Meet Don Coscarelli

Writer/Director Don Coscarelli has recently won critical acclaim for his quirky 2003 feature, Bubba Ho-Tep, which is about the geriatric Elvis and John F. Kennedy battling a reanimated mummy who's stealing souls in their rest home to sustain itself.

Prior to Bubba Ho-Tep, Coscarelli was best-known for his horror movie series, Phantasm (beginning in 1979), and his pre-Sonya Fitzpatrick "pet psychic" character, The Beastmaster (1982). While The Beastmaster films were based on the science fiction novel by Andre Norton, Phantasm was purely a figment of Coscarelli's twisted imagination. It's said that the movie came to him in a dream... read on, and you'll learn the story behind that story.

The original Phantasm – a movie that Coscarelli wrote, directed, produced, edited, and shot – was a worldwide critical and box-office success. It won the Special Jury Prize at the Festival du Cinema Fantastique, and the hearts of horror "phans" everywhere. Coscarelli then wrote and directed Phantasm 2, and a few years later he wrote, directed and produced Phantasm 3: Lord of the Dead. Phantasm 3 won the Best Independent Film award, which is voted on by the readers of Fangoria Magazine. Phantasm IV followed, and now there's Bubba Ho-Tep.

Bubba Ho-Tep has been nominated for a Bram Stoker Award (voted on by members of The Horror Writer's Association, of which I am a member – Don's got my vote!) for best screenplay; nominated for an International Horror Guild award for best movie; best screenplay from the Online Film Critics Society; and was the winner of Best Actor and Best Screenplay at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival.

When I got the opportunity to chat with Coscarelli for Horror.com, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Although I'd seen Phantasms I and II, The Beastmaster at least 10 times, and Bubba Ho-Tep, I didn't know much about the person behind those movies; he's not one of those celebrity directors you're likely to meet schmoozing on the red carpet, or reading about in Rolling Stone. What I found was a soft-spoken, intelligent person who has a very grounded, down-to-earth perspective on his successful career in the horror genre.

Staci Layne Wilson: What drew you to The Beastmaster story enough to want to make a movie of it? Are you an animal lover, or a fan of mythology?

Don Coscarelli: Yeah, a lot of each. I liked the science fiction aspects, which is why I read that book in the first place. I read all of her books when I was a boy. I thought the concept of the man and the animals working as a team was interesting. I always loved the Steve Reeves epic/heroic stuff, Ray Harryhausen, sword and sandals and all that, so I came up with this idea of setting The Beastmaster in the Bronze Age milieu. It evolved into this samurai/Disney movie.

I know you've tackled a few genres in your time, but it seems that horror is what you're best know for. The Phantasm movies have been a real phenomenon. Are you still interested in doing more?

Yeah. As a boy, I adored the sci-fi and horror genres. Those were the only kinds of films that really appealed to me and so I imagine it was inevitable that I would get into the genre. The problem is, once you get into it, it's kind of hard to get out. In terms of the funding I'm able to get, it seems to always be contingent on it being a genre film. But I'd definitely love to do other horror films. And I'd love to get another Phantasm film going.

A friend of mine, Roger Avery (who co-wrote Pulp Fiction), came up with this concept for a sort of epic end-all sequel. He wrote this really amazing script for it, but it was very epic in scope and very violent. We were never able to get it funded, unfortunately.

Do you think maybe with the critical acclaim of Bubba Ho-Tep, things like that will change now? You'll get more respect, so to speak?

Absolutely. Bubba Ho-Tep might be more comedy and drama than it is horror. I think in a strange way it was a path for both Bruce Campbell and myself to do something that was in the genre, yet sort of outside the genre at the same time. I'd like to think that the Hollywood big shots would look at the movie and say, 'Hey, that guy can direct comedy!' I don't know if that's going to happen, though. We'll see. I got to see a couple of the Phantasm movies at a retrospective screening and I was surprised at how funny they are. There was a lot of laughter going on.

Comedy is probably just something you do, even without realizing it, as a writer. Now, is it true that the idea for Phantasm came to you in a dream, or that just a crank of the Hollywood publicity machinery?

Well, it wasn't the entire idea. It was just the idea for the sphere. That came to me out of a dream. I had this weird dream where I was pursued down corridors with these spheres chasing after me.

