Phil Hubbs
The whole notion of the film has that cult comic book vibe and feels like a silly spin off from something else. It does sound like one of those cool ideas that you've heard about from the comic book world, that you'd think would be awesome as a film...but it probably won't ever get made, a bit like 'Freddy vs Jason vs Ash'.Yet despite that this is one of those ideas that reads well on paper, would work well in comic book/graphic novel form, but for some reason hasn't translated that well onto film. The plot is fast n loose and unfortunately doesn't really give you much info. An aged Elvis living in a crappy retirement home (he swapped places with an Elvis impersonator to escape the limelight) must do battle with an ancient Egyptian mummy who is sucking the old folk dry of their souls. I use the word battle loosely.It sounds friggin' awesome, then you read it stars Bruce Campbell as Elvis and things just get better and better. This could almost be some kind of weird alternative dimension for his 'Ash' character...if you really really try to think of it that way. It sounds ultra cool and seeing Campbell as an old Elvis (and young) is ultra cool, even though he kinda looks like Kevin Costner's Elvis impersonator from '3000 Miles to Graceland'. Its not an accurate depiction of Elvis of course, more of a comic book version with added Raimi-esque spice n dialog. Yep Campbell will forever be associated with his quirky Evil Dead hero character...especially in quirky horror comedies such as this.The problem for me with the film is how slow it is and the fact nothing much really happens. There is a lot about Elvis and how he suffers in his old age, he reminisces about his fame and youth and generally moans a lot. At times it is amusing for sure but there comes a point when I just wanted something to actually happen. When it does it kinda feels unexplained and a bit of an anti climax really. The fact Elvis needs a zimmer frame (walker) to walk all the time restricts the films excitement potential also. The whole mummy side of it just isn't laid out right frankly, no real reasons for its occurrence, no proper closure, no reasons for its actions etc...its just there and dressed as a cowboy for some reason.The film is also kinda drab looking throughout which is a bit depressing. I know that's part of the films story but I did yearn to see some brighter visuals and a bit more colour. I think they downplayed Elvis's room and the retirement home, it didn't need to be so shitty looking, old fashioned sure but not so shitty.Eventually we come to the showdown at the end and I was kinda expecting something a bit special, it sorta builds up to it. But alas!!! its very weak and pretty mundane despite Campbell's verbal quips. Two old men, one in an electric wheelchair and the other who can hardly walk without a zimmer frame, both take on a mummy who also walks very very slowly and does not a lot (doesn't even look that good either). It doesn't sound too great does it, and in all honesty it isn't, its unique and quirky but ultimately a let down. The finale is sombre and acceptable but feels right admittedly.This is how the entire film feels for me really, its a wicked idea and probably works much better as a graphic novel. Campbell looks good and sounds good as Elvis and saves the film completely, without him it would be B-movie trash, well the film is a B-movie really, a B-movie with Bruce Campbell in it. Overall I can see how this has become a total cult classic with its Evil Dead-esque cheap looking visuals and theme and I will give it plus points for that. On the other hand I do think director Coscarelli is riding on the coattails of the Evil Dead/Raimi franchise a bit too much.'Don't make me use my stuff on ya, baby!'6/10
ferbs54
It can be a tricky balancing act, coming up with the perfect film in the genre known as the horror comedy; a picture that is hilariously funny while at the same time being truly scary. And while there is no shortage of films with a decidedly uneven ratio of horror::comedy--such as 1960's "The Little Shop of Horrors," 1974's "Young Frankenstein" and 1975's "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"--such films usually come off as pure comedies, only with a horror setting. But when the balance is just right, such as in "The Ghost Breakers" (1940), "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948, and still probably the finest exemplar of the horror comedy ever made) and "Spider Baby" (1964), the result can be a timeless and wonderful entertainment. To my great surprise, to this latter category