you're.
Speaker B:She's turning the town on its ear and all these well behaved pillars of the community now are showing their soft underbelly because the point where the, the strapping man Bob that she's sweet on gets asked to dance with the old bitty the town square, that was just hysterical.
Speaker A:And, and the, the scene where they're remembering all what happened and that one, the really nasty old lady was all like, I was just an innocent on liquor.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:In their little town meeting afterwards.
Speaker A:And yes.
Speaker B:Oh, that was hysterical.
Speaker A:So I mean this, this movie has some, some amazing scenes.
Speaker A:Anyway, I also enjoyed Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Planes Trains Automobiles and her role as Herb Tarlock's wife on WKRP in Cincinnati.
Speaker B:I looked up her credits for WKRP because that's another show that I remember watching with my dad.
Speaker B:Yeah, of course, for me the draw was more Howard Hessman because In the early 90s there was that TV show Head of the Class where he was a teacher.
Speaker B:So right as a kid I didn't understand that this is an actor.
Speaker B:I'm like, that's the DJ from WKRP and he's a teacher now.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:But Johnny, apparently Edie McClurg's character, the wife on WKRP was only in a handful of episodes.
Speaker B:Yeah, as a kid I watched that show so many times I could have sworn she had more appearances.
Speaker B:So that's, that's another testimony to the power of her presence since it's like she needed to be in more episodes.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think that she would have been great.
Speaker A:I think they were kind of trying to do the thing like they did with Norm on Cheers where Vera's character was just one you never really saw.
Speaker A:She was just talked about or like Maris for On Frasier, you heard all these horrible stories, but you never really saw them.
Speaker A:And so your mind just created what you need to.
Speaker A:And I think they were trying to do that with, with the Tarlek's wife for a long time until they finally they had a couple episodes where it was important to bring her in and show her.
Speaker A:And I think Edie was perfect for that.
Speaker B:And then the, the interesting thing about Cincinnati being the setting WKRP in Cincinnati, that was part of that show's identity.
Speaker B:They were a rock station.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:A town of do gooding.
Speaker B:And in that sense that like Falwell in Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, they sort of had an unspoken code of conduct.
Speaker B:You.
Speaker B:You didn't listen to music that was recent because of course it was all the devil and all.
Speaker B:Yeah, that was primal beats and whatever.
Speaker B:So WKRP is really interesting in that.
Speaker B:And actually I once had a travel experience where I ended up making a connection flight in Cincinnati.
Speaker B:And I. I could tell you that that little airport, it had at that time quite the presence of conservatism because there was like a church going bookstore in the airport.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Okay, well, coming towards the end of the story of this Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, we come to the climax.
Speaker B:Elvira is used to that, being a horror movie hostess on the couch.
Speaker B:But the climax arrives in a fiery showdown.
Speaker B:Well, and where Elvira battles Vincent, her great uncle, Uncle Vinnie, for control of the spell book, the recipe book, and with the help from Gonk and her own courage.
Speaker B:Gonk, of course, is her.
Speaker B:Her familiar.
Speaker A:Familiar, yeah.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:That's an important thing to learn too, because Gonk was her great aunt's companion and of course he's long lived like her.
Speaker B:So that explains it.
Speaker B:Anyways, with her courage, she turns his magic back on him in a dazzling display, involves the little amulet that she was given at the orphanage.
Speaker B:And it's the ultimate payoff.
Speaker B:There's camp spectacle, supernatural chaos, and Elvira proving she's more than just a late night hostess and just brilliant slapstick.
Speaker B:Especially with the floorboard that slews.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:What I think is funny is that she's doing all this to.
Speaker A:To get money so that she can go to Las Vegas.
Speaker A:And it's like, okay, so you find out that you are a powerful witch, right?
Speaker A:And you have an amulet and you have all this power and you can do all this stuff, but still, your dream is to go to Vegas, where the highlight of your show is going to be spinning pasties on your.
Speaker A:But everybody needs a dream.
Speaker B:I mean, it's kind of ironic because if you think about it, she has gone through the typical story of struggle.
Speaker B:She is a woman who is struggling to have the.
Speaker B:Well, I don't want to say privilege, but a modern woman who is just trying to live her life.
Speaker B:And she ends up being thrown into an environment where the values of the townspeople are from a bygone era.
Speaker B:And she realizes that she has inherited, literally, history and respect from people but she just wants to cast that all off and the.
