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November 9, 2012

Movie Review: Elvira's Haunted Hills (2002)

Reviewed by Kenny Barnwell

Directed by Sam Irvin

Starring~ Casandra Peterson, Richard O'Brien, Mary Scheer

Plot ~ Elvira and her maid are traveling to Paris for a show. Unfortunately, along the way they get sidetracked in a creepy castle with mysterious characters, strange goingson and an old family curse to be unraveled. Nothing fancy or complicated about it, its a parody on the same theme as the 10,000 other haunted castle movies that came before it, but this one has the one thing the others don't, the legendary dick-tease Elvira and her iconic cleavage, which is served up to us buffet-style for the entirety of the film.

 Buy Elvira's Haunted Hills on DVD

In all honesty, Elvira's Haunted Hills isn't that bad a movie, surprisingly enough. Its got that somewhat innocent, retro PG-13 style of risque comedy that reminded me of The Benny Hill Show in a way. Lots of breast groping, a little “motorboating”, sexual innuendo's and some slapstick routines are the bread and butter of this one, along with some pretty decent, if not corny one-liners.The supporting cast actually does a decent job of hamming it up without overdoing it. I will admit I found myself laughing a few times during this one. The character of the beefcake stable boy was purposefully dubbed over in an awful way which was actually quite funny.

Favorite line~ As she is being shown around the castle, Dr. Bradley Bradley~”The village people say
the castle is evil.”Elvira~”Ahh, who listens to the Village People anymore?”

Elvira fans, and I know there are still a few out there, will love this. She plays her character flawlessly and looks pretty damn good for an old broad. I've seen worse things you could pick up at the video store, for sure. I'd say it rests somewhere comfortably between Citizen Kane & Earnest Goes To Camp.

Extras~ A good offering here, and I am assuming that's why their calling it the “Special Enhanced
Edition”. Along with the standard trailers are a “Making of” featurette, Transylvania or Bust: Elvira & Company Tell All, an interview with Richard O'Brien, who plays Lord Vladimere Hellsubub, outtakes, photo gallery and audio commentary. So, pretty generous with the extra goodies.

I gave it a 6 out of 10.

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