 Elvira's Haunted Hills, the latest
"Elvira" movie- is dedicated to Vincent Price. And it pays some
serious homage  to
the memory of the man, relentlessly making reference after reference to the
plethora of films he appeared in. (Not to mention, of course, the obligatory
sexual innuendo and camp jokes that are liberally scattered throughout)
Most reviews I've read thus far have compared this movie to
the first Elvira movie... but to be honest, I only saw it once many many moons
ago. It was an occasion with friends 'round the old TV set with a camp movie
in one hand and hard liquor in the other- so you'll forgive me for not remebering
too much of it.
I did giggle, I do remember that- but I'm not altogether sure
if it was from the movie- which I remember as being incredibly silly- or the
Schnapps.
But I digress.
The story goes like this: Carpathia, 1850's. Elvira and her
companion Zou Zou are kicked out of their hotel room for not paying. While
hoofing it down the road, a coach stops to ask if they'd like a ride. They meet Dr. Bradley Bradley,
who takes them to Castle Hellsubus, a looming scary looking place in the mountains.
The mountains, however, are nothing compared to the residents
within. Lord Vladimere Hellsubus (can
you guess why that name is red and boldfaced? :D) is hyper-sensitive to nearly
any sensation, his niece is prone to passing out every two seconds, and his
wife, Ema, is about as creepy as they come. Elvira arrives and strikes horror
into their hearts (and it has nothing to do with her erm... tracts of land,
either!) as she looks the spitting image of Vladimere's first wife, Elura.
 Vladimere claims that he is sorrowful over her demise, and certainly seems
to be... but every now and again he turns on Elvira and threatens to send
her back to hell... that is, until she hits his uh... reset button, by smashing
him in the cajones. **
Elura has come to claim her revenge, and Vladimere isn't quite as honest about her death as he could be, as you can imagine,
him being the villain and all. He traps Elvira and her servant, but in the
end Elura's spirit is set free from the curse of Castle Hellsubus. Yay!
There's a WHOLE lot of goofy humor here, and another bad accent
from Richard... (although I tend to find those on the funny side..)
The stable master, Adrian, having his voice dubbed was an
incredibly nice touch- too bad he didn't do any karate. Or sing Janet's part
from the floorshow in Rocky Horror. :)
As Richard was in the film, there is of course a reference
joke to TRHPS... upon meeting him, Elvira greets him with "Enchante".
Also look for Richard actually SMILING on film- normally I have to go through
a thing frame by bloody frame to find something that almost kind of sort of
looks like a smile. Here, however, there is a dream sequence where Vladimere remembers his idyllic wedding day, and the sorrow that
followed. He mimes being in a box, serves "happy face" pancakes,
and pretends to "walk to the basement".
There's also a shot of him sucking his thumb in bed and snuggling
a teddy bear. (awwwww....)
Also, look for the scene where Bradley is showing Elvira Vladimere's relatives. :)
Great film? Nah. But it is fun. |
