Bubba Ho-Tep

Don Coscarelli is nothing but imaginative as anyone who has seen the Phantasm series of films can testify. Just as the basic premise for the first Phantasm movie is hard to reel off on a simple sentence: "well, it's about these dwarfs who have come from a planet and they are taking humans hostages and sending them back to their planet through a gateway and there is the Tall Man and metal spheres with drills that kill you and..." -- you get my point! As Coscarelli tells it, he was looking for a new project so went into his local bookstore and into the horror section, asked the clerk what was new and was told to check out the stuff by Joe R. Lansdale. He liked what he read and when he was next in, he saw a collection of Lansdale's short stories, one of which was mentioned on the dust jacket with the tagline/synopsis 'Elvis fights a Mummy'.

With Lansdale's blessing, Coscarelli adopted this short story, Bubba Ho-Tep, into a screenplay ensuring to keep the title which was one of the main reasons he decided to go out and buy the rights. The next question was who would (or even could) play Elvis and a prank call led to him calling Sam Raimi and Raimi recommending his old friend and collaborator Bruce Campbell.

The film takes place in a nursing home in Muddy Creek, Texas, where Elvis Presley is one of the residents. Of course, he isn't there under the name of 'Elvis Presley', but Sebastian Haff. As 'The King' explains in voiceover over flashback footage, at the height of his stardom, he wanted a little break from all the hangers on and responsibilities that came with fame and fortune so met up with one of the best impersonators and they agreed to swap roles for a short time, drawing up contracts to ensure that neither would screw the other one over. Unfortunately for Elvis, his contract was lost in a trailer park fire so he went on being an Elvis impersonator until his hip gave out and Sebastian Haff died in the bathroom in Graceland after eating one too many deep-fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches.

Not only is Elvis Presley in this unlikeliest of settings, but so is John F. Kennedy (or at least a man who is convinced that he is him) who claims to have had part of his brain removed and replaced with some sand and, to preserve the illusion that Kennedy was shot and killed on November 22, 1963, his skin was dyed so he is now an old black man. If you are still with me, then you are probably halfway there to enjoying the film!


Well, something strange is happening at Shady Oaks as residents are dying with greater frequency than usual and Jack, with a little help from Elvis, think they have it figured out: what has happened is that an ancient Egyptian Mummy was being transported on a bus which crashed off a bridge nearby, falling into the river next to the retirement home's grounds. Mummys need souls to survive and this one has decided that the easiest way to obtain souls is by going to a retirement home where the people are relatively weak (as are the souls), but they are easily obtainable. The scene is set for a showdown between JFK and Elvis on one side and an ancient Egyptian Mummy on the other.

I loved Bubba Ho-Tep the first time I saw it as it had that perfect blend of comedy, pathos and horror to make it work on so many levels. It also features probably the finest performance of Bruce Campbell's life, even better than his several incarnations as Ash in the three Evil Dead films and a star turn by Ossie Davis who really convinces you of both the existence of these soul sucking Mummy, but also his persona as the 35th President of the United States.

Bubba Ho-Tep is a film that you either get or you don't with absolutely no middle ground. In order for you to enjoy the movie and get the most out of it, you must buy into the idea that Elvis isn't dead, but is a fairly cantankerous old man who likes to think back to the old days, reflect on life and wonder how he fell so far, so fast to the point where he now lives in a rest home for the elderly in Texas and has a puss-filled sore on the end of his 'pecker'. Obviously, this will appeal to those who like Mummy movies, fairly cheap B-movies and the stuff that Don Coscarelli and Bruce Campbell have done before.


Although this isn't the most accomplished movie ever made, it is one with a remarkable central performance by a man who is probably best known for fighting himself, strapping weaponry to his limbs and saying "Groovy!" I'm going to go out on a limb and declare that this is Bruce Campbell's finest performance and proof that he isn't just a jobbing actor who is best left to cheap movies and little-known Antipodean television shows, but is a man with some real thespian talent. (Let's face it; he was the best thing about Spider-Man 3.) Ossie Davis has been around long enough to have established himself as an actor of note and he is wonderful in this, coming across like a man who is slightly crazy, perhaps even psychopathic, but with enough conviction to make you wonder whether there is a little truth to what he is saying.

As someone who, for all their faults, loves the Phantasm movies, I loved every minute of this when I first saw it some six years ago and have watched it several times since then. This is a film that does have longevity and doesn't suffer from repeated viewings. Coscarelli also throws in a couple of casting choices for fans, with Reggie Bannister appearing as the rest home administrator and Heidi Marnhout (from Phantasm IV) as Callie, Elvis' roommate's granddaughter who makes his 'pecker' momentarily stir! Whilst Bubba Ho-Tep isn't the greatest movie ever made, it is a great deal of fun and a fine blend of comedy and horror.

