THE KING OF ROCK VS. MUMMY DEAREST
Based on the Bram Stoker Award nominee short story by Joe R. Lansdale, "Bubba Ho-tep" tells the bizarre 'true' story of Elvis
Presley (Bruce "Evil Dead" Campbell), a resident of an East Texas rest home, who switched identities with an Elvis impersonator
years before, but literally blew his chance to ever switch back.
Elvis teams up with 'Jack' (Ossie Davis), a fellow
nursing home resident (who thinks he is 'JFK') and the two old boys take on a pistol-toting, Jonah Hex/Cryptkeeper-like entity
who has chosen their long-term care facility
as a soul-quenching hunting ground ...
Michael Stevens chats with "Bubba Ho-tep" star Bruce Campbell
and director Don Coscarelli during the Toronto International Film Festival ...
Producer/Director Don Coscarelli
says "Bubba Ho-tep" was invited to screen at this year's Toronto International Film Festival as part of the "Midnight Madness"
sidebar.
He says "Bubba" is primarily about "the redemption of Elvis Presley".
As for comic books, Don is currently
into "Preacher" but he grew up with DC Comics specifically and loves "Green Lantern". He would direct a film like GL if asked
"but it would have to have a great actor like an Edward Norton" as opposed to some muscle-guy.
Asked about 'revisiting'
a new "Beastmaster" movie, Don says if he did another one it would NOT be PG-13 but "real sword and sorcery with naked women
... hard r-rated...", but that "the stars must align" if that were to ever happen ...
Bruce Campbell spoke very
highly about his director, with great respect for Don "scraping his knees" and "crawling through glass" as a producer, to
get "Bubba Ho-tep" financed and in the can.
Bruce says his take on Elvis is not about the 'myth' of Elvis "but about
Elvis the man."
Bruce is also keen on promoting his best-selling book "If Chins Could Kill : Confessions of a B-Movie
Actor", now available in paperback. His next book, due in 2003 is "Make Love The Bruce Campbell Way", delving into aphrodisiacs,
pick-up lines, and all things "hot and heavy".
Bruce said he loved school-chum Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" movie ("...I
can identify with an ordinary kind of guy like Peter Parker") and takes great pride in having portrayed the 'wrestling MC'
character that bestows Parker with his 'Spider-Man' moniker. Bruce looks forward to definitely appearing in "The Amazing Spider-Man
: Spider-Man 2".
As for his interest in comic books, Bruce says when he was a kid the only comic book he ever read,
or liked, was Harvey Comics' "Sad Sack" because he could relate to the good-natured, put-upon GI Private as a 'real' character
...
