Rob Zombie reimagines Elvira as a real estate agent in upcoming 'Munsters' reboot

Looks like the Mistress of Darkness herself will be moving into Mockingbird Heights, as Rob Zombie (House of 1000 Corpses) has announced that Cassandra Peterson (AKA Elvira) will be joining the cast of his upcoming reimagining of The Munsters. According to the singer-songwriter behind the project, Peterson will play Barbara Carr, the "[no. 1] real estate agent" in the iconic city where the upcoming movie is set.

Zombie posted the announcement on his Instagram page on Friday, along with an image of Peterson (as Barbara) wearing a pink plaid skirt suit with bouncy red curls — which fans will note is a far cry from her beloved raven-haired, gothic-themed character. 

Peterson has been playing the legendary "horror hostess" since the 1980s when she was hired to host a weekly horror show called Elvira's Movie Macabre where she regularly presented science fiction and horror movies while also making sometimes crass and tongue-in-cheek comments about the films and even herself. Fans were quickly drawn to the character, turning Elvira into a household name and resulting in a slew of character-inspired merchandise, including Halloween costumes, dolls, comic books, action figures, and more. This eventually led to the 1988 feature film Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, which Peterson co-wrote and starred in. 

Since then, Peterson has donned one of Elvira's low-cut dresses and stepped back into the campy persona many times over the years, including in 2014 for Hulu's 13 Days of Elvira for Hulu, and most recently in 2021, for a one-night movie marathon special on Shudder titled Elvira's 40th Anniversary, Very Scary, Very Special Special. 

This isn't the first time Peterson has played a non-Elvira role, as she starred in Pee-wee's Big Adventure back in 1985 and voiced "Drella Diabolique" in 2016's LEGO Scooby-Doo! Haunted Hollywood. 

Photo: CBS via Getty Images

This isn't the latest announcement regarding Zombie's Munsters movie, as earlier this week he also announced that the film, which is currently in production, will be rated PG on social media. "For those of you speculating, wondering and assuming that THE MUNSTERS would be dirty, violent and nasty…" begins the voice actor's post. "[W]ell, you are wrong. 💀 👍🏼 It’s all good down on Mockingbird Lane." 

The news is probably for the best as the original 1964 television series was a family-friendly sitcom, and fans of the show will no doubt want to share it with their families, while the movie's new rating will also help draw in a whole new audience of curious moviegoers (or streamers) of all ages who might not be familiar with the titular family — not unlike the recent animated The Addams Family films. 

The Munsters tells the story of a Transylanian-American family as they move into a street in a classic American street and attempt to navigate life in the suburbs. But as fans already know, the big catch is that the Munsters themselves consist of some Universal-style monsters — not that the Munsters sees themselves as anything but average and normal. 

So far, the film stars Jeff Daniel Phillip (The Gifted) as the Frankenstein's Monster style patriarch Herman Munster, Sheri Moon Zombie (Halloween) as Herman's vampiric wife Lily, and Dan Roebuck (Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order) as Lily's vampire father known as "Grandpa." 

Zombie has stated that the upcoming film will be an updated reboot as he plans to modernise some of the characters' designs and costumes, which makes sense, as the original show was shot and broadcast in black and white while the new movie will be in color. He will also be adding some original characters inspired by the old series.

Therefore, Peterson's Barbara joins Richard Brake (Game of Thrones) as Transylvania's most popular mad scientist, Dr. Henry Augustus Wolfgang, Jorge Garcia (Hawaii Five-0) as his hunchback assistant Floop (and Herman's best friend), Sylvester McCoy (Doctor Who) as the family's loyal servant Igor, and Catherine Schell (Mog) as some kind of mystical woman named Zoya Krupp.

No release date has been set for The Munsters movie.