Sorry this is late, work and life got in the way so I'll try and post #8 through #6 today.
And number eight in my list of top ten Halloween movies for 2009 is Elvira's Haunted Hills (2001). What do you mean you never seen it/heard of it? Sure, it wasn't played in wide release, only small screenings, and went straight to DVD. As far as I know it never played on cable either. That doesn't mean it isn't a good film or that you should miss out on it.
It stars Elvira (Cassandra Peterson who also wrote and produced) as...well Elvira. Lost in eastern Europe (around the 1800's) she and her girl friday find themselves in a castle straight out of a Roger Corman Poe film. Richard O'Brien (Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture show) is the master of the castle, who is slowly going insane and mourns for his long dead wife.
This film is a love letter to the horror films of Corman and Hammer (it's dedicated to Peterson's personal friend Vincent Price)and it shows on the screen. It's a parody, but it's a respectful parody that doesn't belittle the original subject.
There's a great documentary on the DVD that talks about the shoot in Romania where the people dress and look like they did two hundred years ago, letting the production save money on having to pay extras in costumes.
One little bit of trivia I found interesting was that Richard O'Brien's part of Lord Vladimere Hellsubus was originally to played by Richard Chamberlain, who dropped out just two weeks prior to film rolling. I can see Chamberlain playing a Vincent Price like character, but O'Brien is an inspired bit of casting and he chews up the scenery very nicely.
Elvira's Haunted Hills is available at Elvira's web site HERE.
Until Next Time, Stay Insane!
UPDATE 10/27-I finally found a trailer so I just added it.
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