(Transcribed by Liza Delgado)
Elvira
This is Elvira.
Dagon
Hello, this is Dagon, I don’t know if you remember me from the Halloween show,
I had the rat with me.
Elvira
I remember you very well, when my husband said that he talked to you, I said
"I remember that guy" You have a name that’s pretty hard to forget, Dagon.
With the look and the rat, too.
Dagon
Have you had a busy day?
Elvira
Oh Yeah, I’m driving to Orange Country to Knox Berry Farm as we speak.
Dagon
Tell me what you're doing in your show, is it a big type Las Vegas show?
Elvira
It’s the biggest holiday attraction in America, the whole theme park is
dressed for Halloween. It’s been going on 26 years now since they have had the
Halloween haunt, and they have several shows in the park, and my show being the largest
audience one… its like a Vegas type show. I dance and sing and do jokes, I have an
audience participation game this year with members of the audience called Halloween
jeopardy, and it's really fun. It’s like a 35 minute show and I do 4 of them a night.
Dagon
Have you done this a couple of years running?
Elvira
I have been there 13 years, it’s my 13th year.
Dagon
That’s quite a number there …13.
Elvira
Yeah really, My lucky 13.
Dagon
The 3D movie that your doing now…do you need the glasses for that?
Elvira
Yeah, they supply glasses when you go in. It’s not the little dorky blue and
red kind we used to have, they look like real sunglasses.
Dagon
How long is that movie?
Elvira
I’d say it’s about 30 minutes. I don’t know exactly.
Dagon
What’s it about? Is it kind of along the lines of Elvira Mistress of the Dark?
Elvira
No, not at all, it’s called "Encounters in the 3rd Dimension" and
it’s an educational film about the 3D process. How it began the history of it, why it
hasn’t caught on with new technology. It’s sort of educational and I’m in
there doing a music video of one of my songs. The CD is called "Monster hits",
it’s from Rhino records, and "Revenge of the Monster Hits".
Dagon
Along those same lines, I was looking at the 3D ride that you're doing. That’s
some incredible artwork. Did you have anything to do with the planning of that?
Elvira
Not so much with the ride, we could say Yes or No, but basically it’s made in
Belgium. These artist are amazing. I was just hired because they think I work well
with this kind of stuff. So they just use me.
Dagon
Is that going to be available throughout the country?
Elvira
The ride? Yeah, Superstition will be around the country. It depends on where
there’s a theatre location that can do it.
Dagon
Could that be in arcades and that type of thing? Or is it pretty much got to be in
a theatre?
Elvira
Superstition, they make special theatres for it, they have one here at Universal.
Or it can be used in one of those movable kinds of trucks. Have you seen those? That goes
to malls…. Like a mobile ride, flight stimulator.
Dagon
I just saw it there watching the video tape, I would love to take the ride, it
probably rocks you back and forth and all that other kind of stuff, 3D motion.
Elvira
The ride is a thousand times better than watching just the tape because your seat
is moving up and down and your moving, it’s really like going on a really narly
rollarcoster ride.
Dagon
It’s almost like that just watching the tape.
Elvira
I know…even without the moving…it’s really amazing and you
can’t believe the technology. When you see this 3D movie that’s coming out in
the spring, it’s mind boggling…I don’t know how they do it. The same people
did both.
Dagon
The 3D movie that you did…is that a lot of 3D animation too? Or it live
action?
Elvira
the 3D movie is all live action on my part, but I shot the whole thing in a big
empty room, with a blue screen behind me.
Dagon
So everything but you is raytraced?
Elvira
Yeah, there is another character in the movie Stuart Pankin, he’s an actor,
we're the only real things in the movie. Yes, everything else is computer generated.
Dagon
That’s pretty incredible
Elvira
This is really incredible when you see it. I couldn’t even believe it myself.
Dagon
I saw that Chicago was on the list…Do you have any idea were it would be
playing at?
