Don Coscarelli (the Phantasm series, The Beastmaster), using the ruse that “something different” worked for Phantasm, took the epitome of “something different” in the writings of Joe Lansdale and created a conspiracy theory horror comedy set in a Texas nursing home starring Bruce Campbell as Elvis and, well . . . wow. The work, for what it sets out to be, is surprisingly good and, equally stunning, possesses fleeting moments of heightened inspiration along the way.
Elvis (Bruce Campbell, the Evil Dead series, Spider Man, The Hudsucker Proxy, Intolerable Cruelty, The Ladykillers, Darkman) has remained in the building, that is to say, at Shady Rest, a convalescence home in Mud Creek, Texas. Also in residence is former president, John F. Kennedy (Ossie Davis, Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X, Grumpy Old Men), and Bubba Ho-tep (Bob Ivy), an Egyptian mummy. The catch? It is up to debate whether or not these individuals are the real Elvis and JFK (the likelihood of the former much more probable than the latter) but, without a doubt, the validity that an ancient mummy is hunting them is all too sound. Ho-tep is after people’s souls, which he extracts via any orifice and, considering it is a retirement home, as the fragile occupants attempt escape they fall and Ho-tep utilizes the nearest orifice available. What’s worse is the residents’ deaths aren’t an abrupt departure from an already fleeting existence. The soul-sucking mummy, once he consumes a soul, just like any food, digests it, thus making it “so much toilet dressing” (in the King’s words). It is up to Elvis and JFK to rid Mud Creek of this decrepit menace.
The film’s strength lies in the manner in which it is presented. Everyone involved could have easily, considering the premise and characters, approached the material with their tongues permanently affixed to their cheeks and produced what would have been expected. Instead, the entire cast plays it straight which, in turn, makes the film that much more entertaining because the explicit humor is thereby doubled as the deadpan performances come off as wry, black humor diatribes which sucker punch the “I’m in on the gag” audience, much in the same manner that Slim Pickens was directed by Stanley Kubrick to play Major Kong straight, which, if he hadn’t, some of the irony of the situation would have otherwise been depleted, the character granted coy awareness of his absurd predicament.
Case in point, we are first given Sebastian Haff, whose history is revealed through his nurse (Ella Joyce, Reality Bites) as she mockingly informs us of her patient’s allegations that he is the true Elvis, alive and well, after opting to switch places with an Elvis impersonator decades before because the King was simply fed up with the limelight (he states his friends were “sucking him dry” just as Ho-tep is attempting to do). Shortly thereafter, we are presented with JFK, who happens to be black, but–of course–there is an explanation for this: The government removed Kennedy’s brain, which is currently housed in the White House and, to cover up the situation, dyed the President’s body black. Also in the mix is Kemosabe (Larry Pennell), the aged Lone Ranger and friend to Elvis, who goes out, pop guns blazing, as he attempts to save the day but, as Elvis notes, does so with his soul still intact.
From one perspective, the film is a criticism of society’s penchant to quickly forget famed figures once their heyday has past and an exploration of how the past thereby haunts those individuals while simultaneously ridiculing the current status of nursing homes. We have Elvis, who ruminates upon Lisa and Pricilla as he second-guesses himself, his career, and his decision to abandon his stardom; JFK, whose room is decorated with mug hosts of his assassin(s); and Ho-tep, a minor figure in Egyptian history whose corpse, while being toured around the US, was hijacked and subsequently forgotten. Not surprisingly, the legacy of Elvis’s recently deceased roommate, Bull (Harrison Young, Saving Private Ryan, The Game, Ken Park, House of 1000 Corpses), a decorated war veteran, has the essence of his life, his Purple Heart, haphazardly tossed into the trash by none other than his own daughter, Callie (Heidi Marnhout, Phantasm IV: Oblivion).
From what I have already disclosed, this hardly sounds to be the fun horror comdy/parody that was outlined in the introduction. Instead, it is the groundwork for a depressing analysis of death and dying. Yet this is where the power of the work lies. By presenting us with highly implausible characters, Coscarelli and Lansdale permit the mood to be offset by the typical diction of the trademark personalities. When JFK first discovers that something is amiss at Shady Rest, he suspects LBJ. Elvis retorts, “Lyndon Johnson’s dead.” JFK nonchalantly darts back, “Shit. That ain’t gonna stop him.” After thwarting an attack by Ho-tep (in his scarab form) and being asked if he was sure of what he saw, Elvis assures the rest home administrator (Reggie Bannister, the Phantasm series), “Look, man, do I look like an ichtyologist (sic) to you? Big damn bugs, all right? The size of my fist. The size of a peanut butter and banana sandwich.” Afterward, JFK drags Elvis into the community restroom (his private facilities haven’t been fixed) to reveal hieroglyphics supposedly left by Ho-tep which, loosely translated, read, “Pharoah gobbles donkey goobers. Cleopatra does the nasty.”
The humor isn’t confined to circumstantial linguistic irony nor is it ever extended in order to make another joke: Everything is credible given the characters, their mindsets, the situation, and environment. For example, Elvis captured the scarab in the nearest object within reach: a bedpan. When Elvis is out attempting to piece together the mystery of Ho-tep, he finds himself at the top of a steep hill and, haggardly, ambles down the knoll, aided by his walker, as Campbell wobbles, shakes, and puffs the duration of the descent. Furthermore, JFK uses the Red Phone to disclose to Elvis his plan to rid Shady Rest of the menacing mummy. During the attack, we find Elvis frustrated as Ho-tep closes in on JFK who, during a moment of pause, grabs a quick nap. When Elvis first approaches Sebastian in order to secure the doppelganger deal, Sebastian, touché, kneels before the King. Perhaps the most comical aspects of the work reside in Elvis resorting to his famed oversized sunglasses as if they were prescription lenses. This is second only to the ingenious move on Lansdale’s behalf of having the aging Elvis succumb to retirement due to one of his most precocious commodities–his hips–go out.
Does it matter whether or not the two residents are loons and that Ho-tep might be figments of their boring environment (its possible genesis being a program of the mummy’s history on television after applesauce and bingo)? Not really. Though it might seem trite, the work is the story of two people whom others have lost faith in as they place faith in themselves. My hat’s off to Joe Lansdale and, more importantly, Don Coscarelli, for having the courage and determination to set this refreshing, intriguing work to the screen.
-Egregious Gurnow
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
