bowmanblue
In case you weren't already aware, but Elvis 'The King' Presley lives. In fact, he's an elderly gentleman spending his twilight years in an old people's home. And John F Kennedy is also a resident there, too. And JFK is black. And they're about to get their souls sucked out of them by an undead runaway mummy from Egypt if they're not careful. No, seriously. Or at least in (the bizarrely-titled) 'Bubba Ho-Tep' they are anyway.Yes, the film's premise is just about as 'out there' as it's title is hard to decipher (I'm not even going to try - there's some text at the beginning of the film that does a better job). So, if that brief plot summary appeals to you then you should have absolutely love this film. I did.I guess I was always predisposed to loving 'Bubba Ho-Tep' as Elvis is played (to perfection, I might add) by legendary B-movie star Bruce Campbell. However, instead of fighting the undead with a chainsaw and 'boom-stick,' here he's a little more handicapped with only a zimmer-frame and faulty plumbing keeping his soul from being lost forever. If you think that Bruce Campbell 'carries' the 'Evil Dead' franchise (then you're probably right), but the point I'm making is that this film would probably be nothing without him and his portrayal of Elvis. He plays 'the King' as a retrospective character, now in the twilight of his years and looking back over the mistakes he made and wishing there was a way of atoning for all the years he'd wasted on chasing fame when there were more important things to concentrate on - like family.Elvis' partner in crime (and only other person who actually believes he's really the king of rock and roll) is former president, John F Kennedy, played by Ossie Davis. If you're wondering why a black man is playing JFK then you'll have to watch the film to find out!. Either way, Davis does very well, but his character isn't given quite as much screen time as Campbell's, meaning he's always going to be second best to 'the chin.'Bubba Ho-Tep' was always destined to be a 'cult' film. It's title is obscure and was never likely to interest the masses. Just like the subject matter is hardly going to get the public flocking to the cinema (was it ever even released in the cinema? I certainly don't remember hearing about it here in the UK!). But, whether you're a die-hard fan of Bruce (like myself), or just fancy a film that doesn't contain superheroes flying around New York, then you should give this one a go. It's got horror. It's got comedy. It's got originality. And, best of all, it has Bruce.
Jack Higginbotham
Elvis and JFK go up against a soul sucking undead mummy in a nursing home. That sounds like a kick ass B - movie, and thats what Bubba Ho-Tep is, but its also so much more.The characters are so likable here, its actually quite an emotional story. Elvis is still alive and in a nursing home after he swapped places with an Elvis impersonator to get away from all the fame, unfortunately after the Elvis impersonator dies and he breaks his hip, he ends up in a nursing home, wondering why he gave up his life of fame and fortune and generally thinking (in a very humorous way) about life itself. Bruce Campbell turns in a solid performance as the King and makes us truly sympathise with his situation. Ossie Davis plays Jack or JFK and unlike Elvis, we aren't entirely sure if he actually is who he says he is, but we don't care because, just like Elvis, he is happier believing he is who he is and we are happy because he is happy. The relationship between these two characters is both funny and heart warming. Two friends against impossible odds, battling an undead mummy, now if that mummy also turned out to be an aging man claiming to be Boris Karloff, this film would be perfect.The story of the Mummy is fantastic as well. A story of character with occasional Mummy and cockroach appearances. The mummy actual look of the mummy is hilarious, with cowboy hat and boots. The contrast of the Mummy and the two leads is what gives the film its unique style of comedy, its not laugh out loud all the time, but you will have an extremely big smile on yourself the entire time.
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....