The Disc

Extra Features
The disc contains most of the same extra features that were on the previous 2004 DVD release, only these are presented in 1080i high-definition, which was headed by the two audio commentaries, one with Don Coscarelli and Bruce Campbell and the other by 'The King'. As both Coscarelli and Campbell are no strangers to the commentary track, they both know exactly what to say and what people want to know. They could have done this as a solo effort, providing two commentaries for the release but it is probably for the best that they didn't as it is clear that the two get on extremely well and they provide an interesting, funny and revealing track that is well worth your time and attention.

The other commentary is clearly provided by Bruce Campbell in his alter ego of Elvis Presley which is a bit of a hit and miss affair as he complains about the amount of cursing, sexual innuendo and why his music and films that feature. It is quite amusing how he keeps it up for the entire running time, constantly digging into a bag of popcorn and answering his phone several times while he's going. This is a track that is really for the hard-core fan as it will leave most people cold as it doesn't really add much to the movie and is really just there as an in joke.


You have the option to play the film with an introduction by Bruce Campbell which was clearly filmed for its (very) limited theatrical run as he thanks the people that are there tonight watching the film and this is fairly amusing -- it ends when he takes a call from Sam Raimi, says something along the lines of "What, Evil Dead 4?!" before running off.

The first thing on the menu is a selection of deleted scenes with optional commentary by Don Coscarelli and Bruce Campbell and these are well worth a look even though none of them really demand reinsertion into the movie. The commentary/explanation for these is just as enlightening as for the feature film so they are worth going through twice.

The first of the featurettes is a very interesting seven minute piece where Joe R. Lansdale reads from the beginning of his short story with images from the film running at a slideshow on the screen. This shows how faithful Don Coscarelli's screenplay is to the source material.


Secondly, The Making Of is a fairly interesting 20 minute piece which covers most bases and, whilst it isn't the most lengthy or comprehensive making of ever made, it is still well worth your time and attention. To Make a Mummy, the third feature is an interesting look at all the time and effort that went into transforming an ordinary bloke into a 4000 year old Mummy and this fits in well with Fit for a King, a piece about Bruce Campbell's wardrobe and fat suit. Finally, at least as far as the featurettes go, Rock Like an Egyptian is a brief but enlightening piece on the music and it shows just how Brian Tyler played all the instruments himself and what he was thinking about when he wrote the music.

Under the Interviews heading up to lengthy interviews with Don Coscarelli and Bruce Campbell, the first of which is called " The King and I-an In-Depth Excavation with Don Coscarelli (20:29) and the second goes under the heading of Bruce Talks Bubba (11:30). The meat in the sandwich is the Q&A from the UK premiere (10:24) and all three of these are illuminating, fun to watch and enlightening pieces which is only can ask from interview footage.

Finishing things off is the original theatrical trailer, a photo gallery and a music video which are worth a look.


The Picture
For a film that was made with extremely limited budget, Bubba Ho-Tep scrubs up very well in high definition with good colours, excellent contrast levels and the SFX make-up by the KNB group. Coscarelli didn't have the budget to use a great deal of CGI effects so everything was done there and then, including the clearly robotic scarab beetle and the film is the better for it.

The make-up on Bruce Campbell is absolutely first class, transforming a good looking guy in his 40s into someone in his 80s who has clearly had better days, now with a sizeable paunch, white flecks in his hair and a very lined face. If the work that was done on Campbell was impressive, it's nothing when you consider how much Bob Ivy went through to be transformed into the titular Mummy and it wasn't just the hours spent in make-up, he also had to be set on fire a couple of times so the KNB trio had to do their stuff as well as allow the experts to make Bob Ivy is fireproof as possible!

There are a couple of white specks visible and some digital noise so the picture isn't perfect, but it is a notable step up from DVD, even an upscaled DVD, so he gets a big thumbs up from me on that aspect.

The Sound
You have the choice of an LPCM 2.0 stereo track or a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 option for the full audio experience. As this isn't a film with a great deal of surround sound, you don't lose a great deal by going with the LPCM option which does a terrific job with the dialogue although it does lose something when a scarab beetle is flying around the room or when they do battle with Bubba Ho-Tep. It is an occasion such as these when the 5.1 comes into its own as you really benefit from the ambient or nuanced sounds.


Final Thoughts
Although, for most, Bruce Campbell will always be linked with Ash to the point where they are almost interchangeable, he is a terrific actor and a great character who can basically turn his hand to anything. I love his cameos in the Spider-Man movies but out of all of those B-movies and cult TV shows like Xena: Warrior Princess, I think that his best performance came when he played Elvis in Bubba Ho-Tep. The movie came from a really interesting idea by Joe R. Lansdale in a collection of short stories that I've been meaning to buy for years and Don Coscarelli is probably the perfect man to helm such a concept as he is no stranger to the offbeat, strange and fantastic.

This disc contains all of the extra features that have been previously released, presenting them in high definition, and has a decent AV package. If you have the DVD already, this is so good that it is probably worth 'upgrading' to this Blu-ray release.