ELVIRA’S HAUNTED HILLS (2002) (Scream Factory Collector's Edition Blu-ray)

ELVIRA’S HAUNTED HILLS (2002) 

Collector's Edition Blu-ray 

Label: Scream Factory

Region Code: A
Rating: PG-13

Duration: 90 Minutes 

Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo & 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 

Director: Sam Irvin

Cast: Cassandra Peterson, Mary Jo Smith, Scott Atkinson, Richard O'Brien, Mary Scheer, Heather Hopper, Gabi Andronache

Elvira's Haunted Hills (2002) starring Elvira, Mistress Of The Dark (Cassandra Peterson) and directed by Sam Irvin (Oblivion) was a straight-to-video camp-fest that came out when I had my hands full with three small children, so I missed it the fist go around and never caught up with it till just today, shame on me. The fun flick is to the Vincent Price/Roger Corman Edgar Allen Poe-cycle of films from the early 60s what Mel Brook's Young Frankenstein was to Frankenstein (1931) and the Universal Horror films of the 30's;  a fun but loving send-up with it's heart in the right place. The main  riff here is The Pit and The Pendulum (1961) but there are also fun nods to House of Usher (1960), Premature Burial (1962), the opening title credits from The Haunted Palace (1963), and Tomb of Ligeia (1964), as well as a sprinkling of The Shining, Rocky Horror Picture Show and the Gothic Hammer Films. 

It's set in 1851 in the Carpathian mountains where the voluptuous Elvira (Cassandra Peterson) and her much put-upon but loyal servant girl, Zou-Zou (Mary Jo Smith, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me), have just been kicked out of their apartment by their landlord for non-payment. Now homeless and with not a cent to their names they hit the road, hoping to make their way to Paris where Elvira hopes to make it big performing burlesque for the Frenchies. 

Elvira's voluptuous figure gets them a hitched carriage ride with  Dr. Bradley Bradley (Scott Atkinson), doing his best George Sanders impression. He invites them to stay at the castle of the demented Lord Vladimir Hellsubus (Richard O'Brien, Rocky Horror Picture Show); where she and Zou-Zou get mixed up in the Hellsubus family curse. Compounding matters Elvira bares an uncanny resemblance to The Lord's dead wife Lady Alura, while his new wife Lady Ema Hellsubus (Mad TV's Mary Scheer), who is cheating on her hubby with Dr. Bradley, is not a fan of the new arrivals. 

I don't think anyone will mistake Elvira's Haunted Hills for anything more than what it is, a light-weight bit of sexed-up campy fun, standard issue Elvira schtick, wrapped up in a veneer of spot-on homage to the Corman directed Poe cycle of films from the sixties. The film was actually shot in Romania in the Carpathian Mountain and shot in a real medieval castle, and the production values are top-notch with interior sets oozing with Gothic charms, hidden passageways, torture dungeons - with a pendulum of course! - and some gorgeous natural scenery, and I am not just talking about Elvira's top-shelf assets! 

The story is played pretty straight, it's a Gothic tale of madness and then you have the campy one-liners of Elvira dropped into it, it's a recipe for b-movie magic of the silliest kind. Another nice touch is the addition of a hunky love object for Elvira by way of a beefy stable-stud named Adrian (Gabi Andronache) whose dialogue is humorously dubbed, there's lots of nice touches like that that show just how much the participants and writers are in-tune with the material they're lampooning, which certainly makes it more fun.  

I also enjoy how much fun the cast are having, obviously Elvira's doing her usual busty sexiness and campy one-liners, but then you have Scott Atkinson, Richard O'Brien and Mary Scheer chewing up the scenery in the best sort of way, particaurly Scheer with her on-point arched eye-brow acting and exaggerated facial expressions.  

Audio/Video: Elvira's Haunted Hills (2002) arrives on Blu-ray from Scream Factory in 1080p HD widescreen (1.85:1), sourced from a new 4K scan of the original camera negative. This is a fresh-looking new scan that offers a natural looking layer of film grain, lush colors and some pleasing detail in the close-ups of Elvira's face, bust and beyond into the castle interiors and period clothing. 

Audio comes by way of both English DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround with optional English subtitles, both options are solid, free of hiss or distortion and well-balanced. It's not the most immersive surround design and sticks mostly to front but atmospherics and score do get spread around in the surrounds. 

For a Scream Factory Collector's Edition we do not get a lot of new extras, in fact the only new extra, not counting the new 4K scan, is a 5-minute fun introduction by Elvira. The rest are carry-over or archival extras, but as I have never owned this film on home video before it's all new to me, so that's fine. We get a fun group Audio Commentary with Actors Cassandra Peterson, Mary Scheer, Mary Jo Smith And Scott Atkinson, and Director Sam Irvin that's pretty solid, lots of laughs and fun behind-the-scenes stories about the making of the film on location in Romania. 

There also a 20-min archival Making-Of Featurette with Cassandra Peterson, Mary Scheer, Mary Jo Smith and Scott Atkinson, and Director Sam Irvin, plus the 47-min vintage Transylvania Or Bust Featurette with Peterson, Irvin and producer Mark Pierson, the 47-min Elvira in Romania which is raw footage shot in Romania of the cast and crew, including some fun interviews with Romanian entertainment news sources.

The disc is buttoned-up with a 7-min on-set Interview with Actor Richard O’Brien, plus a 4-min Trailer, 1-minute worth of Outtakes, and a 2-min Gallery of promotional images for the film. All of these, aside from the new intro, are from less than stellar sources presented in 1.33:1, some obviously being sourced from VHS tape with scan lines present.

The singe-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a reversible sleeve of artwork featuring the original movie poster plus a new illustration from artist Joel Robinson. The new artwork is also featured on the Blu-ray disc plus on the side-loading rigid slipbox... yes you read that right, somehow this campy millennial throwback to the 80's was afforded a hard case slipbox, the same kind Scream Factory are using for the Halloween 1-5 Limited Edition 4K releases. It's a snazzy looking slipbox and I hope Scream Factory release more of these for future release, or maybe even make the slipboxes available for older titles - that would be a popular item, their OOP slipcases sell for big bucks.  

Special Features:
- NEW! Restoration from a 4K Scan of the Original Camera Negative
- NEW! Introduction by Elvira, Mistress Of The Dark (5 min) HD
- Audio Commentary with Actors Cassandra Peterson, Mary Scheer, Mary Jo Smith And Scott Atkinson, and Director Sam Irvin
- Making-Of Featurette (20 min) HD 
- Transylvania Or Bust Featurette (28 min) HD 
- Elvira in Romania Featurette (47 min) HD 
- Interview with Actor Richard O’Brien (7 min) HD 
- Outtakes (1 min) HD 
- Photo Gallery (4 min) HD 

- Trailer (2 min) HD 

Elvira's Haunted Hills (2002)is a lot more fun that I thought the millennial straight-to-video entry would be, it's super silly and schticky, but also quite a loving homage to the Corman/Poe AIP cycle of films, which is why I think it holds up so nicely. The Scream Factory Collector's Edition Blu-ray looks and sounds great, the archival extras are solid and the hard case slipbox packaging is fantastic. This gets a big recommend for those who get a kick from a good horror lampooning and for lover's of Elvira's campy schtick, both of whom are sure to have a good time with it. 

Screenshots from the Scream Factory Blu-ray: 

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