Director: Don Coscarelli
Cast: Bruce Campbell, Ossie Davis, Ella Joyce, Bob Ivy
Have I Seen it Before: Oh, sure.
Did I Like It: Here’s the thing: Take Elvis (Campbell, in a dual role as the pauper who took the place of the king, Sebastian Haff) and JFK (Davis) out of the equation, and a story about two guys at the end of their rope taking on a mummy in the most depressing nursing home ever would have worked just fine.
Well, maybe the mummy thing wouldn’t work so hot on it’s on. Ho-Tep (Ivy) is probably a below average film monster, all things considered. There’s nothing new about our mummy that wasn’t already charted by Boris Karloff. My memory is fuzzy, but I think the Scarabs and their works didn’t quite live up to any degree of believability upon the film’s release.
These are minor complaints which could be leveled at any b-horror film of a similar budget. One must manage expectations. So, what keeps bringing me back to the film? The high-concept sell of Elvis and JFK versus a mummy definitely gets the thing greenlit, but if every poster was immediately indicative of how good a movie was, The Shining (1980) would be the worst movie of all time, and most other horror movies would yearly duke it out for Best Picture. Campbell is always charming (even when he’s aiming for unlikeable curmudgeon), and seeing Davis embrace the absurdity of his role is a good start. The music score—from Bryan Tyler—sticks in your head, which is impressive enough in an era now where nearly every score—even from composers previously legendary—is adequate noise. Tyler deserves every big job he’s gotten since.
Those help elevate the film, but the real, secret strength is that the film (almost despite itself) is at its core a redemption story. Without Elvis coming to grips with all of the mistakes—both improbable and banal—he has made, the film would still be relegated to the static of other B-movies.