Elvira's Movie Macabre (titled on-screen as Movie Macabre with Elvira, Mistress of the Dark in its original run), or simply Movie Macabre, is an American hosted horror movie television program that originally aired locally from 1981 to 1986. The show features B movies, particularly those in the horror and science fiction genres, and is hosted by Elvira, a character with a black dress and heaven bump hairstyle, played by Cassandra Peterson. Elvira occasionally interrupts the films with comments and jokes, and in some episodes receives prank phone calls from a character called "the Breather" (John Paragon).
The popularity of the show led to a feature film, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, which was released in 1988. The character returned in the 2001 film Elvira's Haunted Hills. The show was revived in 2010 as Elvira's Movie Macabre, in which Elvira hosted public domain films. This revival aired on This TV until 2011. Elvira returned as a horror hostess in 2014 with 13 Nights of Elvira, a 13-episode series produced by Hulu. In 2021, she recreated her show for a one-night movie marathon on the streaming service Shudder to celebrate the show's 40th anniversary. The special was called Elvira's 40th Anniversary, Very Scary, Very Special Special.
History
In 1981, six years after the death of Larry Vincent, who starred as host Sinister Seymour of a Los Angeles weekend horror show called Fright Night, plans were made to replace the show with a new program and a new host.
The producers initially turned to 1950s' horror hostess Maila Nurmi to resurrect The Vampira Show. Nurmi worked on the project for a short time, but quit when the producers would not hire Lola Falana, Nurmi's pick for the role of Vampira. The station sent out a casting call, and Peterson auditioned and won the role. She and her close friend, makeup artist Robert Redding, decided to style Peterson in a sensual goth/vampire look after producers rejected her original idea to dress like Sharon Tate's character in The Fearless Vampire Killers. Elvira's look drew inspiration from a Kabuki makeup book in Redding's possession and the bouffant hairstyles of The Ronettes.
Shortly before the first taping, producers received a cease and desist letter from Nurmi. Besides the similarities in the format and costumes, Elvira's closing line for each show, wishing her audience "Unpleasant dreams," was notably similar to Vampira's closer: "Bad dreams, darlings..." uttered as she walked off down a misty corridor. The court ruled in favor of Peterson, holding that "'likeness' means actual representation of another person's appearance, and not simply close resemblance." Peterson claimed that Elvira was nothing like Vampira aside from the basic design of the black dress and black hair. Nurmi claimed that Vampira's image was based on Morticia Addams, a character in Charles Addams's cartoons that appeared in The New Yorker magazine.
Peterson's Elvira character rapidly gained notice with her tight-fitting, low-cut, cleavage-displaying black gown. Adopting the flippant tone of a California "Valley girl", she brought a satirical, sarcastic edge to her commentary. She reveled in dropping risqué double entendres and making frequent jokes about her cleavage. In an AOL Entertainment News interview, Peterson said, "I figured out that Elvira is me when I was a teenager. She's a spastic girl. I just say what I feel and people seem to enjoy it." Her camp humor, sex appeal, and good-natured self-mockery made her popular with late-night movie viewers and her popularity soared.
Elvira was a frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and other talk shows. She also produced a long-running series of Halloween-themed television commercials for Coors Light Beer and Mug Root Beer (her trademark cleavage was concealed for the Coors campaign). She appeared in guest roles on television dramas such as CHiPs, The Fall Guy and Fantasy Island and appeared on numerous awards shows as a presenter. Although she is known primarily as Elvira, Peterson has made out-of-costume appearances as herself for television interviews and specials.
Two million pairs of $0.99 3D glasses were reportedly sold for the 22 May 1982, broadcast of The Mad Magician.#4784 May 25, 1982 Suzanne Pleshette, Argus Hamilton, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston List of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson episodes (1982)
In 1982, with the success of Movie Macabre, Knott's Theme Parks hired Elvira to replace Seymour as the host of its annual Halloween Haunt during October. Elvira appeared nightly at the park, live on stage with a Halloween-themed musical comedy revue similar to her Mamma's Boys act from the 1970s.
