Unpleasant Dreams on April Fool's Day

 Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988) is comfort food. That's what it is, comfort food. She's an ongoing double entendre machine, for sure, but a small town with a morality picnic celebration sure needs such a black-clad Vampira lookalike with a low cut clinging dress that empathizes her impressive and revealing cleavage. Elvira sure seems like the ideal grand niece of a witch with a "recipe" book of spells capable of feeding locals a potluck of "horny" stew. W Morgan Sheppard seems perfect for an old warlock looking to get his hands on her book while others' attentions are on Elvira's boo...

I remember seeing this, of all places, on NBC as their Primetime Movie back in 1990. Conaway requesting a blowjob, the letter mishap on the theater marquee where Elvira makes a resident faint, and Elvira spinning her nipple tassels with great skill probably didn't make the cut for regular television. And I wonder how much of the sexual innuendo was lost on young'ins like me back then. There are the plentiful boob jokes but there's also lots of implied sex references using everything from tools to names of women in town. Edible panties, boob bra enhancers, black paint and feathers, priests and cowboy producers looking to cop a big feel and the insults flying right and left between Elvira and the town women who dare cross her, "Mistress of the Dark" earns it's stripes as a critical failure all the while earning the love from those of us who embrace and hug the cheap gags and zingers that generally beckon Razzies and Top 10 Worst films of the year lists.🎃🎃🎃/🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

Also easy viewing is "April Fool's Day" (1986), a film I watched earlier this year and already wrote about multiple times on the blog. I picked up a barebones Paramount DVD copy for my Physical Media library, although I'm not a huge fan even as the film has a cult following. Plenty really like it. It has grown on me with repeated viewings because I enjoy the isolated island cabin setting, pranks by Muffy pulled on her invited visitors from college, the Bernstein score which has this ethereal quality that can be whimsical, eerie, melodic, and haunting, casting of familiar 80s film and television faces, and some fun makeup effects meant to startle but later proven to be a gag. Foreman gradually worsening on purpose for effect has a sort of weird WTF? vibe to her that amuses me. But I remember feeling puzzled by her at the time. The preppy college snobs with some yuppy wannabes and Intellectual misfits mix can be an intriguing dynamic. Even though I cringe sometimes at the obvious awkwardness that derives from people who wouldn't normally comingle brought together for an experiment to test out a retreat murder mystery island weekend getaway. It's always fun to see Wilson from "Back to the Future". There are some interesting character developments such as unfortunate medical school revelations, abortion, failed hookups, hopeful career advancement, and sexual Q&A. My DVD has the secondary white cover with a butcher knife with Steele's reflection and a noose hanging down... generic and bland, but I wasn't willing to spend too much on a barebones DVD with the iconic poster art of the killer with long hair braided in the shape of a noose with butcher knife in hand facing potential cast of victims. 🔪🔪🔪/🔪🔪🔪🔪