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{{short description|American hosted horror movie television program}}
{{Infobox television
| image = Movie Macabre S01 title screen.jpg
| caption = Title card
| alt_name = ''Movie Macabre with Elvira, Mistress of the Dark''
| genre = [[Television comedy|Comedy]]<br />[[Horror fiction|Horror]]<br />[[Science fiction]]
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| narrated =
| theme_music_composer =
| opentheme
| endtheme =
| composer =
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| runtime =
| company =
| channel = [[KHJ-TV]] <small>(1981–86)</small>
| first_aired = {{Start date|1981|09|26}}
| last_aired = {{End date|1986|11|02}}
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==History==
[[File:Elvira waving.jpg|thumb|Peterson dressed as Elvira at the 2006 San Francisco Gay Pride parade]]
In 1981, six years after the death of [[Larry Vincent]], who starred as host Sinister Seymour of a Los Angeles weekend horror show called ''[[Fright Night (TV show)|Fright Night]]'', show producers began to bring the show back.<ref>{{cite web |last=Boone |first=Brian |title=What Elvira, Mistress of the Dark Looks Like Today |url=https://www.nickiswift.com/136138/what-elvira-mistress-of-the-dark-looks-like-today/ |website=Nicki Swift |access-date=October 3, 2021 |date=October 23, 2018}}</ref>
The producers decided to use a hostess. They asked 1950s' [[horror host]]ess [[Maila Nurmi]] to revive ''[[The Vampira Show]]''. Nurmi worked on the project for a short time, but quit when the producers would not hire [[Lola Falana]] to play Vampira.<ref>{{cite web |last=Wax |first=Alyse |title=This Day in Horror: Happy Birthday Maila Nurmi aka Vampira |url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/315074/this-day-in-horror-happy-birthday-maila-nurmi-aka-vampira/ |website=Dread Central |access-date=October 3, 2021 |date=December 11, 2019}}</ref> The station sent out a [[casting call]], and Peterson auditioned and won the role. Producers left it up to her to create the role's image. She and her best friend, Robert Redding, came up with the sexy goth/vampire look after producers rejected her original idea to look like [[Sharon Tate]]'s character in ''[[The Fearless Vampire Killers]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Pierce-Bohen |first=Kayleena |title=Elvira's Movie Macabre: 10 Things Fans Never Knew About The Horror Show |url=https://screenrant.com/elvira-movie-macabre-horror-show-trivia-facts/ |website=[[Screen Rant]] |access-date=October 3, 2021 |date=June 2, 2020}}</ref> They created the Elvira look by drawing inspiration from a [[Kabuki]] makeup book and the hairstyles of [[The Ronettes]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stardust |first1=Lisa |title=Cassandra Peterson on Elvira's Legacy, Goth Glam, and Feminine Power |url=https://www.instyle.com/cassandra-peterson-elvira-legacy-interview-6823621 |website=InStyle}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Peterson |first1=Cassandra |title=How the Iconic Late-Night TV Character of Elvira Came to Be |url=https://lithub.com/how-the-iconic-late-night-tv-character-of-elvira-came-to-be/ |website=Literary Hub|date=24 September 2021 }}</ref>
Shortly before the first taping, producers received a [[cease and desist]] letter from Nurmi. Besides the similarities in the format and costumes, Elvira's closing line for each show, wishing her audience "Unpleasant dreams," was notably similar to Vampira's closer: "Bad dreams, darlings..." uttered as she walked off down a misty corridor. The court ruled in favor of Peterson, holding that "'likeness' means actual representation of another person's appearance, and not simply close resemblance." Peterson claimed that Elvira was nothing like Vampira aside from the basic design of the black dress and black hair. Nurmi claimed that Vampira's image was based on [[Morticia Addams]], a character in [[Charles Addams]]'s cartoons that appeared in ''[[The New Yorker]]'' magazine.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vampirathemovie.com/nurmi-v-peterson/ |title=Nurmi v. Peterson |date=March 25, 2007 |website=Vampira: The Movie |access-date=3 October 2021 |archive-date=3 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211003142451/https://www.vampirathemovie.com/nurmi-v-peterson/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The Elvira character rapidly gained notoriety with her tight-fitting, low-cut black gown which showed ample cleavage (after all, Vampira had only been broadcast locally back in the day and Elvira was syndicated much wider. The movies featured on ''Elvira's Movie Macabre'' were always B-grade ([[Z movie|or lower]]). Elvira reclined on a red Victorian couch, introducing and often interrupting the movie to lampoon the actors, the script, and the editing. Adopting the flippant tone of a California "[[Valley girl]]", she brought a satirical, sarcastic edge to her commentary. She reveled in dropping risqué double entendres and making frequent jokes about her display of cleavage, which was after all most of a not very bright bimbo's personality. In an ''AOL Entertainment News'' interview, Peterson said, "I figured out that Elvira is me when I was a teenager. She's a spastic girl. I just say what I feel and people seem to enjoy it." Her campy humor, sex appeal, and good-natured self-mockery made her popular with late-night movie viewers, and her popularity soared.▼
▲
Elvira was a frequent guest on ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson]]'' and other talk shows. She also produced a long-running series of Halloween-themed television commercials for [[Coors Brewing Company|Coors Light Beer]] and [[Mug Root Beer]] (her trademark cleavage was concealed for the Coors campaign). She appeared in guest roles on television dramas such as ''[[CHiPs]]'', ''[[The Fall Guy]]'' and ''[[Fantasy Island]]'' and appeared on numerous awards shows as a presenter. Although she is known primarily as Elvira, Peterson has made out-of-costume appearances as herself for television interviews and specials.
