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BUBBA HO-TEP
Hail to the King Edition
Review by Michael Jacobson
Stars:
Bruce Campbell, Ossie Davis, Ella Joyce, Heidi Marnhout, Bob Ivy
Director: Don Coscarelli
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Studio: MGM
Features: See Review
Length: 92 Minutes
Release Date:
“Come
and get it, you undead sack of s—t!!”
How
many bizarre films have I seen over the years that failed because they buckled
under the weight of their own eccentricities?
Far too many, I’m afraid. Which
is why I can’t help but give a positive nod to the weirdest film I’ve seen
in quite some time, Bubba Ho-Tep. To
call this picture strange is an understatement
akin to calling The Lord of the Rings a movie about a piece of
jewelry. Yet it wears its oddness
completely comfortably, like a pair of warm pajamas.
Bubba
Ho-Tep brings
together two aging but legendary icons to defend their crappy little Texas
nursing home against an ancient mummy who’s come to feed on the souls of the
residents there. Those icons are
Elvis Presley (Campbell), whom we thought was dead, but it turns out in a
flashback that he had switched places with a talented impersonator in an attempt
to get back control of his life, and President John F. Kennedy (Davis), whom we
also thought was dead, but actually survived the assassination attempt only to
have his political enemies dye his skin black to keep him out of the way.
I’m
grinning like an idiot just remembering Elvis and Jack, and I grinned like an
idiot just about from start to finish watching Bubba Ho-Tep.
It was written for the screen and directed by Don Coscarelli, who
brought Phantasm to the screen (and then again, again, and again), but
this time, he’s crafted a horror film that almost defies description.
It’s
kind of a mess of identities, to be perfectly honest…the horror element is
kind of a McGuffin and rather under-developed, the comedy is frequently
below-the-belt crude, and there are even moments of dramatic insight mixed in,
as our two aged heroes not only unite to save their nursing home, but make
frequent observations about how painful it is to grow old, lonely and forgotten
by those you loved. As goofy as it
seems to sit in on a conversation between a physically lame Elvis Presley and a
now black John F. Kennedy, there’s a surprising amount of real poignancy in
these scenes…just another of the movie’s frequent surprises.
But
it works best as a comic experience, such as when Elvis has to battle giant
flying scarabs (“Never…but NEVER…f—k with the King, baby!”), or the
fact that when the mummy (Ivy) speaks, his words appear on screen in
hieroglyphics with subtitles (read the subtitles, and then look at the glyphs to
see how hysterical they really are!), or even the fact that the mummy wears a
cowboy hat and boots, leading the King to christen him with the name that became
the movie’s title.
The
performances by Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis help make the unworkable work,
because they don’t treat their roles as parodies. Each injects their impossibly silly parts with earnestness,
which in turn helps to keep the audience liking them; we don’t feel like
they’re on the screen to mess with us, but are really who they are and are
really doing what they’re doing. The
only weak aspect might be the editing. Coscarelli
infests the film with frequent rapid-editing sequences that get old after a
while, while the overall rhythm of the film seems a bit out of kilter.
Some bits we seem to get off of too quickly; others are held for far too
long.
Put
it all together, and it’s like watching the world’s sloppiest juggler, but
yet the balls never hit the ground, so you have to give credit where it’s due:
the technique may be lacking, but Bubba Ho-Tep achieves the
results it aimed for.
Video
***
This
anamorphic transfer serves troublesome source material fairly well…by that, I
mean that Coscarelli deliberately used higher contrast film stock for a slightly
artificial look, so some extra graininess and murkiness in darker scenes is
naturally existent. Colors are also
slightly muted throughout, but again, this was the director’s choice and no
fault of the digital presentation. The
end result is a disc that won’t be the best looking one you own, but once you
accept the limitations imposed upon it, you’ll settle in nicely for your
viewing experience.
Audio
***1/2
The
5.1 soundtrack packs plenty of punch in the dynamic range department while
offering plenty of atmospheric sounds to accentuate the creepier aspects.
Dialogue is clean and clear, and both the surrounds and subwoofer are
effectively harnessed for a solid overall effect.
But don’t expect to hear any Elvis songs in a movie about Elvis,
though…apparently, the budget couldn’t accommodate any!
Features
****
This
collector’s edition disc from MGM packs plenty, starting with two enjoyable
commentary tracks. The first pairs
Don Coscarelli with Bruce Campbell for an informative and fun listen…I always
enjoy the commentaries on low budget indie films more than those of big
Hollywood productions, because the stories are usually better. The second commentary is from “The King” himself…less
informative, but funny, and boasting a couple of new songs (of sorts)!
There are four featurettes including a good making-of piece, plus ones for makeup, costumes and the music. You get a pair of deleted scenes with optional Coscarelli/Campbell commentary, a clip of author Joe R. Lansdale reading from his original short story, a music video for the theme, a photo gallery, trailer and TV spot.
Summary:
