This is Bruce Campbell week. Bubba Ho-Tep is currently available on instant Netflix.
WATCH: Bubba Ho-Tep (2003) – Rated R for language, some sexual content, and brief violent images.
“In this black comedy, Elvis Presley (Bruce Campbell) is an elderly resident in an East Texas rest home who switched identities with an impersonator years before his “death” and missed his chance to switch himself back. When the King teams up with a fellow resident (Ossie Davis) who thinks he is John F. Kennedy, the two old codgers prepare to battle an evil Egyptian entity that has chosen their long-term care facility as its happy hunting grounds.”
Elvis – “My God, man. How long have I been here? Am I really awake, or am I just dreamin I am awake? How could my plans have gone so wrong?”
First a word or two of warning. This movie is profane. Really profane. This makes the target audience a bit tricky to judge as the main characters are two elderly men in a nursing home who spend much of their time graphically discussing how old age has betrayed them, often in reference to their naughty bits.
The elderly might be offended by the constant stream of profanity. I know I would not show this to my mother or my in-laws. On the other hand how is it to hold the interest of young people when there are essentially no young people in it?
While this is primarily a horror comedy, it also has a lot to say about our mistreatment of the elderly. The convalescence home is of course a misnomer – it is clear that even before the horror starts, no one is leaving the home alive.
I really like how Coscarelli portrayed the home as a place where people are just sitting around waiting to die. Elvis spends most of the movie in bed. Coscarelli has a lot of lovely time-lapse photography showing things from the invalid point of view.
The concept, from a short story by Joe R. Lansdale, is brilliant. Elvis Presley and John F. Kennedy team up to fight evil beings in a nursing home. Don Coscarelli wrote the script and as I have not read the short story, I am not sure which one of them to credit more with the lunacy that occurs.
Don Coscarelli is best known as the creator of the Phantasm series of movies. He directs here in addition to writing the screenplay. He does quite well especially given his restrictions on using actual Elvis material.
Bruce Campbell does a wonderful job as Elvis. His wry, self-deprecating delivery is so spot-on that Coscarelli gives him a lot of voice-over material in addition to his dialogue. Next to Ash, Elvis is the best character Campbell has brought to life.
Ossie Davis provides fine support as a very dignified if pigmentally-challenged JFK. Ella Joyce has a scene-stealing role as the nurse. Coscarelli regular Reggie Bannister (Phantasm I-IV) has a small role here as the rest home administrator.
Fun fact: Not one piece of Elvis music is heard in the film. Not only that but the Elvis movie marathon does not feature Elvis. On the DVD audio commentary, Coscarelli mentions that playing just one Elvis song would have cost half his budget.
As a favor to Coscarelli and his micro-budget, noted special effects group KNB did the effects for just the cost of materials.
As long as you do not mind the profanity, I recommend this fun off-the-wall film.
People Watch: Although it has not yet been filmed, Coscarelli has written the script for Bubba Nosferatu.