Speaker B:The odds of being able to put on display for our age.
Speaker B:So there goes the, the.
Speaker B:The breaking of the spell, I guess, if you will.
Speaker B:And her stepping back into reality.
Speaker B:She's just a woman who's trying to make ends meet and she thinks that she can be a success being a showgirl.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I mean, it was a fun little number too.
Speaker A:But in the resolution, I mean, she wins over the town people, townspeople, which I thought was very interesting.
Speaker A:Kind of made me wonder if they were in underground a spell because it was just like all of a sudden like, oh, we forgive you.
Speaker A:But she defeats Uncle Vinnie and she gets her shot at the big time.
Speaker A:Her Vegas show, complete with tassels and pyrotechnics and attitude.
Speaker A:And she's in charge of her own destiny, which is great.
Speaker A:And she's still got Bob and Gonk right there along with her.
Speaker A:So that was cool.
Speaker A:She got the guy in the end, even though he.
Speaker A:He was kind of boring and.
Speaker A:But the ending, actually, I mean, I guess you could say that it celebrate individuality and self expression and basically she.
Speaker A:She was weird, but she turned that into her strength and she won people over from it.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:I mean, she got what she wanted in the end, which was of course.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Set out to Bob.
Speaker B:Right, yeah.
Speaker B:By today's terminology, we would have considered Bob a himbo.
Speaker A:We would have considered him a boring lumberjack.
Speaker A:So I mean, that.
Speaker A:But isn't that funny?
Speaker A:I mean, Elvira is all like.
Speaker A:And Bob is like Bob.
Speaker B:It just reminds me of the Julie Brown and those who've lived through the 80s.
Speaker B:You know that on MTV there were two Julie Browns.
Speaker A:One.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Who is the hostess of the MTV Dance Club in New York City.
Speaker B:And then there was the girl, the white girl on the west coast who was known as West Coast Julie Brown.
Speaker B:So Elvira and her himbo remind me of a Julie Brown classic song called.
Speaker A:I Like a Big Stupid.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Except for the other Julie Brown.
Speaker A:Oh, I.
Speaker A:Roll up, roll up, roll up.
Speaker A:We got him uptown, downtown.
Speaker A:I'm Jelly Brown.
Speaker A:We playing all the hits all the time.
Speaker B:I never looked it up, but I want to assume that Julie Brown was British.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, she was.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Now I may end up cutting this part, but I all.
Speaker B:I used to continue Fuse Julie Brown from MTV and whatnot with Judy Tuda.
Speaker B:And of course in more recent years we have call her Lost Judy Tuda, but sadly, yeah.
Speaker B:Was Judy Tuda also an actress or was she mostly a comedy performer?
Speaker A:She did.
Speaker A:She did some.
Speaker A:Some film, but it was mostly her act and her Persona because she did con mostly stand up comedy with her squeeze organ.
Speaker A:Yes, that's the one.
Speaker A:Squeeze organ.
Speaker A:That's a.
Speaker A:That's a term.
Speaker A:Her accordion and calling people pigs and.
Speaker B:God, I loved her.
Speaker A:She was priceless.
Speaker A:And it took me a few times of watching her before, because I was.
Speaker A:First I was like, what?
Speaker A:I don't get.
Speaker A:You're weird.
Speaker A:And then all of a sudden, I was like, oh, my God, I love you.
Speaker B:So that's the type of personality, though, that makes me want to say.
Speaker B:I. I think in my heart, I think that Judy Tunuda was like the type of character that would have been in the Groundlings.
Speaker A:Oh, absolutely, yes.
Speaker B:Anyone who's outspoken and so unique.
Speaker B:Right, so, okay, well, so Elvira has fought off her uncle, and we've basically learned, or it can be, it's assumed, that the town is sort of under a spell.
Speaker B:Let's see here.
Speaker B:Elvira's arc takes her from an underestimated outsider to a victorious heroine who thrives by unapologetic, by unapologetically being herself.
Speaker B:Themes of acceptance, empowerment, and fighting hypocrisy linger after the credits.
Speaker B:Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, reminds us that confidence, humor, and a little witchcraft can conquer even the stiffest honk.
Speaker B:Small town.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:So we've already talked about the supporting cast in that Edie McClurg was a friend of Cassandra Peterson's from the Groundlings.
Speaker B:And yes, of course, Cassandra was friends with Paul Rubens.