Elvira
Well, where ever there is a 3D Ominmax theatre, it’s not a regular Ominmax
theatre, and it would have to be a special theatre for this process. It’s not coming
out until spring, it was suppose to be coming out at the end of this month, but it will
not be released until spring.
Dagon
O.K. I’ll be sure to report that. I was going through your website to and saw
that you worked with Pita.
Elvira
Yeah, I’m a big Pita supporter.
Dagon
I have a close friend here in Chicago, Helen Omeish, that works with Pita a lot and
she does the Lady Gadiva thing. She rides the horse naked and what not.
Elvira
I talked to my girlfriend Judy Patuda into doing that for them when they were in
LA.
Dagon
Are you a vegetarian or a vegan?
Elvira
Vegetarian.
Dagon
Are you doing anything with them this Halloween? I know your going to be on Animal
Planet on Halloween.
Elvira
It’s called "The Pet shop." It's me as Cassandra, with my dog
Gram. The Pita magazine this month has some stuff about me in it. I have a thing in there,
like the 5 worst things to buy for Halloween.
Dagon
Can you rattle them off?
Elvira
1. A fur trimmed coat
2. Festive food platter with foie gras (fatted goose liver)
3. Subscibtion to "American Vogue"
4. Lifetime passes to Ringling Bros. Barnum & Baily Circus
5. Donation to March of Dimes
It’ s a really funny article. It’s in the Pita magazine, so if you go to the
Pita website, mine has a link to it, you can request a magazine for the month of October.
Dagon
I heard that you were close with Phil Hartmen, I don’t know if you what to
talk about that?
Elvira
Yeah, we were very close.
Dagon
And that you might have seen something like that coming and you were trying to help
him get out of that situation.
Elvira
No, I didn’t see anything like that coming, not at all. NO. I had once tried
talking him out of marrying this wife because she was just a flake. We had a big argument
and we didn’t talk for 2 years. I just didn’t think she was a great person for
him to get married to, because she had substance abuse problems. I don’t think
it’s great to get into a relationship with someone who has that kind of problem.
Dagon
It’s hard enough when you're sober.
Elvira
Yeah, to get a relationship going…Phil had had three failed marriages, so he
had already been through 3 divorces, so I was like "Phil come on."
Dagon
How long did you know him for?
Elvira
I knew Phil for 22 years. My husband knew him for 27 years, he knew him since he
was a kid. Phil and I worked together at the Groundlings for 4 ½ years. So we were very
good friends.
Dagon
Did you do that as Cassandra or as Elvira?
Elvira
Cassandra, before I was Elvira. That was instrumental in getting me into the show,
into being Elvira, because the Director of the show had come down to see me in the
Groundlings, doing comedy improv and thought that I was a good comedian and was looking
for a woman who could be sexy and do comedy.
Dagon
And you do both very, very well. Just as an off beat question. I was watching in
the movie, "Elvira Mistress of the Dark", your jumping around doing all
this stuff and the costume never moves. It moves but it never comes close to coming off.
Elvira
I can stand on my head…
Dagon
Is it glued to you with spirit glue or something?
Elvira
No, it’s not glued to me, you're the second person to ask me that question
today. It’s just this amazing bra that’s in there that’s really tight.
You're so pacted in there, there is no where to move to.
Dagon
You never had any outtakes or had to say cut and put them back?
Elvira
No, unfortunately for everybody, fortunately for me no. I never had a problem with
the dress.
Dagon
Talking about before you were Elvira, you were in "Fellini’s Roma."
Elvira
I’m so flattered to have worked with Fellini, I got to meet him and talk to
him a lot. He was very nice to me and helpful. I didn’t speak Italian so he had to
really guide me through the whole thing. He kept me working for 30 days. I was desperate
for work. One day he let me be a hooker in the hooker scene and then the next day I’d
be a student in the riots, I’d be on the back of a motorcycle riding around. They had
a lot of scenes and were just shooting things in Rome. What ever would come up, he would
just stick me in it. For me it was great, because I got to work and actually make some
money.
Dagon
How about "Diamonds are Forever"?