Never did (laughs). You know, it sort of stuck with me as I was preparing this pretty straight-forward, simple horror film examining the funeral industry. In adding the sci-fi elements, that's where the sphere came in.

First off, it's a total shock to me that 25 years later we're still talking about it. We made the film under such very modest circumstances, with a bunch of friends working for a year or two to pull the thing together and hoping just to get it into a theater. We had no idea it would have any lasting value. It's hard for me to say, but I guess the reason people are still interested is because it works on a couple of different levels: Number one, it's got a great performance by Angus Scrimm. He really creates this indelible character who genuinely terrified people. I think by the nature of the way the film was made -- you know, we shot it over a long period of time; we were writing it and editing it while were shooting, and re-writing it and shooting -- it took on kind of a fractured, more dreamlike quality that maybe if it had all been shot in one 20-day period, it might not have had. I think another thing is, you know, a lot of young men come up to me and say, 'I saw Phantasm when I was 13,' and I think there's a youthful component to it that's kind of an empowerment movie for teenage boys. Driving cars, shooting guns [and all that].

Things have certainly changed since then. Movies have become so puritanical and PC in so many ways – the best example I can think of to prove that is Steven Spielburg going back on the recent re-release of E.T. and changing the guns into walkie-talkies.

Yeah. Also, we took a lot of risks in the making of the film. Certainly with the young actor, Michael Baldwin; he did a lot of his own stunts in the thing. When I look back on it, the liability was tremendous, but he was just a wiry kid who loved to do those things. He only had supervision part of the time, too. I was remembering back the other day, about this one scene where he takes this hammer with a shotgun shell and makes this device that he uses to blow the door open with. I had this fear up until a few years after the movie came out that someone was going to mimic that and blow a finger off.

Bubba Ho-Tep will be out on DVD soon, and it's really getting the royal treatment. Is it fun taking part in all the extras? What say do you have in that, as writer/director?

For better or for worse, I did supervise the entire thing. Pretty much though, when you're working with a company like MGM you are relegated a bit to being a cheerleader. Probably the centerpiece to the DVD extras is the Bruce Campbell commentary in character, and that was completely his idea. He came up with that idea probably a year ago, at one of the early screenings of the film. He leaned over and told me he had this idea, and I thought it would be great. The other thing I really wanted to do was involve Joe Lansdale on the DVD, and what better way than to have him do a reading of his original story? I think it'll be fun for fans who have never gotten a chance to see him, or hear him at a reading, because his voice is just so funny-sounding. It's very charming in that East Texas dialect, and you can also hear how much more raw the short story is. The movie is pretty raw but in some respects we did have to pull back from some of Joe's style.

Yeah, that's really the only thing I, personally, didn't care for in the movie. But then when I heard the Lansdale story on the DVD I realized where all the scatological references came from. So, at least you were true to the story.

Yeah, it kind of surprised me. I thought we were really pushing it, but Joe was really out there in that book.

Well, he's got no one holding him back. Authors are usually pretty free to do as they please.

That's true.

I think the first thing was the concept: 'Elvis Fighting Mummy' is just conceptually wonderful. It was the depth of the story and, you know, I was just a casual observer of Elvis and his demise. I always appreciated that when you read about Elvis, people spoke about what a respectful person he was. He was a mama's boy, and he had this overwhelming amount of intention, and of course talent, in a time period when there was not the assistance the big megastars have now. There was no Betty Ford Clinic. He was one of the first to really suffer through these addictions with no help, and it killed him. I also always appreciated Elvis's desire to be a hero. I'd read about that stuff with him and Nixon, wanting to be an honorary member of the F.B.I. When I read Joe's story, I thought he just tied all that up in a nice package that allowed Elvis to redeem himself. There's an element of redemption to the thing, in a totally whacky, crazy horror movie style. The other thing that I just adored was the relationship in the short story between the Elvis and the JFK characters. Those were the elements that really drew me, and probably the least was the mummy. But of course I still like the whole back story of the mummy.

Bubba Ho-Tep has gotten so many good reviews, and everyone I know who's seen it just loved it. What is it about the movie that most fans bring up to you? What seems to resonate the most?