The Elvira character rapidly evolved from obscure cult figure to a lucrative brand name. She was associated with many products through the 1980s and 1990s, including Halloween costumes, comic books,Elvira's House of Mystery DC Comics (11 issues) at the Grand Comics DatabaseElvira, Mistress of the Dark Claypool Comics (166 issues) at the Grand Comics Database action figures, trading cards, pinball machines, Halloween decor, model kits, calendars, perfume and dolls. She has appeared on the cover of Femme Fatales magazine five times. Her popularity reached its zenith with the release of the feature film Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, on whose script, written directly for the screen, Peterson collaborated with John Paragon and Sam Egan.
Episode list
Season 1 EpisodeFilm shownEp #Date 01Grave of the Vampire1September 26, 1981 02Silent Night, Bloody Night2October 3, 1981 03The House That Screamed3October 10, 1981 04The Fall of the House of Usher4October 17, 1981 05The Dunwich Horror5October 25, 1981 06Blacula6November 1, 1981 07The Comedy of Terrors7November 7, 1981 08The Thing with Two Heads8November 15, 1981 09The Werewolf of Washington9November 21, 1981 10Cry of the Banshee10November 29, 1981 11Count Yorga, Vampire11December 5, 1981 12Murders in the Rue Morgue12December 12, 1981 13Baron Blood13December 27, 1981 14Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde14January 3, 1982 15The Crimson Cult15January 10, 1982 16The Murder Clinic16January 16, 1982 17Horror Express17January 23, 1982 18The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant18January 30, 1982 19Horror Hospital19February 6, 1982 20Rattlers20February 13, 1982 21Disciple of Death21February 20, 1982 22Frankenstein22February 28, 1982 23The Devil's Rain23March 6, 1982 24Psychic Killer24March 13, 1982 25Necromancy25March 20, 1982 26The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe26March 27, 1982 30The Deathmaster30April 1, 1982 27Peeping Tom27April 3, 1982 28Legacy of Blood28April 10, 1982 29Deathdream29April 18, 1982 31Beware! The Blob31May 1, 1982 32Good Against Evil32May 8, 1982 33The Brotherhood of Satan33May 15, 1982 34The Mad Magician34May 22, 1982 35The Turn of the Screw35May 22, 1982 36Count Dracula's Great Love36May 29, 1982 37Jennifer37June 12, 1982 38Masque of the Red Death38June 19, 1982 39The Tomb of Ligeia39June 26, 1982 40The Incredible Melting Man40July 3, 1982 41The Fearless Vampire Killers41July 10, 1982 42Terror House42July 17, 1982 43The Baby43July 24, 1982 44The House of Seven Corpses44July 31, 1982 45Psychomania45August 7, 1982 46Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?46August 14, 1982
Season 2 EpisodeFilm shownEp #Date 01War-Gods of the Deep47September 4, 1982 02The Oblong Box48September 11, 1982 03The Raven49September 25, 1982 04The Conqueror Worm50October 2, 1982 05And Now the Screaming Starts!51October 9, 1982 06Blood from the Mummy's Tomb52October 16, 1982 07Madhouse53October 23, 1982 08The House That Dripped Blood54October 30, 1982 09Tales of Terror55October 30, 1982 10The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde56November 7, 1982 11The Day It Came to Earth57November 13, 1982 12The Blood on Satan's Claw58November 20, 1982 13Crucible of Horror59November 27, 1982 14Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde60December 4, 1982 15The Devil Within Her61December 12, 1982 16The Bat People62December 19, 1982 17The Return of Count Yorga63January 1, 1983 18Inn of the Frightened People64January 8, 1983 19Craze65January 29, 1983 20The Monster Club66February 6, 1983 21The Creature's Revenge67February 12, 1983 22Beast of the Dead68February 19, 1983 23The Island of Living Horror69February 27, 1983 24The Devil's Wedding Night70March 5, 1983 25The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism71March 12, 1983 26Curse of the Vampires72March 20, 1983 27The Vampire People73March 26, 1983 28Scream and Scream Again74April 2, 1983 29The Human Vapor75April 9, 1983 30Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural76April 16, 1983 31The Haunted Palace77June 18, 1983 32The Doomsday Machine78August 27, 1983