Elvira
That’s the first movie I’d ever done. They came to Las Vagas to shoot,
they picked our show to shoot a little scene on stage there with a comedian. They picked
two show girls out of the chorus, I was to accompany this comedian on stage, and so
I was one of the girls. Later I went to London and they used me as an extra again in
another scene when I went over there I had lunch with Shawn Connery, Michael Kane, and
Tony Curtis one day, it was so cool. The big film studio over in London…. I can't
remember the name. They were showing the behind the scenes, you know in
"Diamond’s are Forever" they land on the moon, They recreated the moon and
all the crators out of mash potatoes, they took me in there and the smell was so bad.
Dagon
You were in an episode of Happy Days? You were a stripper. Was that in front of a
live audience with Fonzy? I’ve been looking for it and haven’t seen it. There
were two episodes of Happy Days in a strip club.
Elvira
I’m pretty sure it was in front of a live audience, it’s been so long.
Dagon
Was it when Fonzy’s future bride was one of the girls and he didn’t know
she was a stripper?
Elvira
I think I was Richie’s girlfriend or something and he found out I was a
stripper.
Dagon
You're right, there where 3 of them, so you played Richie's girlfriend?
Elvira
I think he wanted to date me, until his parents found out that I was a stripper.
Dagon
That’s the 3rd one and I wasn’t even thinking of that episode. How about
"Pee wee’s Big Adventure"?
Elvira
I was in that because I was Paul Rubens friend and Paul put all his friends in the
movie, Phil Hartman, all the people that were in the Goundlings were basically in the
movie.
Dagon
I heard he’s making a come back.
Elvira
Yeah, he is, he has a movie coming out.
Dagon
I thought after all that happened they should have put his show on after Saturday
Night Live.
Elvira
I thought so to, late at night, but he doesn’t want to run it. He’s had
opportunities, MTV wanted to buy it, but he won’t sell it.
Dagon
One question I have to ask you, have you ever had any haunted experience? Anything
Supernatural or anything like that happened to you?
Elvira
Oh yeah, I’ve had several. It all started when I bought this house I was
living in a while ago. It’s a big old dark four story house in Hollywood Hills. It
was built in 1910 and there had been 3 deaths there. One was an accidental death, a girl
feel in the swimming pool. One was a murder, a husband killed his wife and the lover.
Another was a suicide, by hanging in a bedroom closet. It’s always nice to know when
your sleeping that someone hung themselves in your closet.
Dagon
Did you know all of this before you bought it?
Elvira
No, I didn't, I found it all out from old neighbors that lived in the area for
50-60 years. They had newspaper clippings and told us the stories. We always had these old
people showing up on our door step " I lived in this house when I was 5 years
old" It was amazing all the people that would come back to see this old house. Before
I started hearing all these stories, I started hearing and seeing all these odd things
going on in this house, many times. I had a priest come there and a Minister and an
American Indian come there and all do blessings and spirit removal.
Dagon
What would happen?
Elvira
People walking around on the 4th floor and I didn’t have anything on the 4th
floor, nothing up there at all. It had a very thin winding staircase, it was really hard
to put any furniture up there it was basically a big empty room. I would hear distinct
walking at night up there, sometimes when I would come home all the lights would be on
upstairs. I would be scarred out of my mind to go up there and turn them off. I would ask
my husband " Did you go upstairs to the 4th floor?" And he would say "No, I
haven’t been up there in 3 weeks" I'd ask anybody that was in our house, nobody
went up there. I saw a person sitting in front of my fireplace one night in a chair, it
was as real as you and me, I started talking to the person. I was expecting people over
for a dinner party and ran downstairs and there was this guy sitting in a chair and I said
Hello and he just stared at me and I got a little creeped out because I thought I
don’t know who this is. I turned around to call my husband and when I turned back
around he was gone. Never saw him again. I saw a puff of smoke one night while I was lying
in bed, I thought the house was on fire and I bolted right up because the smoke was right
in the great room, as we called it, was right outside the bedroom door. It just hung there
in the air and I kept staring at it. I was ready to wake up my husband because I thought
it was a fire, fire is what I was really afraid of in our house because it was wood and it
was made in 1910 so it would go up like a match.
