BUBBA HO TEP
US, 2002, 92 minutes, Colour.
Bruce Campbell, Ossie Davis, Ella Joyce.
Directed by Don Coscarelli.
Bubba Ho- Tep is a combination of quirky comedy and the horror tradition. It was written and directed by Don Coscarelli who established his reputation with a series of horror films, Phantasm, the first of which was released in 1979 and the fourth by 1998. He also created the film fantasy, Beastmaster.
With Bubba Ho- Tep he imagines that an ancient Egyptian comes alive in a rest home in the United States. However, two of the inmates portrayed by Bruce Campbell (The Evil Dead) and veteran black actor Ossie Davis imagine themselves to be Elvis Presley and John F. Kennedy. Campbell gives an interesting impersonation of Elvis and a story of his fans and his concert career. Ossie Davis, black, gives an amusing performance as a man imagining that he is J.F.K. However, the centre is operated by a three thousand-year-old cowboy boot-wearing mummy who eventually goes on the loose.
The film is as oddball as it sounds – but was well received and became a favourite at a number of film festivals. It further enhanced the bizarre reputation of Don Coscarelli and his films.
1.An oddball film? Offbeat subject, treatment? Impact on audiences – serious, humour? The title and tone? Issues of sanity, mental health, conspiracy theories? American style?
2.The film and small budget, the creation of the Mud Creek home? The interiors, the wards, the rooms? The flashbacks and the scenes of Elvis, Elvis’s concert, Sebastian’s accident? The musical score (without the benefit of Elvis’s singing)? The special effects, especially for the mummy, the confrontations? The musical score?
3.Elvis and J.F.K. as American icons, the subjects for conspiracy theories? The irony of the substitute for Elvis, the Elvis impersonator, identifying with Elvis? His comments about Elvis, his personality, the fans, Colonel Parker? Drugs, the food and drink? The ironic but true comments on Elvis and his career? J.F.K., the assassination, the irony of the black man talking about being J.F.K. – and being black being the perfect disguise? The discussions about Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby? His room and all the photos?
4.The mummy, the tradition of mummy films, science fantasy? The rising from the dead, the Egyptian mythologies, the sense of menace?
5.The jokey atmosphere of the dialogue? Deadpan humour?
6.Sebastian Haff and his life, as an Elvis impersonator, his fall, injuries, hospital treatment, in the institutions, his explanations of Elvis? The tone of his voice-over?
7.Jack, the elderly black man, seemingly sane, identifying with J.F.K., the theories?
8.The nurse, her friendliness – looking after Sebastian, the sexual overtones, innuendo? The other residents, Kemo Sabe and the Lone Ranger, his delusions? His death? The other members of the staff? The two funeral directors, their comments, the ironic and deadpan comedy? Black comedy about death?
9.The scarab, Sebastian’s reaction, the symbolism, the signs, the hieroglyphs? The soul-sucking – and the attacks? The archaeological background? The crashing of the truck in the river, the opportunity for the mummy to come alive again?
10.Kemo Sabe and his story, the manor, the attack, his death?
11.The pursuit of the mummy, Jack and his chasing him, Sebastian and his wheelchair? The ironies of the battle, death? The release of the souls?
12.The tongue-in-cheek tone – and the promise of a vampire sequel?