Speaker B:And those of you who haven't seen it, the Paul Rubens documentary is available to watch on, I want to say, hbo.
Speaker B:It was completed posthumously, in other words, after he passed.
Speaker B:But the majority of the film was made while he was still with us.
Speaker B:Yeah, of course, it's.
Speaker B:It's said that he was suffering health problems in silence.
Speaker B:So that's why there was a sort of an abrupt departure from him participating.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Yeah, he.
Speaker A:He.
Speaker A:He said he wanted to have it made, but he didn't want it released until after he had passed away.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Before we move on too much, though, okay, let's, let's.
Speaker A:You had iconic moments like the ones that we talked about that made us laugh.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:But then we had a couple moments like when she flings the shoe at him and it sticks in his head, and then he goes that hur.
Speaker A:And I'm just like, oh, my God.
Speaker A:So, see, that's one of those moments that I'm like, oh, this is what.
Speaker B:And if you had no Idea that her uncle had possibly sold his soul.
Speaker B:Now you understand the family legacy and them being long lived.
Speaker B:It's like, who could survive a heel breaking your skull like that?
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:And he just keeps going and then his.
Speaker A:His arm and anyway.
Speaker A:But I just wanted to throw them.
Speaker B:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker B:That's one of the most dramatic moments in the whole movie.
Speaker A:That.
Speaker B:And when Elvira is tied up and going to be burned at the stake.
Speaker B:And of course, she.
Speaker B:She.
Speaker B:She has sort of a.
Speaker B:A come to moment where she raises her ring in much the same spirit as my favorite hero from the animated 80s cartoon.
Speaker B:She raises her ring into the air and she causes it to start raining and put out the fire.
Speaker A:And don't you love how they had, like, a little separate fire that was going to be for the familiar.
Speaker B:Oh, yes.
Speaker B:Like, I'm sorry, Gog.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Oh, and Patty.
Speaker A:Patty was so horrible.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So bringing it back to Patty and the bowling alley.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:That we've already mentioned.
Speaker B:Who.
Speaker B:We have one shining star that had a brief moment on camera, not maybe even 10 minutes, but miss.
Speaker B:In the bowling alley when Elvira is coming through town and she sits herself down at the table.
Speaker B:It's so terrific because she.
Speaker B:The server is gonna take her order.
Speaker B:What is Elvira request?
Speaker A:She.
Speaker A:What she requested.
Speaker A:Oh, my God.
Speaker B:Involves Mary.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:Bloody Mary?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Did she.
Speaker A:Was that what she ordered?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And they said, oh, and.
Speaker A:And then the server said, I'm sorry, but we don't serve hard, hard liquor here.
Speaker A:Would you like.
Speaker A:Would you like.
Speaker A:Oh, God, what's the joke?
Speaker A:I was like, oh, would you like a virgin?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:And she says.
Speaker B:I think I'll have.
Speaker B:I think I'll have a couple of drinks first.
Speaker A:Yes, maybe, but I think I'll have a couple drinks first.
Speaker A:I was like that.
Speaker A:See that?
Speaker A:Oh, and when she stabs the guy and she's like, I cut, you mean.
Speaker A:Which is a throwback to another movie, which is just hilarious.
Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So Elvira has set herself down in the bowling alley because that's the.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker B:The heart of activity in that small town since the.
Speaker B:Or they.
Speaker B:They've eradicated any possibility of individuality.
Speaker B:And everyone's wearing the same plaid shirt in the bowling alley there, but there are two guys sitting down.
Speaker B:And of course, one of them is, let's just say, plain, simple and special, looking at his comic book, and his friend tears it up on him.
Speaker B:That's played by Mr. Jeff Conway and Matt, what has Jeff Conway been in that?
Speaker B:We've seen?
Speaker A:Oh, well, let's see.
Speaker A: fact that he was in taxi from: Speaker A:Like, him and Tony Danza in Taxi were like, oh, man, two hot guys.
Speaker A: He was also in Greece in: Speaker A:And probably one of the reasons one of those roles influenced the other.
Speaker B:He.
Speaker B:He was the guy who helped John Travolta fix up his muscle car grease lightning.
Speaker A:But he was also a Babylon 5 from 94 to 98, which is something that I.
Speaker A:Even though I watched the show, I didn't even realize for quite a while.
Speaker B:Well, and that.
Speaker B:And the kid from Lost in Space is all grown up.
