These Are Some Of Elvira's Favorite Horror Films Of All Time

Always sexy and never too spooky – that's the enduring appeal of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. The goth-glam character (as played by Cassandra Peterson) has been entertaining fans for 40 years, and her signature look (teased black hair and a long black dress that leaves little to the imagination) now appears on T-shirts, coffee mugs, underwear, and on the cover of her new memoir: "Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark." All through October 2021, Elvira is always appearing weekly on Netflix to promote their "Netflix and Chills" original films.

Peterson first made her name by hosting the "Movie Macabre" show, in which she made wisecracks about campy low-budget horror films like "The Thing With Two Heads" and "The Incredible Melting Man." Watching so many of these creaky creepshows must have had a lasting impact on her. Peterson has said that when it comes to her own movie-watching, she still has a soft spot in her heart for cheesy thrillers that are more laughable than spine-tingling. "I mean, I have watched all these films 800 times apiece, so I know them all by heart," she once told Interview. 

Which ones are her absolute favorites? Read on.

In the 2010 magazine interview, Peterson's Elvira opened up about the horror films she loves best. True to her roots as a host for B-movies, she revealed that she prefers the old campy flicks over today's popular slasher hits. "One I really like is called 'Manos: The Hands of Fate,' which is right up there with 'Plan 9 From Outer Space' as the biggest piece of crap ever made," she told Interview. "It's so great, though. Just brilliant."

Made popular through its 1993 airing on "Mystery Science Theater 3000," "Manos" was a super-low-budget 1966 indie film put together in eight days on a bet by a Texas fertilizer salesman, according to the El Paso Times. (You can't make this stuff up!). The plot, such as it is, follows a vacationing couple and their daughter who get lost and end up in a remote lodge where "The Master" and his creepy servant, Torgo, preside over a cult of women in togas. 

Another favorite of Elvira's is "The Brain That Wouldn't Die," another "MST3K" staple, this 1962 schlock-fest is about a doctor who preserves the head of his decapitated fiancée, Jan. Despite Jan's pleas to be put out of her misery, the obsessed doc looks for a suitable body on which to perform a transplant. "And she's alive! Oh. My. God. To me, it's a classic," Elvira laughed.

So if you love to scream — with laughter — on Halloween, check out one of Elvira's favorite flicks while you chow down on your mini-Kit Kats.