Two million pairs of $0.99 3D glasses were reportedly sold for the 22 May 1982, broadcast of ''[[The Mad Magician]]''.<ref>#4784 May 25, 1982 Suzanne Pleshette, Argus Hamilton, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston [[List of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson episodes (1982)]]</ref>
In 1982, with the success of ''Movie Macabre'', [[Knott's Berry Farm|Knott's Theme Parks]] hired Elvira to replace Seymour as the host of its annual Halloween Haunt during October. Elvira appeared nightly at the park, live on stage with a Halloween-themed musical comedy revue similar to her ''Mamma's Boys'' act from the 1970s.
The Elvira character rapidly evolved from obscure cult figure to a lucrative brand name.
==Episode list==
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| 09||''The Last Bride of Salem''||116||January 12, 1985
|-
| 10||''
|-
| 11||''[[The Revenge of Frankenstein]]''||118||March 10, 1985
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| s1e05||''[[The Satanic Rites of Dracula]]''||5||October 18, 2010
|-
| s1e06||''[[Scared to Death (1947 film)|Scared to Death]]''||6||October 25, 2010
|-
| s1e07||''[[The Werewolf of Washington]]''||7||November 1, 2010
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| s1e08||''[[Eegah]]''||8||November 8, 2010
|-
| s1e09||''[[Teenagers from Outer Space (film)|Teenagers from Outer Space]]''||9||November 15, 2010
|-
| s1e10||''[[Santa Claus Conquers the Martians]]''||10||December 20, 2010
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| 01||''[[Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (film)|Elvira: Mistress of the Dark]]''||1988
|-
| 02||''[[
|-
| 03||''[[The City of the Dead (film)|The City of the Dead]]''||1960
|-
| 04||''[[
|-
|}
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* ''[[House on Haunted Hill]]'' and ''[[Night of the Living Dead]]''
The films were also released on four stand-alone DVDs. Three of the four DVDs were double features under the ''Elvira's Horror Classics'' title. ''Night Of The Living Dead'' was a single feature DVD without the ''Elvira's Horror Classics'' title branding on the DVD case art. It was titled as ''Night of the Living Dead'' "Hosted by Elvira". The disc itself does have the ''Elvira's Horror Classics'' branding on it.
* ''[[The Little Shop of Horrors]]'' and ''[[The Brain That Wouldn't Die]]''
* ''[[Dementia 13]]'' and ''[[Carnival of Souls]]''
* ''[[House on Haunted Hill]]'' and ''[[The Terror (1963 film)|The Terror]]''
* ''[[Night of the Living Dead]]''
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* ''[[The Terror (1963 film)|The Terror]]'' and ''[[Eegah]]''
* ''[[The Brain That Wouldn't Die]]'' and ''[[The Manster]]''
* ''[[Scared to Death (1947 film)|Scared to Death]]'' and ''[[Tormented (1960 film)|Tormented]]''
* ''[[Lady Frankenstein]]'' and ''[[Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter]]''
* ''[[Santa Claus Conquers the Martians]]'' and ''[[Beast from Haunted Cave]]'' (previously unaired)
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====Quadruple feature sets====
* ''Wild Women'' featuring ''[[Untamed Women]]'', ''[[The Wild Women of Wongo]]'' (previously unaired), ''[[Hercules and the Conquest of Atlantis|Hercules and the Captive Women]]'' and ''[[The Wasp Woman]]'' (previously unaired)
* ''Giant Monsters'' featuring ''[[The Giant Gila Monster]]'', ''[[Attack of the Giant Leeches]]'' (previously unaired), ''[[Teenagers from Outer Space (film)|Teenagers from Outer Space]]'', and ''[[Daikyojū Gappa|Monster from a Prehistoric Planet]]'' (previously unaired)
* ''Bloody Madness'' featuring ''[[A Bucket of Blood]]'', ''[[The Killer Shrews]]'' (previously unaired), ''[[Manos: The Hands of Fate]]'' and ''[[The Forgotten (1973 film)|Don't Look in the Basement]]''
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