Queer readings: A look at Elvira’s cinematic legacy

After her fabulous coming out during #BiWeek, we take a look at the campy Queen of Scream’s meaning for queers.

The 1988 film, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, opens with a battle between military men and a monster she describes as “Gumby on steroids” but on closer examination is a starfish-inspired vagina monster who dies after being stabbed in the eye. Of course, my reading comes on the heels of Cassandra Peterson’s announcement that she has been in a relationship with a woman for 19 years. While the film came out before she had feelings for another woman, the film telegraphs much about Peterson’s attitude toward misogyny and queerness. With her new announcement, the film doubles its place on the queer classics shelf.

An establishing montage might be useful here: an indifferent gas station attendant (man) accidentally sets fire to his station with a stray cigarette butt (phallic) tossed by the gasoline puddle (wombic) Elvira left; an ax murderer (male) is picked up by Elvira who in a cut scene scares him off, to which she says, “don’t forget your ax” (phallic); eating a hotdog (phallic) as she drives her (wombic) car the hotdog falls between her breasts creating frustration; a man at the television station grabs her breasts (assault) then is surprised when she stabs her stiletto heel (phallic) into his foot, pushes him over, only to hear him lament that he “was told she’s a nympho.”

These scenes establish the unreliability of men, as in all scenes except the one with the hotdog, masculinity is linked to violence. Of course people along the way want to blame everything on her sexuality or her general Munsters-goth vibe. The same people who judge, reject, or desire her are the same ones who fall prey to her highly sexualized feminine image. However, Elvira is in control as long as she is objectified — which is a risky statement to make, but consider this set of scenes:

She pulls into town just in time for her car to breakdown and three teenage boys to come up and beg for the chance to push her car to the finish line. Later when they try to spy on her undressing and she tells them to “come back when the lighting is better.” They do, in fact, return the next day with one more teen boy and all the paint they need to repaint her house. The boys begin charging other boys who want to help just so they can be close to her. In a very Tom Sawyer move, all the teenagers decide to join in the fun and then magically the house is painted (in a wonky rainbow no less). But right before the house is revealed, one of the teen girls is pulled away by a concerned citizen (old biddy) trying to prevent the corruption of the youth.

Before discussing this scene it’s important to note that Elvira’s actress, Peterson, is co-writer of the film, so the work reflects, at least in part, her decisions and vision. Elvira is at all times sexy and powerful; any moment in which she appears as a victim is simply an opportunity for her strength to double. In the house painting scene a sex work analogy could easily be applied: Elvira’s sex appeal is the commodity used by men to make profit from which she is excluded. However, nothing is further from the truth. Elvira welcomes the influx of teens with the phrase, “just pick up a tool and start banging” — her butt wagging as she looks over her shoulder. In this situation she is the Tom Sawyer who tricks everyone into her bidding. The dual message is: it’s okay to use your body but consent always comes first.

This scene also gives us a hint at a possible lesbian crush, through it is quickly squashed. The girl who joins the gang of painting teens does so to be near a boy (a taste of sexual equality). The woman who catches her and makes her leave isn’t worried about the corruption of the boys — that would occur if Elvira’s gay brother moved in; instead, like the scare tactics from the old Sid Davis fear films (Boys Beware and Girls Beware), the fear centers from one gender corrupting the same gender. As a result all the town’s teens are forbidden from seeing Elvira’s career saving show. When she asks, “No one will come?” in the most melodramatic overture, it is the girl who was dragged away that starts the “I am Spartacus” chain of “I’ll be there’s.”

With or without Peterson’s announcement, the film offers tons of campy fun. It reads like John Waters directed Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. References are everywhere: from the academic feminist theory on “Mad Women in the Attic” to a wonderfully combinedCarrie-Flashdance reference to Roger Corman and Rambo. 

I’ll close with my five favorite queer-ish moments in Elvira, Mistress of the Dark:

• “Remember, you carry the power with you.” P.S., the power is a clitoris symbol.

• Edie McClurg

• Elvira as the romantic and sexual (but respectful) aggressor.

• Women should be weary of men who demand the family cookbook.

• Elvira as a motherless Disney princess who ties three generations of women together.

Watch this campy classic on Amazon prime. You can also read more about Peterson’s personal life in her upcoming memoir, “Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark.”