Take a moment to expunge that image from your mind. Now, you might recall last Monday's (8/5) post about my friends Scott and Chris who, like Capone, attended the Flashback Horror Weekend and Sci-Fi Convention that was held August 2-4 in Chicago.
Curiously, while Knowles makes it abundantly clear how jealous he is about not being able to see the original cast reenact The Evil Dead live, he doesn't mention how cool it would have been to be the random guy from the audience selected to play the role of "Scotty," played in the movie by Hal Delrich. As devout CS readers know, that random guy was Chris, who provided a detailed account on Monday of how he got to perform with Bruce Campbell and the Ladies of Evil Dead, despite being one of only three in a theater full of 1,200 people who admitted to never actually having seen the movie!
Here's how Capone explains the event: "After that, Bruce returned to the stage with the Ladies of Evil Dead for an almost complete reenactment of EVIL DEAD. With Tom Sullivan doing sound effects and an audience member playing Scottie, this reminded me of some radio plays I’d seen done years ago. Okay, maybe it wasn’t quite that good, but boy was it a scream. I nearly pissed myself when “Ash” and “Linda” are having their big romantic scene together and Bruce whipped out a full-sized magnifying glass on a chain for her to wear. Since they were reading from the original script, they even acted out scenes that weren’t in the final film, which was screened immediately after."
Chris e-mailed Harry after seeing the article and said, "Hey, that was me. I was the audience member!" No response from Harry yet...
Meanwhile, Scott writes in with this review of Bubba Ho-Tep, which had its Midwest premiere earlier that same night with star Bruce Campbell in attendance. This is a little movie only a handful of you will probably ever get the opportunity to see -- or even want to see -- but Campbell has developed enough of a devoted following over the years that surely a few readers must be curious about his current film. Here's what Scott had to say:
As Campbell strode onto the stage to introduce the movie, he claimed that it was the most bizarre film he had ever acted in. Whoa! Now, before I go any further, let me just say that I'm a bizarre film connoisseur and Bruce Campbell has been in some really crazy-ass films.
So anyway, his bold declaration had me giddy as a little schoolgirl for Bubba Ho-Tep to start. My anticipation increased even further when the credits rolled and the words, "Directed By Don Coscarelli" flashed on the screen. This guy has helmed some of the weirdest genre flicks ever made. Coscarelli's imagery has featured giant alien morticians, living dead dwarves, killer flying balls, and the great actor Mark "Beastmaster" Singer running around in a loincloth letting women pet his ferret.
However high my expectations now were, Bubba Ho-Tep exceeded them. This is one of the coolest "what if" movies I have seen in a long time.You know what I mean by "what if"? What if Shakespeare fell in love while writing Romeo and Juliet? What if a mentally challenged man named Forrest unknowingly influenced historical events? What if this loser movie reviewer had some balls and lived out his Evil Dead fantasies on stage with the entire cast of the movie instead of passing the opportunity to his undeserving friend....aaaaaahhhhh damn you o' missed opportunity...
Anyway, what if Elvis Presley decided during the prime of his career to step out of the limelight and switch places with an Elvis impersonator? And what if present day Elvis was in an elderly home wishing he could return to his past glory? This is the premise Bubba Ho-Tep starts out with, and trust me when I say they take this story into places you would never predict. I don't want to ruin any surprises the movie presents so I'll keep plot developments to a minimum. However, to understand just how bizarre this film gets, I will say that Ossie "Da Mayor" Davis portrays President John F. Kennedy. Those of you who know that Davis is black can begin to see why this movie is whacked!
Bubba Ho-Tep contains Campbell's greatest performance to date. You're probably thinking all he ever accomplished up to this point in his career was getting his ass kicked in the three Evil Dead movies. Maybe. But he shows more range and humor as Elvis Presley than any actor that has played the part. Yes, he's even better than Kurt Russell as Elvis. Coscarelli deftly mixes comedy and suspense, never lets the pace drag, and makes the production value seem way higher than the budget probably was. Oh, did I mention that Bubba Ho-Tep is the name of an undead soul stealing mummy? This is a crazy bad-ass movie.
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