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BUBBA HO-TEP
Produced by Jason Savage and Don Cascarelli
Written and Directed by Don Coscarelli
Edited by Scott Gill and Donald Milne
Director of Photography - Adam JenieroElvis - Bruce Campbell
JFK - Ossie Davis
Bubba - Bob Ivy
Administrator - Reggie BannisterIt’s been a little while since I saw “Bubba Ho-Tep,” but hey, better late than never, right? The great procrastinator Allen Richards (administrator of this site) would understand. The movie was alright, the setting was better. I saw “Bubba” at the Egyptian Theatre in L.A.. It was playing twice for one night only, so a friend and I drove up to see it. The movie was introed by Bruce himself, so that right there was worth the price of admission ($9).
Now, this movie is extremely low budget...and it starts with definitions. Yeah. Definitions of the title words. It’s kinda funny, since they define “Ho-tep” first and then “bubba.” This royal title of an ancient ruler followed by a backwoods redneck is the comedy of disassociation. The whole time, though, I kept thinking of somebody’s high school graduation speech where they begin with “Webster’s defines success as...”
Then on to the show. If you don’t know, and I’m sure you do, it’s about an old guy in an old folks’ home who thinks he’s Elvis and an even older guy in the same home who thinks he’s John F. Kennedy. Elvis is Bruce Campbell, JFK is Ossie Davis. Into the same home comes a mummy who sucks old folks’ souls out of them...through their assholes. That right there means you will NEVER see it at your neighborhood theatre alongside “X-Men 2” or something. And it’s based on a Joe R. Lansdale short story; Al hooked me onto that underground Texas writer years ago in college.
The movie’s kinda creepy, which is helped greatly by the pace and the lighting; very atmospheric. Now, Campbell’s character thinks he’s Elvis because he really is -- back in the day, when Elvis was touring, he switched with an Elvis impersonator. Then the impersonator, who took Elvis’s role, dies. Now he’s just some kook who thinks he’s Elvis. Kinda plausible. The thing that got me, though, was the maturity with which Don Coscarelli directed it. This is the same guy that made “Beastmaster” and the “Phantasm” series. Not Oscar contenders. Sure, “Bubba” has the requisite Bruce Campbell schtick, but the subject of growing old and falling apart is handled with surprising grace and pity. I tried to think of myself. I’m getting older, obviously, we all are, but I tend to look back a lot on my mistakes and instead of correcting them, I keep repeating them. Nobody wants to have a life full of regrets. It seems, though, that no matter how hard I plan something out and put serious thought into it, it still blows up in my face. Like Charlie Brown kicking that fucking football. I keep missing. Then there’s Elvis. Stuck in an old folks’ home, nobody believes it’s him, he has a swollen prostate and he has to fight a perverted mummy. Where’d he go wrong? He just wanted to get away from all the limelight and live the simple life.
Enough of the movie. If you haven’t seen it, I won’t ruin it for you. What was great was the intro by Bruce. It was a packed house and he came out to a standing ovation. He started off by describing briefly the production of the film, then answered some questions. Surprise, surprise, there was a heckler. I can’t remember what he was saying, but Bruce interrupted him with a story about him and Raimi at a screening years ago and some guy kept yelling, “Suck shit, twat!” during the show. Funny at first, then annoying, Bruce said he finally stood up and told the guy he’d kick his ass if he didn’t shut up. The heckler and his friends, which turned out to be starters on the football team, stood up and it was on. Bruce said he somehow ended up ducking out of it, like in a cartoon, and left Raimi to get punched. Cut back to “Bubba” where some fucking geek tried to get all serious and asked some question about acting choices and finding character. While Bruce figured out what the geek said with a pained look on his face, somebody yelled, “Suck shit, twat!” Bruce and the whole audience exploded in laughter. Like I said, worth the price.
gasoline to drive to L.A: $18.75
late night screening of “Bubba Ho-Tep”: $9
hearing Bruce Campbell call a viewer “dumbass”: priceless
Bubba Ho-Tep
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