VAMPIRA: THE MOVIE
Forty years before Elvira, in 1954, actress Maila Nurmi played the "glamour ghoul" Vampira, the first “horror host” on a new thing called television. During her show, Nurmi added humorous comments and live commercials in between segments of obsure horror and mystery movies. Even after positive media attention, The Vampira Show was abruptly cancelled after only a year on the air. In 1956, Nurmi appeared as Vampira again in the 1956 low-budget horror film, "Plan 9 From Outer Space" directed by Edward D Wood. She would become known for being in the “worst movie ever made.”(-The Golden Turkey Awards). Nurmi's character rose from the dead again in 1993's biopic “Ed Wood,” directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp. The movie renewed interest in Vampira and Nurmi has achieved a Bettie Page-like cult status ever since. In 2008, Maila passed away from natural causes at age 85. Nurmi herself stars in this documentary.
The film features interviews with Maila "VAMPIRA" Nurmi, Sid Haig, Julie Strain, Kevin Eastman, Forrest J. Ackerman, Fangoria TV's Debbie Rochon, Zacherley, Troma's Lloyd Kaufman, Bill Moseley, Cassandra "Elvira" Peterson, Jerry Only of The Misfits, Count Smokula, horror historian David J. Skal and all sorts of Horror Hosts! The film's score was written and performed by Ari Lehman, the first Jason of Friday The 13th.
