If there was ever a film that screamed “for the horror fanboys” in capital letters on a thousand and one internet forums, this is that film. Directed by Don Coscarelli (from the Phantasm films) and starring Bruce Campbell (from the Evil Dead films) with a pitch of Elvis vs. The Mummy, this promised to be a fun but inconsequential horror romp, with a fairly small but rabid target audience. That it managed to transcend these expectations and actually be a heart-warming and challenging piece about ageing and death was astounding.
Bruce Campbell plays a man who may (or may not) be Elvis, stuck in a flyblown nursing home with a cancerous penis. His two companions are the sympathetic-but-taking-no-shit nurse played by Ella Joyce, and civil rights activist Ossie Davis playing a man who may (or may not) be JFK. The jokes and monsters are all in place, and satisfyingly funny, but the film challenges it’s audience. How can we be content to abandon our parents and the elder generation in squalid, depressing homes such as these: yesterday’s heroes gave us civil rights, moon landings, rock and roll. And what do you do when you are staring death in the face? Is it possible to die with pride and honour intact?
Bruce Campbell is admittedly no Robert de Niro, but as Elvis he gives a tender performance of an old man who ran away from his heyday, and desperately wants it back. Ossie Davis and Ella Joyce are equally excellent in their supporting roles.
This film also changed my life, as I met the woman who would become my wife at the UK Premiere of this film. And if you’ve got to marry anybody, marry a lass who goes to Elvis vs. The Mummy films!
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