must be added Don Coscarelli's "Bubba Ho-Tep," which has become a deserved cult item since its release in June 2002. I was not expecting overly much from this film, to tell the truth, as I happen to share the minority view that Coscarelli's beloved horror film from 1979, "Phantasm," is an overrated, muddled head-scratcher, and was in no way compelled to seek out its three sequels. But "Bubba Ho-Tep," which was shot in only 30 days in Downey, CA, has redeemed the writer/director in my eyes, and I can say with little reservation that I absolutely love this hilarious, moving, imaginative, one-of-a-kind--and yes, genuinely scary--movie.In the film, the viewer learns two startling facts. One, Elvis Presley did NOT die on 8/16/77, at age 42 at his Graceland home of heart failure and drug abuse, but rather, after having switched places with an Elvis impersonator named Sebastian Haff prior to that date, lived on! When we first encounter him, he is a senior citizen, residing at the Mud Creek Shady Convalescence Home in east Texas, recuperating from a broken hip and suffering with what might be penile cancer. And secondly, JFK was NOT assassinated in Dallas in 1963, but rather was kidnapped, had part of his injured brain removed and the empty space in his noggin filled with sand, and then had his skin dyed black. Thus, now an old black man, also at the Mud Creek facility, JFK is one understandably mixed-up ex-president! Fortunately, for the two down-on-their-luck historic figures, some genuine excitement enters their lives when a 4,000-year-old, soul-sucking Egyptian mummy invades the Mud Creek grounds, in search of easy prey. All shook up, indeed! But do the King of Rock and Roll and the King of Camelot, at their advanced ages, stand half a chance against this newly resurrected King of the Undead?Yes, "Bubba Ho-Tep" surely is a sui generis creation, but the wacky conceit is completely successful, thanks to Coscarelli's clever and poignant script (based on a short story by Joe R. Lansdale) and the performances of Bruce Campbell (who most viewers will know as Ash from the "Evil Dead" trilogy) as Elvis and Ossie Davis as JFK. The makeup job on Campbell is remarkable, and the actor at times sounds amazingly like the real deal; he easily steals the show. As the president, Davis brings to the role a degree of dignity and strength that makes us believe that his backstory just might be legit; perhaps this ISN'T just same crazy old geezer! The film features any number of lines that are laugh-out-loud funny, and I found myself grinning happily during its entire 92-minute length, when I wasn't cackling aloud outright. How amusing it is when Elvis thinks to himself, of his pretty nurse (a memorable performance by Ella Joyce), that 30 years earlier, "I could've made with the curly-lip smile and had her eatin' out of my as_hole"! Then again, the film is in parts sad and touching, as when Presley ruminates on the lot of the senior citizen: "Everything you do is either worthless or sadly amusing," and says to himself, while watching an Elvis movie marathon on TV, "Sh_tty pictures, man. Every single one." Yes, the film, at its heart, does have a sweet, sensitive and contemplative soul, as we watch these two magnificent men in their twilight, and ponder the fate of the cast-off senior in this youth-loving society. ("A & C Meet Franky" might still be the best in class, but "Bubba Ho-Tep" is surely the more touching film.) Thus, how wonderful it is to see Elvis and Kennedy come alive, reclaim their dignity (the scene where Elvis calls his nurse a "patronizing b_tch" is priceless), and unite to defeat their common foe! And as to that foe, again, the film boasts a truly impressive makeup job on actor Bob Ivy, the result being one extremely intimidating monster mummy from antiquity. Thus, a horror comedy that gloriously succeeds on both fronts, and one with a melancholy soul, to boot. Oh...I would be remiss if I didn't mention the wonderfully moody, twangy music that Brian Tyler has composed for the film; amazingly, the man plays every instrument on the soundtrack by himself. What a talent! Anyway, at the end of this hugely entertaining film, the following words appear on the screen: Elvis returns in "Bubba Nosferatu: Curse of the She-Vampires." And really, I cannot imagine any viewer who wouldn't be thrilled to see a sequel to this priceless picture. Sadly, that sequel seems to have been permanently stalled, but we "Bubba Ho-Tep" lovers can only hope. Hey, if flying scarab beetles can turn into soul-sucking mummies in this world, then anything is possible....