Speaker B:Bill Mooney was on Babylon 5 also.
Speaker B:So those are two faces that in the earlier days of their career, you don't realize they've also done these other things.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:But I swear, even.
Speaker A:Even though he did all this stuff in ELVIRA, which.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:10 minutes of screen time, maybe, and grabbing her in the alley and all that.
Speaker A:The thing that I remember the most in the movie with him is when she threw those, like, leeches or whatever.
Speaker A:Worms on his face.
Speaker A:And it was this scream that.
Speaker A:And it was, like, so weird that.
Speaker B:It'S kind of like almost what we call gender swap, where he did the scream that the.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker B:The blonde girl in a horror would normally do, and then he fell through the kitchen door, assuming it to his death.
Speaker A:That.
Speaker A:That whole thing.
Speaker A:But I remember that screaming.
Speaker A:That's what got me.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:But besides Taxi for Jeff Conway, the thing that most people should know is that his character, Kaniki in Greece is the one who gave Rizzo stalker Channing's character a bun in the oven.
Speaker A:Oh, that's true.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:But, yeah, sadly, he passed away far too young.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Went through some hard times, from what I know.
Speaker B:Mm.
Speaker B:So, man, if Elvira or Mistress of the Dark were remade today, what do you think?
Speaker B:What kind of updates do you think there need to be made to appeal to a modern audience?
Speaker A:I bet they would add a part or she would try to fit in.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Which is against character.
Speaker A:I mean, Elvira doesn't fit in.
Speaker A:Elvira is fixed.
Speaker A:Elvira does what Elvira does.
Speaker A:But I bet you they would probably try to put.
Speaker A:Before the.
Speaker A:Before she does the whole picnic scene.
Speaker A:There would part.
Speaker A:Try to be something where she gets.
Speaker A:She tries to fit in and change her look and whatever and then get rejected and then just go back to.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Being her.
Speaker A:Being told, oh, I'm fine just the way I am, and then get her revenge.
Speaker B:I think that Elvira's character would probably be somebody who has a home based business maybe in only fans.
Speaker B:And oh, maybe that's how some of the school kids.
Speaker B:Although that would be borderline inappropriate.
Speaker A:Oh, borderline.
Speaker B:I could see the, the, the re envisioned ELVIRA for the 21st century being one where the kid walks in on their dad watching porn and Elvira is on his dad's laptop.
Speaker B:So now, so now he's intrigued because maybe he's got a connection.
Speaker B:Maybe Elvira is one of the substitute teachers in town.
Speaker B:So maybe that's how she could get her hooks into the townspeople, is that she's now this strange character from out of town who's influencing our young people and oh my God, she's got an only fans.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:That took it to a whole different level.
Speaker B:I mean she did get, she did get asked how her head was.
Speaker A:Haven't had any complaints.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So that's one way I think that they would update it.
Speaker B:But now the film's pacing, did you feel that it kept you interested?
Speaker B:Where do you think there were room, was room for improvement?
Speaker B:Like what were the slow points?
Speaker A:I think the slow points for me were.
Speaker A:The only slow points were kind of when she was trying to like seduce Bob.
Speaker A:I think those kind of, they could have been tightened up a little bit or chained, something like that.
Speaker A:But honestly, I think it had really good pacing.
Speaker A:I, I was never bored because it was like one gag to the next gag to the next gag and, and you were always like, it always had hooked you and then delivered the joke and then moved right on.
Speaker B:So yeah, kind of like anything that's been turned into a TV show.
Speaker B:It's like, is, is there enough material here to stretch this out?
Speaker B:Because in a movie you've got so much time to accomplish things and it's all about how many elements you've got the main story, you've got the subplot, this and that.
Speaker B:So I think it did a pretty good job of keeping your attention.
Speaker B:The only parts that it felt might, might be slow were when she was considering how she was going to raise money for her, her show in Vegas.
Speaker B:But she did turn that around by getting the town's kids there to, you know, zhuzh up her house.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Certainly the only slow points were really maybe Elvira trying to wrap her head around a situation.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Maybe they could have made light of it and had smoke out of her ears.
Speaker A:It makes you kind of wonder what it would have been, what the script was before, before they added the, the kids because they, that really became a really good part of the film and, and really kind of was a good dynamic to add.
Speaker A:So they did it very well, consider.
Speaker A:But it makes me wonder what the film.
Speaker A:What was going on in the film before that in the script.
