Saturday, August 2, 2008

Great Moments In Low Budget Filmmaking, #1

Bruce Campbell as an aged Elvis, teamed up with Ossie Davis as JFK, in Don Coscarelli's Bubba Ho-Tep, attempting his kung-fu against a spellcasting mummy.

The beauty of Coscarelli's flick? Despite the premise (Elvis is alive and living in the same home they put JFK, except that JFK's been turned black somehow, and they must fight this mummy to save their fellow residents), this is really not a camp movie until the end, when the low budget catches up with them. (The final battle.)

Most of the movie is actually an examination of old age and regret, if crudely told. Possibly Ossie Davis' greatest role, and at 85, he actually looked healthier than the heavily made up Campbell.

The copyright stinger worns that infringement on the copyright may result in the wrath of Bubba Ho-Tep.

I actually caught this in the theater when it came out. It had a two-day run 15 miles from here.

6 comments:

  1. It is a great film. When it came out on video (my area lacks a good theater that will show the low-budget "artsy" stuff), I immediately rented it. Bruce CAmpbell just automaticaly makes any film better when he's in it. :)

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  2. Hey don't use your real name! You never know who might be watching.

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  3. The just put spy ware in, that's why so many sites were down yesterday.

    I am not paranoid, I swear.

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  4. Welcome, Lori!

    Yeah, I have the same feeling about Bruce. Right now he's in this USA series I have no interest in watching...except that he's in it!!

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  5. Also, you and I have a six-degrees thing going on.

    You had a professor who used to be an actress by the name of Kay Linaker who was in a movie called Laura which was scored by David Raksin, from whom I took a composition for film & TV class at UCLA!

    Only three degrees, actually.

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  6. Yeah welcome. Blake has the best movie blog going. If you want an honest review of the latest flicks, this is the place to go.

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