When her Great Aunt dies, famed horror hostess Elvira (Cassandra Peterson) heads for the uptight New England town of Fallwell to claim her inheritance of a haunted house...

This film actually scared me as a child, and watching it now, I am still not surprised. Sure, it is largely a comedy, but the "casserole" scene is still creepy in much the same way as "Gremlins" is creepy. Sometimes the scariest moments come when thrown into an otherwise tame film.

Relying on many movie references, some horror, and plenty from "The Wizard of Oz", this is a movie fan's film. While not quite a parody, it shows a light-hearted love of pop cinema that I think will touch a lot of people.

Vincent Talbot (W. Morgan Sheppard) is the ultimate villain. He has that look, that voice... he comes from the same mold as Vincent Price, Peter Cushing and Roddy McDowall. Except, sadly, I feel like he is largely unheard of, even with his endless list of credits under his belt.

I love that this comes from the same ingredients as "Pee Wee's Big Adventure", a film Peterson made a cameo in. Paul Reubens and Peterson were in comedy troupe the Groundlings together, as was John Paragon (here a gas station attendant, but otherwise better known as Jambi the Genie) and Edie McClurg. Perhaps they would make a good double feature?

Mike Mayo seems to accept this movie for what it is when he says "the story could rely less on well-worn gimmicks, but Elvira's flippant feminist irreverence goes a long way." Indeed, it does use some lame gags, but that also seems to be the point. The film tries nothing other than to be the B-movie that it is. There is the subplot of her opening the eyes of the children (much like "Ernest Goes to Camp"), and if you want to call her antics feminist...