Bubba Badinage

Ages ago, well, 1994 or thereabouts, I couldn't resist buying the anthology The King Is Dead--Tales of Elvis Postmortem. The idea was simple: "{e}ach entry must include Elvis Presley in some way, shape, or form, and Elvis must be dead."


The results were mixed, as one might expect, but it's still worth seeking out a copy even though it's long out-of-print (Brother Wayne got into the act with "Elviscera," wherein "{a} gaggle of Gothic teens establish an Elvis sacrifice cult hoping to make the world better through murder (summary stolen from here)." That's our Wayne.

Anyway, one of the stories was a delightful little read by Joe R. Lansdale entitled "Bubba Ho-Tep" which at the time I thought would make a great little movie. Eight years later and lo and behold! A film version did emerge with none other than the great Bruce Campbell as Elvis (and Ossie Davis as John F. Kennedy, which takes some explaining but works).

Naturally, I bought the DVD as soon as it hit the shelves. Quick review: the GREATEST movie pitting Elvis against an ancient Egyptian mummy ever!*

I also liked the soundtrack--a lot--but Amazon.com no longer carried it and the retailers who did wanted moon money for the damned thing ($176.76 for a new copy? I don't care if it is signed by the director, bite me).

Still, I wanted it. Yeah, I could play the DVD or fire up YouTube and listen to all my favorite passages, but that's so awkward (plus I don't have the fun of wandering the streets of Richmond with my mp3 player blasting "The King's Highway" at full volume while I stave off an imaginary horde of marauding mummies. Yes, I have an active imagination).

Then I thought of checking the official website. There it was, $19.95 + s&h, signed and everything, and now it is mine.

Take a listen:

Amazing what one can do by varying a simple musical theme!

Thank you, Don Coscarelli, thank you, Brian Tyler. You've made me very happy this weekend.


*This, by the way, is similar to my capsule review of From Dusk Till Dawn, "the greatest Mexican Aztec vampire movie with George Clooney and Quentin Tarentino ever made!"