Morbius Fitzgerald I only recently discovered Elvira through the first film - Elvira Mistress Of The Dark. Honestly, it was entertaining enough to warrant my buying a DVD of the show (which includes "The Satanic Rites Of Dracula" and "The Werewolf Of Washington"). So I went ahead and watched the sequel...sort of...and...this movie only holds up due to its ideas!So what are these ideas? Okay, its a spoof of Roger Corman movies, particularly the Edgar Allan Poe ones he did (not specifically stated but with the Pit and the Pendulum scene, its hard not to miss) where Elvira and her maid are in 1851 (as far as setup goes, a movie about a horror host being set before films were even invented isn't the strangest thing on display here) and short on money. So they hitch a ride with a Dr Bradley Bradley whose on his way to Castle Hellsubus. While there, everyone remarks on how much Elvira looks like Lady Hellsubus who committed suicide some 10 years earlier and was the first wife of our villain Vladimir Hellsubus (I'm not spoiling that he's the villain...just read the name he's got. He's played by Richard O'Brien. How do you not IMMEDIATELY see that he's the villain just from my review?).As a setup goes, thats not awful. In fact, I'd say its close to damn near inspired. Having someone famous for making fun of bad movies being in a self aware bad movie. It doesn't even go over the top with the premise like Sharknado does in a desperate "WE KNOW THIS IS CRAP! LAUGH!" over and over. As for the other elements that are good - Richard O'Brien is probably the most chuckles you'll get from this but only because he looks like he's having way too much fun with the part (and honestly, Richard Chamberlain backing out and being replaced with O'Brien probably saved the film an extra star). The costumes and set designers can be very proud of themselves. It looked and felt like a classic B-movie while still being a...modern B-movie.So whats bad? Well, all of the above would work if the jokes were written with any form of subtlety. I know I just said "It doesn't even go over the top with the premise" but that was the premise, not the actual humor of the film. Things like one liners about modern pop culture that aren't even funny just detract the entire film. For those that haven't seen it, allow me to demonstrate by quoting some lines that are actually in the film:"The village people say this house is haunted" "Who listens to The Village People anymore?""Shut up! What are you trying to do? Go for an Oscar""Heeeeeeeerrrrrrreeeee's Johan!"The whole FILM is filled with references like that! Its no less funny when you watch it than when you read it.Even if you took the references out, the jokes aren't as "on form" as Mistress Of The Dark. Why? The music score. Now that'll immediately warrant the reaction "how could something like the music score impact on the delivery of jokes?" Well, you know in cartoons where the people behind it play goofy as hell music when they're warranting a laugh or even just to get the audience ready for "something funny is gonna happen."? This film does that in every scene. Literally. I counted. The jokes aren't even on form enough to warrant that. So what we have here is a music score trying too hard to be a cartoon with jokes that aren't even funny enough to carry the film.As for the technical stuff outside of "costumes" and "sets"...oh god. The visual effects in this film are awful. Its mostly done with CGI...CGI in a film that had the overall budget of $1.5 million. I know Cassandra Peterson had to finance the film mostly all on her own but the visual effects in the 80's movie look a million times better and this came out some 13 years after. Hell the Sylvester McCoy Doctor Who intro looks better. Maybe you could say my judgement of the visual effects aren't great considering what was in the budget but needless to say, no matter what eye you look at it through, the CGI doesn't look good. Some of the more practical things like the Pit and the Pendulum, the iron maiden being closed in on people and the corpses all look fine though. Which is rather weird.Whats sad about the film is that the quality of the writing this time around is the single biggest blunder of the film. If this was given a few more drafts, who knows how much longer the series could've gone on for? It could've spoofed so many genres. Maybe the series would have subtlety...okay, thats impossible. But you get what I mean. This film series is, in general, supposed to be fun and yet, the failure of this film sank all chances of it, or any other film in the series, getting another film.As for everything else I didn't mention, its all on my very strong opinion of..."not great not horrible".So my final thoughts? Yeah, this movie is bad but its mostly just "dumb sequel bad". Even then, I've seen plenty of bad sequels that are far worse than this (this wouldn't even break my top 30) and I got some entertainment here and there with a few jokes that worked but thats the killer part - "a few". A lot of the problems are just too great for me to fully enjoy it enough to even consider it "okay". So check it out if you're interested but...just be prepared to not fully enjoy it.

Charles Herold (cherold) I always thought it was a shame that Elvira, Mistress of the Dark wasn't a success. It was a silly, dumb but very funny movie, one of those things like Scary Movie that everyone complains is tasteless and stupid but that I found wildly amusing.So I always thought it was a pity that Casandra Peterson (Elvira, if you don't bother reading the credits) didn't have a hit so she could make another movie. But then I discovered that she did make another movie a few years later, Elvira's Haunted Hills, and alas, it is downright lame. Not unwatchable - Elvira is likable and some of the jokes are amusing - but this feels like a Saturday Night Live sketch stretched to an hour and a half. And not even a very good SNL skit. The acting is generally poor and the Roger Cormanesque parody script isn't funny enough to make up for being so trite and predictable.

JohnZoidberg I was a big fan of the original Elvira film, but this one was just terrible. This time the lame jokes weren't even lame, they were pathetic.I can honestly say that Elvira's Haunted Hills hurt my brain.Stick with the original, this does nobody any good, not the actors, the film makers, the viewers, small furry animals running in a meadow somewhere...nobody.Also, it is dedicated to Vincent Price...who is CERTAIN to have rolled in his grave as a result.How about this, put the TV on, insert the DVD into the player and press play...then, pick up your car keys and go to the movies instead.

aesgaard41 Elvira's Haunted Hills is the long awaited sequel to Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, or not considering it's lacking in continuity and Elvira's back in 1851 where she sticks out like a couple of tomatoes in mashed potatoes. The movie might actually be a reference to her figure, though, as there's no haunts but a thick Hammer Movies-like atmosphere. Considering the modern references, it might just as well have happened in the present. Elvira is ageless in this and looks even more vampire-like with a black cape added to her attire. Mary Scheer from MAD TV is on hand in a limited role and Robert O'Brien ambles looking bored but having fun in this. (I hate The Rocky Horror show as should any horror purist, but O'Brien is still a respected actor none the less.) The movie exteriors were filmed on location around Sighisoara, Romania, the birthplace of Vlad Tepes for a matter of trivia, and the interior castle scenes are interesting enough for a second look. Dedicated to the memories of two great actors, Phil Hartman and Vincent Price, the movie does have a big budget look despite the actual low budget of the film, but its not as funny as I had hoped it would be. A more Mel Brooks/Monty Python direction would have worked. There's several funny lines and one-liners which Elvira rattles off effortlessly along with plot points and references stolen from other movies. Along the way, the movie just gets more surreal and turns into a parody of itself. In all, the movie is not as good as Elvira's first movie. Maybe her appeal has waned since the Eighties to anyone who is not a die hard fan as I am. I'd still want to see a third Elvira film and even more like to be able to have a hand in being in it as well.