When good movies get nominated for Razzies
By Julia Kelm
Elvira Mistress of the Dark was released in 1988 and directed by James Signorelli. The creation of the movie was a direct reaction to Cassandra Peterson’s successful persona as a horror movie TV host, Elvira.
The film follows Elvira arriving in the small town of Fallwell, Massachusetts, to claim her inheritance from a great aunt she never knew about. Elvira receives a less-than-enthusiastic reception from the very conservative locals of Fallwell. Amongst these locals is her uncle Vincent, who is probably the most evil villain of all time. In true Kevin Bacon Footloose fashion, Elvira is a helping hand in altering the backward ways of this middle-of-nowhere town.
This movie is hilarious. I’m probably a little biased, as I generally have a soft spot for cheesy 80s films with spooky vibes. There are a lot of visual gags used in the movie, as evident in Elvira herself, and sexual innuendos that’ll make your dad snort.
Nothing about this movie is too offensively bad. The humor in this movie is perfectly comparable to successful male-led comedies of the era like, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure or Airplane! However, Elvira Mistress of the Dark lead actress Peterson was nominated and won a Golden Raspberry Award for her role as Elvira.
If you are unaware of the Golden Raspberry Awards, or Razzies for short, it’s a parody award show honoring the worst cinematic failures of the year. However, they have an issue of nominating so-called bad movies that are actually good.
Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and Jennifer’s Body were both nominees for the award. Oddly enough, it was Shelley Duvall’s portrayal as Wendy Torrance and Megan Fox as Jennifer who were nominated for worst actress. I don’t know about you, but I’m sensing a trend here.
How come the Razzies seem to be labeling women as being the worst? Scott Meslow, a writer for GQ, shares my suspicions in an article entitled Ignore the Razzies.
“You can basically divide the Razzies’ most hated movies into three categories: Big mediocre blockbusters, movies starring and targeted at women, and movies made by Tyler Perry,” Meslow wrote. “So the Razzies are, in order: pretty lazy, very sexist, and a little racist.”
The Razzies have a few good takes, like naming Jared Leto the worst actor for Morbius, but that doesn’t change the fact that it mostly feels like a point-and-laugh fest at films led by women.
So take my advice, and watch Elvira Mistress of the Dark, have yourself a chuckle or two. While you’re at it, skim through some of the other winners and nominees for the Golden Raspberry Awards. I bet you they’re probably at least decent, if not amazing, like The Shining — I seriously can’t believe that was among the nominees.
This is also a PSA to not listen to film snob critics and film bros who can only name one female director — Greta Gerwig. Watch and talk about movies you like, and you relate to. Life’s too short to only watch Christopher Nolen films.
Julia is a journalism major at Cal Poly Humboldt. She loves film and is a regular on Letterboxd. To quote Robin Williams in her all-time favorite movie, Dead Poets Society, “The powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?”
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