Cassandra Peterson is inviting her fans to join her for a movie marathon on Shudder as she revives her unparalleled horror hostess Elvira for the character's 40th anniversary. The aptly an thoughtfully named Elvira's 40th Anniversary, Very Scary, Very Special Special will premiere on the dedicated horror streaming platform on September 25th at 8pm ET. The live special will then be available on demand with Shudder's other content via their app from the following Monday. While this is being pitched as an anniversary special, it should be remembered that fellow horror host Joe Bob Briggs debuted brought a one off special to the platform in 2018 and before long it had been turned into a weekly series. With Elvira's huge fan base, there will be many who would sign up to Shudder in a heartbeat if the same thing were to happen here.
"It's always tough turning 40, but what better way to mark the occasion than a one-night stand with Shudder, the spookiest of streamers? It's going to be the ultimate Hallow-anniversa-ween bash, and you don't want to miss it," Elvira said in a statement.
Shudder's GM, Craig Engler, added his own thoughts about the upcoming special and how happy the platform is to be hosting the host, "Elvira is a legend who's been lighting up our screens and delighting fans for 40 years, and we're honored to celebrate the 'Queen of Halloween's' fantastic career milestone with her new 'very special' special, the perfect treat for Shudder members this Halloween season."
The classic line up of movies that Elvira has in store for her special kicks off with some self-appreciation as she introduces Elvira, Mistress of The Dark, the film which tells the story of a famous horror hostess who inherits a mansion, has to face off with an evil uncle and a townful of people who want to burn her at the stake. Next up is the classic Vincent Price thriller, House on Haunted Hill, which is the age-old story of five guests having to spend the night in a supposedly haunted mansion for a cash prize - in this case the now rather meagre sum of $10,000. Third in the quartet is The City of The Dead, this time with another horror icon Christopher Lee taking the lead as he sends a student to the site of a 17th century Witch burning, where she discovers that the evil there is still very much alive. Finally, Messiah of Evil closes the night, an independent horror about a young woman in search of her long missing father who stumbles upon a small seaside town run by an undead cult.
Elvira herself will obviously be popping up a lot in and around these movies to provide her tidbits of information and commentary about each of the features, and as this is a special anniversary event then you can likely expect some surprises along the way.
Elvira's 40th Anniversary, Very Scary, Very Special Special will air live on Shudder TV on September 25th, and then appear on demand from September 27th. Thanks to our best friends at Bloody-Disgusting for the scoop.