Speaker B:So, yeah, maybe there might have been something more to do with the movie theater.
Speaker B:I mean, she talked to the guy, Bob, and he said that he was only allowed to show G rated movies.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Who's to say that her.
Speaker A:She rated movies are fun as long as there's a lot of sex and violence.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:But talking about the slow points of the movie, that's.
Speaker B:That was one of her, her lines when she was doing her horror movie Night host at the theater.
Speaker B:She's telling the kids or.
Speaker B:No, no, no, I'm sorry.
Speaker B:That actually is in the beginning of the movie when you see her hosting her show on the local TV station.
Speaker B:She's like, what do I think about this?
Speaker B:I think it's about an hour and a half too long.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So was there a character that you felt should have had more screen time?
Speaker B:Any character that you liked, had an interest in and think should have been fleshed out more?
Speaker A:I think they did a really good job.
Speaker A:I, I, of course, would have loved to see a little bit more Edie McClurg because her character is so fun.
Speaker A:You kind of wonder.
Speaker A:I mean, we got to see the crotchety old woman with the nice husband who I swear, at first I thought was Ray.
Speaker A:Ray Walston.
Speaker A:But you got to see them more than Edie's character.
Speaker A:And, and Edie was more, more interesting.
Speaker A:She drove.
Speaker A:She.
Speaker A:She really set the tone of the, the piety of the town.
Speaker A:So it would have been interesting to see her character just a touch more.
Speaker A:But other than that, I think they did a really good job of balancing out everybody.
Speaker B:I think they did too.
Speaker B:Now, it wasn't a favorite character of mine, but I could see that one angle they could have explored more was Bob's girlfriend when Elvira moved to town, Patty.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:Because the only thing that Patty did in the film besides wine, was she sought revenge with Elvira by sabotaging her performance.
Speaker B:I could have seen her sneaking around more and trying to catch Bob in the act maybe, and maybe doing some revenge type stuff with Bob.
Speaker A:Yeah, well, I mean, she did set Elvira on fire, but.
Speaker A:Yeah, no, actually that, that's a good call because the, the main thing with Patty was in the very beginning, Bob was interested in Elvira and, and rebuked Patty, and that was all it took.
Speaker A:But we don't see the evolution of her, of her yeah, she could have used more arc, actually.
Speaker B:And I think that Patty should have been related to Chastity.
Speaker B:She must.
Speaker B:She should have been like her niece or something.
Speaker A:That would have been a fun little element.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:So, yeah, so as we were saying, Vincent Price was Cassandra Peterson's hopeful to play her co star, the uncle.
Speaker B:But that didn't work out because there's a little bit of an age gap there.
Speaker B:She thought that there should have been a little bit more flesh involved than he was comfortable with, despite him being her inspiration.
Speaker A:But there were a couple things.
Speaker A:Like, did you that Brad Pitt actually auditioned to be one of the teenage boys but was rejected because he was too cute?
Speaker A:And Elvira was basically like, what?
Speaker A:She wouldn't be interested in Bob if he was one of the teenagers creatures.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Because.
Speaker A:And I mean, how is that to, like, be rejected from an acting role because you were too cute.
Speaker B:Too big of an.
Speaker B:Too big of a distraction for the big talent.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And tell us about Elvira's dress, though.
Speaker B:So Elvira's dress and hair are made to hide her burn scars.
Speaker B:As a young person growing up, Cassandra Peterson had an incident at home where she basically ended up being scarred.
Speaker B:And it was a pot of boiling water that was on the stove that her mom sat there and spilled down her back and her neck and her shoulders were scarred from that.
Speaker B:So the character of Elvira was very carefully crafted to support Cassandra's best features.
Speaker A:That.
Speaker A:That's pretty cool.
Speaker A:And knowing that I want.
Speaker A:I was paying more attention to the dress and hair and stuff.
Speaker A:And yeah, they.
Speaker A:It always like, kind of covered her back, which was very interesting.
Speaker B:I thought it was hysterical, though, when Elvira spent her first night in her great aunt's house.
Speaker B:Because here you just see this woman spread out on the bed sort of seductively with her hair spray.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And when she comes to from a.
Speaker B:Well, for lack of a better term, a bad dream, her hair is all done up for bedtime.
Speaker B:She's got it, like, wrapped in gauze or something.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:All right, so.
Speaker B:All right, well, so we are at the point of program where we talk about other things that you might enjoy.
