Bubba Ho-Tep

"Even a big b***h cockroach like you should know... never, but never, f**k with the King."


Man is Bubba Ho-Tep a great movie. It is b-movie goodness in all its glory. Low rent special effects combine with witty dialogue and spot on performances to make this a mini classic. For those not in the know the movie is based on a novella by Joe R. Lansdale and the plot revolves around a mummy who is feeding off the souls of old folks at a Texas nursing home. Now this home happens to be the residence of Elvis (or is it an Elvis impersonator, the movie treats this aspect with just enough ambiguity to keep this question unanswered) and a black JFK ("No offense Jack, but the President was a white man." "They dyed me this color!"). And Elvis and JFK are about to take care of business.

Bruce Campbell stars as Elvis, a role he tackles with gusto and dead on precision. In his hand Elvis becomes a contemplative senior citizen, impotent and frail, reflecting back on mistakes made, and ruminating on feelings of worthlessness. Campbell's performance is a revelation, perhaps the best work of a long career. Add to that Ossie Davis's fun performance as JFK, a role he performs with enough earnestness to make a fairly silly character believable. You could almost forgive a veteran actor like Davis for mailing in a performance in a dopey B horror/comic flick, but instead he seems to be enjoying the whole thing. He and Campbell make for a great team, one that would send any redneck mummy running in fear.

The movie, driven mostly by Elvis's internal monologue, is milk through the nose funny. The horror aspects are not really scary (don't think they were meant to be). The most surprising part of this movie is its heart. At times the movie's focus seems to be more on growing old and feeling useless in a society that worships youth, then on any horror/comedy, and that is what sets it apart.

Also featuring Ella Joyce as a sassy nurse (is there a movie set in a hospital or nursing home that doesn't have a sassy nurse) and directed by cult movie director Don Coscarelli, Bubba Ho-tep resides high upon my must see list.



TCB Baby! Takin' Care of Business!