Certainly it's the concept. So many people say, 'Any time I hear a concept that's as out there as that, I'm going to run to the theater to see it.' It's not the kind of movie that Hollywood makes very often. I'm really gratified when people come up and tell me that at the end of the film, they were really moved. It's exactly what I was trying for and yet, you can imagine starting from scratch with this short story how hard it was to find the tone for it. When I was turning the story into the script, I laughed out loud in spots. Not only the scatological, but the bizarre circumstances, and characterizations; and you still have these moments where these two characters have to bond like the best of a buddy movie. I'm really happy that worked, and of course I give so much credit to Brian Tyler with the score. It helps the tone of the movie, taking you by the hand to let you know when it's supposed to be funny and when it's supposed to be tender. He uses all the palettes of Elvis's music without it being Elvis music. It's a very kind of roots [style], with southern guitar, bass and chords.

I thought Bruce Campbell's casting was inspired. I'd seen the Evil Dead movies, of course, but it was really Brisco County, Jr. that really won me over to the Bruce camp. He's very versatile. What's he like to work with?

I would say surprising, because Bruce is a director in his own right. He directed several seasons of the Xena and Hercules shows. Honestly, the first couple of days I was really surprised to see him in his trailer between scenes. A lot of actors between scenes are on the cell phone, talking to their agent, they're joking with the crew, or whatever. But Bruce is in his dressing room with his script, annotating and going through it. Part of that was also a function him being stuck in the makeup. He was forced to be that character all day long, so I think that helped a lot. The other thing is how creative he is in terms of coming to the set, coming from a director's point of view, he understood the pressure was on to get the scenes right, to get the shots, with time running short. He was always very generous in terms of offering ideas, but not forcing them. He would come out, and go, 'Well, how about we try this?' And if I said it wasn't working, he be like, 'OK, fine.' But then if I'd painted myself into a corner, he would offer other suggestions. There would be three or four different choices. Some actors will come out with their choices and it becomes a major negotiation to talk them out of them if they're not working. That part of working with Bruce was great.

It's hard to say exactly why I cast him. I was trying to think of who in that age range would be right, and his name popped into my mind while I was reading the short story. I'd seen the Spike Lee movie, Get on the Bus, at about that time and I liked him in that. Then he was touring with an autobiography that he and his wife had written, and he appeared at a local bookstore – this was a couple of years before I actually got the money together – and I went down and watched him speak. In person, he was so impressive. He's very tall, and really handsome. I didn't have the nerve to go and talk to him then, because I really didn't have the movie put together yet. I just watched him for an hour and he hooked me.

Bob Ivy did a great job as the mummy. More and more stunt men are playing monster characters these days. How was he cast?

I met Bob when I made Phantasm 3. If you get a chance to see that movie, he did this hearse crash stunt that is just phenomenal. I think what enamored me of Bob is that he's the first stunt person I'd met who was a genre fan. He came on to Phantasm 3 excited to be a part of the Phantasm series, having seen it when he was younger. Basically, he laid his life on the line for the movie and the fans. He said, 'I want to make something memorable.' He took this pipe ramp with a hearse, a 6,000 pound funeral coach, and the thing flies through the air for 180 feet. It's really a phenomenal thing. He took this risk, pulled off this incredible stunt, and I just became fast friends with him thereafter. He was in Phantasm 4. He played a character in that who was also burned up [reference to: Bubba Ho-Tep's fire stunt]. He's a great fan of current horror, but also the classic monsters. When he got the chance to play a role that the great Karloff had once played, he was over the moon. It was a great struggle for him having to wear that costume, but he's a wonderful guy [and didn't complain].

What I liked best was how each character played it straight. There was no tongue in cheek, wink-wink, nod-nod to the camera. What do you like best about the characters?

I think you can see a genuine bond between Bruce and Ossie. There was certainly one off the set and it translated on the set. By the end of the film, these two guys genuinely trust and respect one another and that was great. I liked the way that the skepticism of the other characters, including the nurse, was pulled off. They were able to show that they just don't believe anything Elvis says. That puts Elvis in a predicament, where he's so isolated from his fame, from his physical health, that when he's thrown this little life preserver from JFK about this whacky conspiracy theory about a mummy... It's an original concept, but it's the way the actors play it that really makes it work.

