ominating the recent theatrical features in this week's DVD releases is the initial, few-frills version of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," the final film in Peter Jackson's epic adaptation of the J. R. R. Tolkein trilogy. The Warner Home Video release ($29.95), available in both wide-screen and pan-and-scan versions, includes the 201-minute theatrical version of the film and three promotional documentaries and a handful of two-to-five-minute "featurettes," but no new scenes or commentary tracks. There will be much more to be said when Warner rolls out the "expanded" edition — said to include an hour of additional sequences — this fall.

These are other new releases:

'Bubba Ho-tep'

Don Coscarelli's delightful independent feature, based on a story by Joe R. Lansdale, imagines an aging Elvis Presley — or at least, an aging Elvis imitator (Bruce Campbell) who has come to believe that he's the King himself — wasting away in a grim East Texas nursing home; he has just about abandoned all interest in life when he discovers that the home is under attack from a soul-sucking mummy who prowls the hallways wearing snakeskin cowboy boots and a big black hat.

To battle his supernatural foe, Elvis enlists the help of another resident of the home, an immensely dignified African-American (Ossie Davis) convinced that he's John F. Kennedy. Fighting death, the two old men have found a reason to live.

Mr. Coscarelli, who is probably best known for his long-running "Phatasm" series of horror films, combines genre elements with wild and happy abandon, moving effortlessly from rich character humor (aided immensely by Mr. Davis and Mr. Campbell, whose Elvis is a funny, rueful, fully imagined figure) to effective shock sequences. Nicely packaged by MGM Home Entertainment, with excellent image quality and a lively, detailed 5.1 stereo mix, the disc includes two separate audio commentaries, one by Mr. Coscarelli and Mr. Campbell, and one in which Mr. Campbell, deep in his Elvis character, provides his perspective on the unlikely action. 2003. $27.98. R.