Bubba Ho-Tep (Limited Collector's Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Jaw dropping brilliance
Review: Don Coscarelli, as much as I love the "Phantasm" series, hasn't offered us much more than those films over the last thirty years or so. Come to think of it, Coscarelli took his sweet time bringing us the few sequels to the first "Phantasm." Doubtless he had problems securing financing, always a serious problem for an independent filmmaker operating outside the secure bubble that is the studio system. Now that I think of it, I know for a fact he has serious problems raising money--his long promised "Phantasm 5" has been languishing in development limbo for what feels like an eternity. While those of us who adore the Tall Man, Reggie, and Mike wait for the conclusion to a wonderful ride, we can content ourselves with the amazing low budget film that is "Bubba Ho-Tep." The hype concerning this project reached levels of hysteria on various Internet sites the likes of which I haven't seen since...well, ever actually. Cult film fans went nuts over "Bubba Ho-Tep" before a single frame went before the public eye. It's not difficult to understand why: Coscarelli directing, genre favorite Bruce Campbell starring, and the plot provided by eclectic writer Joe R. Lansdale.

"Bubba Ho-Tep" lives up to the hype, if not exceeding it. Imagine if you will a story involving an aging, far from deceased Elvis Presley (Bruce Campbell) pairing up with a black guy who thinks he is President John F. Kennedy (Ossie Davis) in order to fight an evil, soul sucking Egyptian mummy who preys on the elderly residents of a Texas retirement home. Wow. That's a plot that only someone who took the brown blotter at Woodstock could come up with, right? Not when Joe Lansdale is at the helm. I've only read two of his books to date, "Sunset and Sawdust" and "A Fine Dark Line," neither of which had anything to do with horror, Elvis Presley, or mummies. But the oddball characters and situations in those two stories did hint at a writer willing to take a few chances with tried and true formulas. From what I've gleaned over the last year or so, "Bubba Ho-Tep" isn't Lansdale's weirdest story. He apparently wrote several short stories and novels consisting of historical figures in unlikely alliances embarking on some strange quest. One of the great extras on this DVD version of the film is hearing Lansdale read the first chapter of "Bubba Ho-Tep" while storyboards of Elvis lying in bed pass by on the screen.

Speaking of Elvis in bed, the film begins with a despondent and supine Presley wistfully recounting the ups and downs of his life as the threat of cancer rears its ugly head. We discover exactly how the King ended up in a retirement home instead of a grave in the late 1970s; Presley, weary of fame and his life on the road, switched identities with an impersonator. This fake Elvis was the one who passed away from excesses while the real Elvis cranked out the hits at county fairs and other small venues. It was during one of these performances that he fell off the stage and broke his hip, an injury that kicked off his long, slow decline into infirmity and old age. Of course, no one in the retirement home buys for a second that he's the real deal, and no one really cares about him. He's just another old guy with no one coming to visit him. Then the home's death rate soars thanks to the arrival of the mummy, and it isn't too long before Elvis teams up with the aforementioned wheelchair bound President Kennedy to battle this ancient evil. Bubba Ho-Tep is a scary chap; a desiccated, shuffling creature sporting boots, a cowboy hat, and a face that could birth a thousand screams. As Presley and Kennedy form their alliance, they slowly come back to lives filled with purpose and meaning. They also come to an understanding about their mortality and each other.

"Bubba Ho-Tep" isn't so much a horror film as it is a comedy of epic proportions. How can anyone watch a film that features Elvis battling a mummy with a walker without laughing? Or fail to chuckle about the great bit of dialogue between Elvis and Kennedy as they mull over the possible meanings of some hieroglyphic graffiti scrawled on a bathroom stall by the mummy? Coscarelli's film is so hilarious that I often set in open-mouthed wonder at the shenanigans unfolding onscreen, too overwhelmed by the plot's cleverness to laugh until later. I'm going to go out on a limb here by saying that the film's greatest strength, at least for me, is how Campbell and Davis made the whole thing so darn believable. Did anyone else experience this phenomenon? I had to laugh at myself for so totally buying into such a metaphysically bizarre storyline. The government covering up the JFK assassination by dyeing the president black, putting a bag of sand in his head, and depositing him in a retirement home? Sure, I'll buy that. The movie makes you believe in a way few fantasy films do.

The amount of extras on the disc take forever to wade through, but is well worth the effort. The commentary track with Coscarelli and Campbell is great, but even better are the audio comments from Campbell in his Elvis character. We hear the King snacking away on chips while he takes the film to task for its strong language and violence. The featurettes are wonderful, describing as they do the special effects in the film, the costumes and makeup, and the awesome musical score. Whether Coscarelli ever makes "Phantasm 5" is open to debate, but he's definitely back in the game with this masterpiece. "Bubba Ho-Tep" is one of the best films I've seen in the last couple of years.