I think certainly the post-production would be the easiest and most fun, because you're under controlled circumstances. You can take pretty much as long as you want to craft it and editing really is a form of writing – when I've written a script, I don't really feel it's done until the cut is over. The actual shooting is always such a struggle because you have this very finite period of time to make this great statement and... have you ever seen that movie, Living in Oblivion?

Yes. It's actually one of my favorites.

It's so true. There are so many opportunities that are missed when you're shooting and it can be so frustrating every minute, as the clock ticks down. That part is painful.

I've got a screenplay I've been working on for a long time. It's a time-travel movie. I've always wanted to do a time-travel movie. I guess there is some time-travel in the Phantasm series but I'd like to do a real one someday.

All over the place!

Just don't do another Timeline. Great book, terrible movie.

I've heard so many interesting comments about that movie, I'm probably going to have to rent the DVD.

It is a enduring concept that people never seem to tire of. I just watched Paycheck yesterday, the John Woo film that was based on a Philip K. Dick short story. It's about the dangers of seeing your future.

I don't know if I'd want to see the future. I was thinking about one of his other books, which they sort of ripped off in The Truman Show, called Time Out of Joint. I think one of the big Hollywood producers owns the rights to that

Where do I begin? I like it all.

I like it all. The classic Universal monsters are what got me into it, probably. What the old masters could do with light and shadow and mood and style, without showing anything, was amazing. But then you know, the Italian giallo movies, like Suspiria, were a great influence on the Phantasm films. Love that stuff. More currently, the stuff I'm really excited about is Asian horror.

That's very popular right now.

Yeah. Maybe it's a cycle that's going to burn itself out, especially with all the remakes. I saw the movie The Eye at a film festival and it scared the hell out of me. I felt like I might have to leave the theatre and I hadn't felt that way in awhile.

And you'll never look at meat hanging in the butcher shop the same way, ever again!

[laughs] Yeah, those guys [the Pang Bros.] are great talents. I finally got my Ju-On DVD in the mail the other day and I'm excited about seeing that one.

Eli Roth [writer/director of Cabin Fever] was telling me the other day in an interview that that's one of his new favorites.

He's great, and I really liked Cabin Fever.

I did, too.

That one was a lot of fun.

It got mixed reviews, but I guess it's one that you either have to go with the concept, or not.

It did get slammed in some circles. I don't know what happened, because I had seen it early on before it came out. I saw it twice at different festivals and the audiences just went crazy over it. I really find that when I can see films on an advance basis I can enjoy them and fabricate my own opinion. This is my problem with reading reviews; it removes your ability to make your own opinion... or, it makes it harder. You're influenced whether it's overt or subtle. A friend of mine works over at E! Entertainment. He's one of the few horror geeks over there and he's been inviting me to some advance screenings of movies, especially the genre stuff. It was fun to see Hellboy without having read any of the reviews of it, for instance. I really enjoyed that.

Guillermo del Toro is one of my favorite directors.

Isn't he great? I think his movie, The Devil's Backbone, is really underrated. I just thought that was the best movie of 2001. It's really a great film. So is Cronos.

What do you think of some of the recent zombie hits, like 28 Days Later or the new Dawn of the Dead?

I like those. I love the zombie stuff, and part of the reason there's so much excitement in that genre is because we've been so starved for zombie movies for so long that anytime a studio wants to put the money up to make any kind of a zombie movie, we've got to enjoy it [while it lasts]. I love the George Romero stuff, and Richard Matheson. I like the ones that feed on brains. I remember seeing Night of the Living Dead and how the low-budget style had an impact on me. It was something that seemed so real.

One last question: I'm dying to know why you got a special thanks on the Ron Jeremy documentary, Porn Star. What's Ron Jeremy thanking you for?

Well, it wasn't him. I've never met Ron Jeremy. The fellow [Scott J. Gill] who directed Porn Star edited Phantasm 4 and also was co-editor on Bubba Ho-Tep, and he went off and shot that documentary. It's a hilarious picture. It was Scott's first picture, but I didn't really do anything. He invited me down to his editing room and I saw various versions of cuts. A special thanks...that's weird...

Yeah, you're forever immortalized in Porn Star!

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Interview by Staci Layne Wilson for Horror.com.