Horrorfest 2022 Presents: Elvira’s Haunted Hills (2001, Sam Irvin)

Unlike her other film, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, Elvira’s Haunted Hills plays more as a spoof comedy/loving homage to classic Hollywood horror comedy movies. This is both good and bad, as some of the jokes fail to land and the storyline isn’t as good as her previous film. However I still liked this one anyways, since Elvira is quite funny as usual and has some truly great snappy one liners, which is her main charm and appeal. I’m not sure why Sam Irvin and her decided to make this a period piece movie, yet the castle setting is amusing enough and is good for some funny gags, some witty, some rather dumb. Cassandra Peterson deserved a bigger budget movie, and if it’s true she’s hung up being Elvira for good we may never see her star in one, which would be a shame although there’s still time for that to happen. It’s one major frustrating aspect of horror movies in that so many of them don’t receive the funding they deserve.

Mary Jo Smith is a riot as Elvira’s faithful companion, Richard O’Brien is creepy and weirdly funny as the castle’s owner, and Mary Scheer about steals the movie along with Scott Atkinson, who probably was channeling George Sanders, although according to others it was supposed to be Vincent Price. Either one is good. The final act has a moment that is so funny and awesome it has to be seen to be believed, and I won’t spoiler it. Check this one out, lower expectations a bit, and enjoy Elvira being well, Elvira.

Horrorfest 2022 Presents The Munsters (2022, Rob Zombie)

Is Rob Zombie’s latest a good movie? I donno, it made me laugh quite a bit, I wasn’t bored by most of it and the cast makes up for some clearly lesser aspects. I think a solid 7/10 sounds about right, and Zombie doing a TV series revival of the TV series instead of a movie probably would have been a much better idea. Oh well, I’ll take what is offered to me, I guess. I’m not sure this movie deserves the hate it’s getting considering the source material. It’s The Munsters, not The Twilight Zone, people.

Sheri Moon Zombie (of course) and Jeff Daniel Phillips are two monsters who fall in love while her father, played by Daniel Roebuck, shakes his head in disapproval. You also have Sylvester McCoy as the loyal butler, Catherine Schell as the count’s disgruntled ex-wife and even Cassandra Peterson in a nice small part. Richard Brake and Jorge Garcia made me laugh, with Blake as a mad scientist and Garcia as his dimwitted assistant.

Are there some jokes that fall flat? Sure, yet most land well enough and the movie has this odd sense of humor and entertainment that works. It’s very goofy and not particularly high brow. I was amused regardless, which does remind me of the original show from what I recall, so perhaps Zombie channeled it well enough. Netflix picking this up and acting it seems oddly on brand for them, I suppose.