While I use Lightroom now, I also used ELements years ago and it works fine too for post adjustments. If you scan flat with no histogram adjustments, (don;t worry if it's dark) you can get exactly the same results regarding histogram settings by using the Levels slider in Elements: Click Enhance>Lighting>Levels.
I don;t recall about Elements spot removal tool, if there is one there or not. You need spot removal to get rid of the spots left on the film that the scanner picks up. Of course, you can use ICE to eliminate most of them. But that doubles the scan time. Also, ICE does not work on BW film.
Note that I only shoot and scan negative film and positive color film. I stay away from negative color which I find to be a pain to get the colors right although Portra seems fairly easy. I had trouble with Ektar. Positive color (ie. slides, chromes) lets me know immediately whether the exposure is right just by looking at the film. Makes scanning easier and quicker.
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