Halloween at the Towers 2010 - Elvira's Movie Macabre

Halloween has come again, and Shangrila Towers will feature Halloween-themed posts until October 31st hits, when we'll cap the season off with a liveblog of AMC's adaptation of "The Walking Dead." Today, we'll look at the resurrection of a comedy-horror icon...

If you want a lesson in how lucrative merchandizing deals can transform a cult figure into a nationally recognized celebrity, just look at Elvira. Starting as a hostess for horror flicks shown on a TV station, the character quickly gained notoriety for her low-cut black dress and quirky, valley-girl demeanor. The actress who plays Elvira, Cassandra Peterson, explains:



For awhile there, you couldn't turn your head at Halloween without seeing an Elvira costume (for my part, I remember the Elvira-themed pinball machine was great fun). You might think that, once her popularity faded in the '90s, she'd never come back...

...but you'd be wrong, since Elvira's hosting horror movies again. No worries about the mileage, either - Cassandra Peterson still looks great in that V-neck dress. Check out the trailer:



Normally, old icons from the '80s and '90s don't translate well, but Elvira seems hellbent on proving she's culturally relevant. This is probably the best spoof of the Chrstine O'Donnell "Witch" ad I've seen: