Elvira Hosting ‘Mistress of the Dark’ Anniversary Screening in Salem

Debuting in the early-’80s, Elvira became a seminal figure in the world of horror, with performer Cassandra Peterson continuing to make public appearances to this day as she delights hordes of fans. This October will see a unique opportunity to watch her film Elvira, Mistress of the Dark with Peterson in person to celebrate the film’s 30th anniversary in Salem, Massachusetts.

The character debuted as a TV horror host, offering introductions and interjecting quips during broadcasts of sci-fi and horror B-movies. Elvira’s stint as a host became so popular that she launched to the big screen with Elvira, Mistress of the Dark in 1988 while offering audiences another original tale in 2001’s Elvira’s Haunted Hills.

Making the screening even more memorable is the difficulties fans have faced when it comes to obtaining their own personal copy in high-definition.

The film was originally scheduled to debut on Blu-ray last year in a set that was jam-packed with special features. As the months went by, the original distributor was relatively silent before the release was canceled completely.

Earlier this year Arrow Video announced that they would be taking over production on the disc, though offered little insight about what fans could expect from the release. The original Blu-ray was slated to include a 100-minute documentary, multiple feature-length commentaries, behind-the-scenes footage, and new interviews.

Despite the character’s continued success after all these years, Peterson shared with ComicBook.com that we’ll likely never see another feature film focusing on Elvira.

“I go back and forth on that,” Peterson confessed. “Honestly, I kind of feel like you can’t reheat an old soufflé, and I wouldn’t want to make another Elvira film if it didn’t have the impact that the first one had, and that one has become a real cult classic.”

Peterson then compared her character to Pee-Wee Herman, another dominating force of the ’80s, whose resurgence with a Netflix special was met with an underwhelming response.

“Pee-Wee’s first movie was so freaking great and then he did the Netflix one and I loved it, I absolutely adored it,” Peterson gushed. “I thought it was great, but people still criticized it by comparing it to that first one and it’s like, how are you ever going to do that again? It was just magic, and I’m afraid of doing that and going, ‘Yeah, Elvira did another film and, you know. It didn’t live up to the first one.’ That’s just kind of a bummer.”

You can head to SalemHorror to grab your tickets to the October 4th event now. Stay tuned for details about the future release of the Elvira, Mistress of the Dark Blu-ray.

Is this an event you’d like to attend? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

[H/T Bloody Disgusting]