Season 3 EpisodeFilm shownEp #Date 01They Came from Beyond Space79September 17, 1983 02Blue Sunshine80October 1, 1983 03Screamers81October 29, 1983 04Willard82November 5, 1983 05The Time Travelers83November 12, 1983 06Maneater of Hydra84November 20, 1983 07They Came From Within85December 11, 1983 08Gamera: Super Monster86December 24, 1983 09New Year's Evil87December 31, 1983 10Homebodies88January 28, 1984 11Dracula89February 4, 1984 12Attack of the Killer Tomatoes90March 3, 1984 13Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype91March 17, 1984 14Alien Contamination92March 24, 1984 15Village of the Damned93April 14, 1984 16Monstroid94May 12, 1984 17The Beast in the Cellar95May 19, 1984 18The House of the Dead96May 26, 1984 19Circus of Horrors97June 10, 1984 20Pigs98June 17, 1984 21Schizoid99June 24, 1984 22The Godsend100June 30, 1984 23Blood Bath101July 8, 1984 24Kiss Daddy Goodbye102July 14, 1984 25The Love War103July 28, 1984 26The Human Duplicators104August 5, 1984 27Mark of the Devil105August 11, 1984 28So Sad About Gloria106August 19, 1984 29Night of the Zombies107August 26, 1984
Season 4 EpisodeFilm shownEp #Date 01Inn of the Damned108September 1, 1984 02Tombs of the Blind Dead109September 8, 1984 03Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks110September 15, 1984 04The Capture of Bigfoot111September 22, 1984 05Village of the Giants112November 3, 1984 06The Legend of Hell House113November 10, 1984 07The Other114November 25, 1984 08The Navy vs. the Night Monsters115December 1, 1984 09The Last Bride of Salem116January 12, 1985 10Yeti: The Giant of the 20th Century117February 9, 1985 11The Revenge of Frankenstein118March 10, 1985 12Curse of Bigfoot119March 24, 1985 13The Great Alligator120May 4, 1985
Season 5 EpisodeFilm shownEp #Date 01House of Dark Shadows121June 22, 1986 02The Horror of Death122June 29, 1986 03Kill and Go Hide123July 6, 1986 04The Legend of Lizzie Borden124July 13, 1986 05The Mad Butcher125July 20, 1986 06The Meateater126July 27, 1986 07The Mighty Gorga127August 3, 1986 08Scream, Baby, Scream128August 10, 1986 09Straight Jacket129August 17, 1986 10They Saved Hitler's Brain130August 24, 1986 11Tomb of the Living Dead131August 31, 1986 12The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll132September 7, 1986 13The Boy Who Cried Werewolf133September 14, 1986 14Let's Scare Jessica to Death134September 21, 1986 15Horror of the Zombies135September 28, 1986 16House of the Long Shadows136October 5, 1986 17Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things137October 12, 1986 18Empire of the Ants138October 19, 1986 19Nightwing139October 26, 1986 20Nightmare City140November 2, 1986
Revivals Midnight Madness (1990s) In the 1990s, Rhino Home Video released Midnight Madness, a collection of films hosted by Elvira, on VHS.
Eegah Frankenstein's Daughter Killers from Space The Giant Gila Monster The Mask She Demons Night of the Ghouls I Eat Your Skin The Brain That Wouldn't Die The Brain from Planet Arous A Bucket of Blood The Crawling Hand The Wasp Woman The Hideous Sun Demon Missile to the Moon
Elvira's Movie Macabre (2010–11)
In September 2010, Elvira's Movie Macabre returned to television syndication in the United States, airing on This TV. This revival saw Elvira hosting public domain films. 26 episodes were produced; six were left unaired, but were released on both DVD and iTunes.