Dojo Classics - Bubba Ho-Tep!

I'm late to this party I know, but I found a cheap copy of Bruce Campbell's Bubba Ho-Tep at my local Borders and it has become my new favorite movie. I've watched it a several times, with commentary and without, and I'm about ready for another viewing. This is a great flick, full of belly laughs, significant social commentary, and mummies!

The movie came out in 2002 sort of. The saga of getting this movie made and shown is a fascinating tale on its own. Joe Lansdale, a sometimes comic book writer, first wrote the long short story "Bubba Ho-Tep" many years ago for an Elvis anthology. Briefly it tells the story of an aging Elvis Presley stranded in an old folks home in East Texas and along with a black man who is convinced he's JFK, and together they confront an ancient misplaced mummy who lurks about the place sucking the souls of the helpless oldsters. The director Don Coscarelli got the movie going for very small money and created a wonder to behold, a true gem of a little film. Then he and Campbell literally carried it around showing it until it became a hit at film festivals, before getting some theater release.

Bruce Campbell is outstanding as the old Elvis, the late great Ossie Davis is magnificent as "Jack", and the other cast members do great work to sell this impossible scenario. The tone, the atmosphere of this movie are compelling. The score is magnificent despite having not a lick of Elvis music in it (too costly for this little flick) and the ending is pure schmaltz, too perfect to debate.

The special features on my copy are superb. There's a really good and insightful commentary by Campbell and Coscarelli, and another commentary by Elvis himself (Campbell in character as the King watching the movie for the first time, it's insanely funny all by itself).

This movie has been out there a long time. I've heard of it, but never ever seen it. I've been negligent and if you're like me, then you need to make a point to find and watch Bubba Ho-Tep the best "redemptive Elvis mummy movie" (to quote Campbell) around today!

There's a joke at the end of it about an upcoming movie called Bubba Nosferatu, and there has been an attempt to actually make it, but Campbell has said no, so it's no longer in the offing. I'd be afraid a sequel would take the bloom off this classic masterpiece of filmmaking. It's an exquisite movie.

Why this hasn't been adapted to comics I'll never know. It seems a natural.

UPDATE: While the movie Bubba Ho-Tep has not been adapted to comics still, Joe Lansdale has written a prequel featuring Elvis which hit the stands just yesterday. I didn't coordinate this re-post by the way, it's just a fluke. I didn't get the debut issue of Bubba Ho-Tep and the Cosmic Bloodsuckers but I will likely get any trade from the folks at IDW.

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The Beastmaster!

I have always appreciated the movie The Beastmaster. I didn't realize until recently that it was directed by Don Coscarelli, the director of Phantasm and one of my all-time fave movies Bubba Ho-Tep (more on that tomorrow).

When I went to see The Beastmaster in the theaters, I knew I liked the look of Marc Singer in the title role, his physique was exactly what I wanted to see on Conan. Conan the Barbarian had recently been released and Arnold had made his muscular mark on that role, one which I always thought was too large. I've changed my mind a bit on that, but the lithe Singer was more like the early comic Conan than was Arnold and that I liked a lot. Also this movie features the fetching Tanya Roberts, fresh from her Charlie's Angels role and in this one deliciously topless for a blazing moment.

The story is derived sort of from the work of Andre Norton, though as I understand it, the changes made were so extensive that she removed her name from the project. The movie is really nothing like the exciting Norton books, which deserved a movie of their own.

The villain in this one is played by Rip Torn who does his usual bravura job of chewing scenery in grand fashion. The movie is a well-paced adventure with lots of magic and witchery to make it work. There are a few large-scale battles, one the sacking of Dar's hometown and later the seige of the city. The enemy is the Jund, underdeveloped barbarians who just seem to thunder across the landscape in impossible clouds and create mayhem.

The Beastmaster is very much a product of its time, but also has a timeless quality which allows it to be watched with aplomb many years later. There were two sequels, coming many years later, but they are not remotely as charming as the original, not in the least.

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Phantasms!

It's something of a mystery to me as to why I have only just now gotten around to seeing Don Coscarelli's Phantasm. Doubtless I was put off by what I perceived to be the slasher and horror elements of the movie which I assumed was just a typical gory mess from the era. I was really wrong about that. Phantasm is a low-budget masterpiece. It's a movie made over a very long time on a shoestring budget by people dedicated to the weird project. We don't have a slasher film here at all, but a dreamlike horror movie which plays with the head as much as the gut. It's a quiet and suspenseful movie which doesn't pretend to answer all the questions it asks and I have to say I'm sorry I never got around to seeing this flick sooner.

It would be many years before there was Phantasm II and frankly it's a rather poor follow up. The lead actor Michael Baldwin from the first movie was denied by the new studio bosses in this one and his replacement is capable but not the same. They wanted to turn what had been a bizarre tone piece into an action horror blend and it's a mess full of visual gags and nonsense. It's clear in this second story that Reggie Bannister who plays the Ice Cream man named "Reggie" will be a focus of the story. He becomes the center of the story and over the next several sequels the glue that holds the yarn together along with Angus Scrimm as the mysterious and vile "Tall Man".

Phantasm III and Phantasm IV were made pretty much at the same time and the return in both of the original hero played by Michael Baldwin allows them to reclaim much of the flavor of the original, though both while giving us more insights into the mystery of the "Tall Man" don't actually tell us everything. And that's the beauty of these Phantasm movies, the same as existed with the Wolverine character for many years, a profound mystery at the core which defies exposure, though remaining tantalizingly close to revelation. It's a nifty formula to keep the fans coming back. Also Reggie is back as the main driver in the story, becoming more and more central to narrative. Both these movies were direct-to-video, though neither was made with that intention, and one can tell that was a significant disappointment for director Coscarelli.

And finally from 2016 we get the fifth and "final" Phantasm movie, this one named Phantasm Ravager. Our heroes have aged and the new director, under the close watch of producer Coscarelli, does much good work taking advantage of this changed circumstance. This is the best Phantasm movie since the original and does a wonderful job of switching up timelines and creating a mystery which is more than a mere conundrum. We follow our  heroes as they confront mortality in real time. Angus Scrimm  actually passed away soon after this final movie was made. It gives this last Phantasm a sting of reality which adds to the luster of the storytelling, sad as that might be. These movies are purported to be reflections on mortality and certainly this final one does that in spades.

You can get the Phantasm movies cheaply enough these days and I heartily recommend them. I'm late coming to this fascinating show, but I'm glad I finally did.

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Elvis Has Left The Tomb!

I was prowling around the local Dollar Store the other day, getting a few household items, when I stumbled across a bin of DVD's. I can't pass these up, you never know when you'll find a gem.

For just a few dollars I landed a copy of Bubba Ho-Tep - The Limited Edition, which comes encased in a delightful and exceedingly weird little mock up of a vintage Elvis super suit. It's unusual and highly distinctive. Glad to have it.

This find comes on the heels of my having found (for very cheap) the above volume which offers up not only the screenplay itself by Don Coscarelli (a hoot to read) but also the evocative story by Joe Lansdale which launched this joyride into pop culture and horror.

There's no doubt whatsoever that Bubba Ho-Tep is the best Elvis-JFK-Mummy movie of all time. I'll stake my reputation on that one.

TCB Baby!

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