A film written by and starring Cassandra
Peterson as Elvira;
a benefit for Gregory House HIV/AIDS
programs
Also: Richard Chamberlain will
appear with Cassandra Peterson
Elvira, the queen of horror flicks,
is equal parts kabuki makeup,
tons of mascara, black wig, billowing
black gown, and yes,
cleavage. She's doubtless a night
person,
especially during full moons.
Cassandra Peterson, the actress
portraying Elvira
— and yes, it is just an act —
is the complete opposite. Strawberry
blonde, fair-skinned,
little makeup. Definitely a day
person.
Both Elvira and Peterson are coming
to town next week,
when "Elvira's Haunted Hills,"
a cult horror film starring Peterson,
makes its Island debut Thursday
at the Hawai'i Theatre.
Usually, the movie would be screened
at the midnight bewitching hour;
Honolulu is not as wild as San
Francisco or Chicago,
so the curtain rises at a more
respectable 8 p.m.
To hear Cassandra tell it,
Elvira's life is sort of Halloween
Hell, in a good way.
"I started as a local horror host
on TV in 1981,"
said Peterson, then a struggling
actress searching for a screen gem.
Turns out she had heard about the
audition for a horror hostess,
but nixed the job offer because
she was on
her honeymoon with Mark Pierson,
her husband and manager.
"A couple of weeks later, they
hadn't found anyone,
so I went in and they hired me."
She looked normal.
They wanted spooky. And a precise
look.
So a friend helped design her costume
to readily show
off her voluptuous, milky-white
form, and shaped her Elvira looks,
now legendary. She's kind of a
walking-talking
"Rocky Horror Picture Show" maven.
"The hairdo is from Ronnie Spector
of the Ronettes,
the makeup is straight from kabuki
theater.
And they wanted black
— black dress, black hair, black
mascara," she said.
"I feel very schizoid, with dual
personalities,"
said Peterson. "I am two different
people,
and my daughter thinks she has
two mommies,
including a mommy who can scare
people."
And no, the "Haunted Hills" in the
title of
her movie does not refer to her
breasts.
"Dirty mind," she giggled. "But
everything
I do is double-entendre and camp.
That's the fun of being Elvira."
The Gothic-horror caper, which she
wrote,
parodies vintage horror icons such
as Vincent Price,
Edgar Allen Poe, and Roger Corman,
and was shot — appropriately —
in Transylvania,
Romania, with Richard O'Brien,
writer-creator of "Rocky Horror")
among her mad players.
Why do people gravitate to horror
films?
"I think horror films give you an
adrenaline
rush you don't get in everyday
life," said Peterson.
"Horror films are like a roller-coaster
ride; you know,
in the back of your mind, you're
safe. Psychologically,
you get this sweeping feeling you
don't otherwise get."
But the genre has changed.
"Today, there are slasher-type movies;
that's not horror," she said. "True
horror is tied up with fantasy;
you see something on the screen,
you go outside,
it can't happen in real life, only
in your imagination
you know, vampires, ghosts, that
sort of thing.
The modern 'horror' films are like
the 5 o'clock news
stuff that can happen in real life."
PETERSON
Her movie tour is akin to a rock
star's one-night-stands.
Go-go-go. Mobile. Long hours.
Everywhere she goes, Peterson makes
a public appearance
and usually devotes part of the
screening proceeds to a charity.
Locally, it's Gregory House, a
haven for HIV/AIDS victims.
But the Elvira get-up enables Peterson
to enjoy a private life.
"The diehard fans who really know
me, know my voice,
which gives me away," she said.
"But 99 percent of the time,
I can be completely anonymous.
My celebrity friends would give
their right arm to be in my position.
Frankly, the love and adoration
get old quickly;
everyone needs privacy. Sure, I'm
happy to be promoting
my movie or my books, but I want
and need
my personal moments, too. I think
I have the best of both worlds.
When my costume and makeup come
off, I'm free."
Dubbed the "Mistress of the Dark,"
Elvira said
she used her own money to finance
the film because
she simply couldn't wait for job
offers.
It had been more than a dozen years
since she left the tube,
but folks still relish what she
does, particularly at Halloween.
Aside from the year she gave birth
to her daughter, now 7,
she has worked Halloween for 21
years.
"My fans are not all normal," she
laughed.
"I autograph some strange body
parts.
Rear ends, for instance.
And a lot of people come up with
an Elvira image
tattooed somewhere on their bodies."
