Cassandra Peterson declares Elvira the illegitimate child of Vincent Price and Ann Margaret.
October is upon us, and all our thoughts turn to Halloween.
Looking at the most popular costumes this year, Halloween is equal parts scary and sexy.
Elvira, The Mistress of the Dark, adds funny to the equation.
Elvira is played by the actress and screenwriter Cassandra Peterson.
Peterson is an artist of many myths.
After a date with Elvis, she moved from Vegas showgirl to singer.
She was spotted walking the streets of Rome by Federico Fellini who cast her on the spot.
Cassandra Peterson was the reason Richie Cunningham got a fake ID onHappy Days.
In aBlenderinterview from 2008, she also disproved the notion that Tom Jones stuffed socks down his pants.
Starting Oct. 19, Hulu will stream modern B-movie horror pictures with commentary by Elvira.
The series ends with the zombie classic, George A. RomerosNight of the Living Deadon Halloween.
Cassandra Peterson spoke exclusively withDen of Geekabout all of the above and a lot of the below.
Den of Geek: Youre going to be unleashing some horror classics in the Hulu series.
A little more sex and violence.
The movies have nudity.
Thats interesting for me because usually they have to black out all that.
Im always on regular television where we have standards and practices.
This time we have no standards.
Though you might say, Elvira never had any standards.
Its nice to be on Hulu where I can say and do whatever I want.
Its a little edgier.
The movies are really fun.
Theyre mostly Charles Van movies.
Movies that Ive liked over the years,Puppet Master,which is a classic.
Interesting, Ill have to think about that.
A lot of movies likeSaw, I would putSawon the list.
I know, people love, people love it but some of those movies move too non-horror for me.
I wouldnt even throw them in the bad horror bin.
Id throw them in the trash bin.
I just dont like the psycho-torturing of the women, that for me is just not horror.
What do you think is missing from horror movies today?
Youre on an up and down thrill ride like a rollercoaster, which has its place too.
Youd be walking outside, scared to go around the corner.
If you love horror, what scares you,Gilligans Island?
Ive become immune to fear, which is really weird.
I heard you liked horror toys instead of Barbie dolls when you were a kid.
What horror toys were available?
Oh, I did.
Once I saw Vincent Price inHouse on Haunted HillI was hooked on horror movies.
Do you remember making someone laugh?
Yeah, I was very young.
I did make people laugh all the time.
I had a very self-deprecating humor.
I kind of used it to get out of situations because I was burned when I was a child.
I had a lot of scars that really were prominent on my neck and on my shoulders.
How did you get burned?
Thirty-five percent of my body was third-degree burned.
I had skin grafting.
I always hear Mae West in your delivery, besides the obvious, who were your earliest influences?
I saw all the movies I could get my hands on.
I was really intoThe Twilight ZoneandThe Addams Family.
I was a huge fan of that TV show and Morticia Addams.
One of my giant idols.
Thats very bizarre, but it worked out for you right?
When I was little my influences were, well, Vincent Price and Ann Margaret.
Maybe I am kind of like the illegitimate child of Vincent Price and Ann Margaret.
I have a little bit of both of those going on.
Ann Margaret was my idol.
I saw her inBye Bye Birdieand I just thought Oh my god, sexy redhead.
She kissed Elvis actually in the movies.
I want to be her.
Did Elvis ever sing to you alone?
I started harmonizing with him, and we were singing a song together.
Thats when he said to me you have a pretty decent voice.
Why dont you get into singing?
Why dont you stop being a showgirl and take vocal lessons?
This is Vegas, its no place for a young girl.
You shouldnt be living here its no good.
I took him totally at his word.
The next day I went to a vocal coach.
I eventually left there and went to Europe and tried to make it over there as a singer.
What was your specialty in The Groundlings?
I was the worst at doing characters.
It was weird that I came up with this character.
I had a couple characters.
One was called Pet Lady.
One was a valley girl actress that kind of the personality that I based the Elvira character on.
That Valley Girl song with Moon Zappa had just come out.
I was sexy actress showing up for an audition.
People always called me the sex symbol of The Groundlings.
I always got all the parts like hooker, showgirl, stripper, whatever.
I was usually the girlfriend, the sexy wife, the hooker of the Groundlings.
I thought he was brilliant.
I thought he did a great job on that.
What was it like to work with Federico Fellini?
Well, of course it was an honor.
I was like, yes, hello?
Having lunch every day at a big table and watching him film this amazing movie.
One of my favorite movies because I really love Rome.
It was an experience of a lifetime.
They werent even aware of who she was.
I thought that was an amazing film.
I just love that Roman Polanski actually did a film like that.
And I said Oh no, Im not dying my hair black.
It was small town station managers who didnt have a lot of imagination, Im afraid.
Robert came up with the hairstyle that was based on his favorite rock hair of all time.
Ronnie Spector and the Ronnettes.
Her hair style was known as the knowledge bump.
We took that in and they said: thats great can you make the slit higher?
Id say we fixed it and theyd say oh, thank god.
You were Opie Cunninghams first stripper onHappy Days.
I finally get a job on a regular TV show and I was still playing a stripper.
So is that you on the cover ofSmall Change?
You know, I swear to god dont know.
Im hoping it is, Im hoping, but I dont remember doing it.
Dont you think youd remember doing an album cover with Tom Waits?
I did a million and one music videos back then with all kinds of artists.
Al Kooper, Hall and Oates.
I have to say it looks sort of like me.
Do you still listen to Tom Jones?
Its funny, I was playing a Tom Jones song the other day in my dressing room actually.
Did you ever dabble in black magic or the dark arts?
When I was a teenager I really got into reading Tarot cards.
I was very into the Ouija board.
I didnt do anything without finding out what I was supposed to do with a Ouija board first.
I was way into that when I was a teenager so does that count?
I studied Tarot cards.
I was very serious about Tarot Cards for a long time when I was a kid.
I have a new song out called Two Big Pumpkins.
Ill put it up with the interview.
And here it is.
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