Dagon
And the exorcisms didn’t help either?
Elvira
Those I had after all this happened.
Dagon
Did it keep happening?
Elvira
No, it calmed down, actually I felt very, very safe in this house in spite of all
this stuff happening. I was going to tell you that the smoke turned into a woman wearing a
nurse uniform came into the bedroom and bent over my husband and said "I have to take
him into the swimming pool" I asked "Were are you taking him?" And she said
"Into the swimming pool" I said " No your not" then she turned back
into smoke. I know this is really odd, I thought I was cracking up, I felt like I had to
go to a psychiatrist….
Dagon
Beside the haunted house area, we have a ghost story area where you can click on a
state and read ghost stories. I’ll have to include that, if you don’t mind.
Elvira
It was really bizarre, I had friends who said they had dreams about the house and
that in the basement there was something very, very bad under the house. That the people
in the house the spirits where protecting us from what ever was under the house. I had one
friend who had this very vivid dream and then I had another friend who had the same dream
without even knowing each other. I did feel safe there despite being right in the middle
of Hollywood, I never even locked my doors, and ever at night the entire time I lived
there and never had any problems there.
Dagon
Is that why you ended up selling?
Elvira
No, actually it wasn’t for sale but Brad Pitt made us an offer we could not
refuse, he kept coming back and offering us more money and we kept saying no it’s not
for sale.
Dagon
Did he know about all of this?
Elvira
I told him about it, he liked it, he thought it was cool. I told him that thinking
that he wouldn’t be interested in it anymore because we really did not want to sell
it, when we finally sold it, I was 9 months pregnant and we were moving in August and we
had no place to move so we had to go rent someplace.
Dagon
I didn’t even know you had a child or children.
Elvira
Yeah, I have one daughter. She’s going to be four on Monday.
Dagon
Congratulations.
Elvira
Thank you, anyway, we sold the house even though we didn’t want to but at a
certain point there come an offer of so much money that you go "I’m out of my
mind if I don’t do this"
Dagon
Totally off the topic, I’m just curious, What do think of this Clinton thing?
Elvira
I don’t know if you ever saw Time magazine at the time the Monica Lewinsky
story broke, did you see the very first sentence of that article? The first sentence was
"They call her Elvira" Her large bosom, her big hair, her coquettish demeanor.
Her nickname was Elvira at the Whitehouse, which I really got a kick out of. I sent Time a
letter saying, "If I had a reputation you would have ruined it" They never
printed it. Now it’s really bad. So that was an interesting tie with the whole thing.
My opinion is just get over it everybody. It’s like a big witch-hunt. I don’t
think Clinton is a great guy for doing all this stuff, I think he’s a jerk, a typical
jerky guy, but I still think he is a good President and I don’t think one effects the
other in my opinion. It’s just getting one horrible thing on top of the other. Let
him go on and do his Damn job.
Dagon
He’s President, he can do what ever he wants.
Elvira
I think he’s like a rockstar, or President, and if your President you’re
a rockstar or like a famous actor you have woman throwing themselves on you and it’s
pretty damn hard if you’re a guy, with all that power to turn down….
Dagon
Monica Lewensky?
Elvira
And believe me she was throwing herself at him and nobody hangs onto a stain dress
for 6 months after that…
Dagon
I don’t know, I got a couple of them…
Elvira(laughter)
I just think he was a regular horny typical guy with to much power and he just
couldn’t turn it down.
Dagon
I wanted to tell you to that your website looks really nice. It’s really cool.
Elvira
Thank you, my husband is always raving about your website.
Dagon
Thanks. I want to get your doll, too. When will that be available.
Elvira
It’s not coming out till November everything is being pushed back. It will be
in collection stores.
For More Fun with Elvira check out her awesome website at Elvira.com
©1998, Hunt
All rights reserved.
