The idea now sounds almost too typical. During the summer after
his first year of college at UCLA, Don Coscarelli decided to make a
movie.
Since then, the results have been anything but ordinary.
Coscarelli ended up dropping out of school and spent the next year
making “Jim, the World’s Greatest” with money he
borrowed from his dad.
“I was really intent on pursuing a film career,”
Coscarelli said. “That kind of became my college.”
If so, he graduated early. Universal Pictures picked up the
film, making Coscarelli, 19 at the time, the youngest filmmaker
ever to have a nationally distributed movie.
That was in 1972, and while “Jim, the World’s
Greatest” wasn’t very successful, it launched his
career as a filmmaker ““ now famous in the indie-horror world
for “Phantasm” and its three (soon to be four)
sequels.
Coscarelli had wanted to go to film school, but looking back on
the process, he doesn’t have any regrets.
“There wasn’t any template back then,” he
said. “It was before Quentin (Tarantino) ruined everything
and made independent movies fashionable.”
In the era of filmmaking before people like Tarantino and Kevin
Smith began to flood the market with independent filmmaking,
Coscarelli’s decision to drop out of school wasn’t
regarded with the same sort of hip respect it currently
receives.
However, that doesn’t mean it was the wrong decision.
“If you’re going to be a dentist, then go to
college, but if you’re going to be an actor or filmmaker,
then no. No class can teach you that,” said Bruce Campbell,
star of Coscarelli’s newest film, “Bubba
Ho-tep.”
Campbell took a path similar to Coscarelli’s, studying
theater at Western Michigan University for six months before
leaving to pursue his career in the acting world. He eventually
gained notoriety for starring in “The Evil Dead” trio
of films.
While Coscarelli’s and Campbell’s stories may sound
strange, “Bubba Ho-tep” is stranger.
Written and directed by Coscarelli, the film features Campbell
as an aging Elvis Presley battling against a mummy. It also
features veteran actor Ossie Davis playing John F. Kennedy,
Elvis’ improbable sidekick. Even Coscarelli has a difficult
time describing it.
“What is “˜Bubba Ho-tep?'” he laughed.
“It is a comedy, there’s no question about that, and
it’s a horror, and parts of it also make it a
drama.”
Set for release in Los Angeles on Oct. 3, the film has received
almost universal praise in film festivals across the country, in
large part because of the comedic relationship between Elvis and
JFK.
“(Campbell) and (Davis) genuinely developed affection, and
a bond formed between the two of them,” Coscarelli said.
Campbell feels that Davis brought more than just his acting and
personality to the film.
“(Davis) gave our movie legitimacy,” Campbell said.
“He gets awards.”
The absence of legitimacy in Hollywood is something Coscarelli
and Campbell are familiar with, but not because they left school.
Many working in the indie-horror world seek legitimacy in the
larger film community, as the genre is known for its B-picture
filmmaking qualities and cult following.
Even with Davis, his awards and the praise “Bubba
Ho-tep” has received, the film’s bizarre story still
may make it difficult to acquire a mass-market audience. In tune
with his past, Coscarelli doesn’t care.
“As crazy and as wacky as the movie is,” he said,
“we just tried to stay true to Elvis.”