Speaker B:And actually, let me insert my sound effect here.
Speaker B:And I'll say that again.
Speaker B:Oh, where is my rewind?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:So we are at the point of our program where we talk about other things that you might enjoy if you like things like Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, maybe you like low budget horror movies, late night films.
Speaker B:So I will go first and I'm going to recommend a movie from, well, almost a handful of years before.
Speaker B: This is from: Speaker B:And it's about a family who inherits an old mansion.
Speaker B:Coincidence.
Speaker B:Which houses the dangerous book of evil, like a phone directory.
Speaker B:It's very generic and that has all the monsters of the world trapped inside.
Speaker B: It's the: Speaker B:So it's.
Speaker B:It's kind of a TV movie style.
Speaker B:Adams family or Munsters.
Speaker B:This, this family inherits this house and they're normal people, quote, unquote, until they buy this house and they get that book and everything starts happening after the book is found.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:It's how it's always a book or a house or trunk or something.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:I. I mean, because being literate can be dangerous.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:You empower people.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Especially when you're.
Speaker A:You're reading Elvira's auntie's spell book and.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Anyway, so I want to recommend a movie about an Irish hotel owner that basically has to try to fill chronic vacancies in his castle, which he decides to claim is haunted.
Speaker A:So he and his staff, because they all are kind of like a family, they, they all decide to set up all this stuff to basically pretend it's haunted and scare people.
Speaker A:Well, this group of American investors and tourists, they show up and they don't believe the hokey special effects.
Speaker A:They know it's all fake.
Speaker A:They don't like it.
Speaker A:And, well, so not wanting to lose their home, their ancestral home, the actual ghosts of the castle step up to scare the wits out of the visiting Yanks.
Speaker A:So Peter o', Toole, Daryl Hannah, Liam Neeson, who we talked about earlier, and he's shirtless in this as well.
Speaker A:Beverly d' Angelo and Steve Gutenberg, who's also shirtless in one scene, star in High Spirits.
Speaker B:That is a fun movie.
Speaker B:It is Beverly d'.
Speaker B:Angelo.
Speaker B:If you haven't seen her in anything else but the vacation movies, it's quite a fun role because she comes off as this character that in the end is.
Speaker B:Is not totally her truth.
Speaker B:She.
Speaker B:She falls someone for somebody unexpectedly.
Speaker B:That's not who you would think would be her type.
Speaker A:Right, that's for sure.
Speaker B:Well, so that's Elvira, mistress of the dark occult comedy that mixes camp horror and sass into one unforgettable package.
Speaker B:Honk.
Speaker B:It's more than just a showcase for Elvira's one liners.
Speaker B:It's a story about empowerment, individuality, and the joy of embracing your true self.
Speaker B:No matter what the neighbors say.
Speaker A:That's true.
Speaker A:So now I kind of wonder.
Speaker A:Oh, time vcr.
Speaker A:What's the next film we're gonna see?
Speaker B:Oh, I guess we'll let him have his due.
Speaker C:Next time on Matinee Minutia.
Speaker C:A feisty working class single mother sacrifices herself to give her child a better life.
Speaker C:With her estranged but wealthy father, she would do anything for her daughter, including giving her up.
Speaker C: A remake of: Speaker C: It's: Speaker B:Oh, I look forward to that.
Speaker B:Such a fun movie with Bette Midler and it has Eileen Brennan in it in a cameo role.
Speaker A:Oh, we love our Eileen Brennan here.
Speaker A:That is for sure.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So we are just about to leave the season of gloom and doom and prepare ourselves for spending time with people that we may be obligated to for the coming time of the year.
Speaker B:So Stella is a good warm up act for that because, well, she's got to play nice with her, her, her baby daddy and she's.
Speaker B:He's not the one that she marries.
Speaker A:Probably a good thing.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:All right, well, we will say goodbye for now, everybody.
Speaker B:Enjoy your Halloween.
Speaker A:Bye.
Speaker B:Remember, the candy isn't the only scary thing, but you probably shouldn't take candy from strangers.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And do your shadow work.
Speaker B:Thank you for listening to Maddenamenutia.
Speaker A:Our show is released on the 1st, 1st and 3rd Friday of most months.
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Speaker B:DJ is that DJ starsage@sba?
Speaker A:Matt?
Speaker A:Send us an email at matinee minutia gmail dot com.
