Horror History: Happy Birthday PHANTASM Creator Don Coscarelli
Mike Sprague
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On this day in horror history, Don Coscarelli was born in Tripoli, Libya in 1954. Coscarelli is best known around these parts as the writer-director of Phantasm.
He also helmed Phantasm II, Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead, and Phantasm IV: Oblivion. But he’s not just the Phantasm guy. Oh, no. He also directs classics like Beastmaster, John Dies at the End, and Masters of Horror: Incident On and Off a Mountain Road. He also served as producer and co-writer on Phantasm: Ravager.
But his best movie, in my opion, is Bubba Ho-Tep.
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It tells the tale of a now aged Elvis Presley played by Bruce Campbell. He wakes up after falling into a lengthy coma following a freak accident involving hip gyration in an East Texas nursing home. There he befriends Jack (Ossie Davis), who claims to be President John F. Kennedy. After residents of their quiet retirement community start dying of dubiously unnatural causes, Elvis and Jack discover that the perpetrator is Bubba Ho-Tep, an Egyptian mummy with murderous intentions.
The film sports a 79% approval rating over on Rotten Tomatoes. The clever Critics Consensus reads: The best movie to star both the King and JFK.
What’s your favorite Don Coscarelli movie?
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