Rated "R"
92 Minutes
The premise of the movie is that Elvis Presley and J.F.K. never died as the world believed. Rather, both men traveled separate paths on life's journey in their later years, with both arriving at the same rest home in Mud Creek, East Texas.
Bruce Campbell's, playing the role of Elvis, sounds incredibly similar to the "King." He even has a tad of resemblance to Elvis. I really enjoyed Campbell's imitation of Elvis's rock and roll moves up on the stage.
You might wonder how a retired park ranger (moi) would decide to watch a movie named BUBBA HO-TEP. The answer is simple. My youngest son Erik, who goes to college, works part-time, has a girlfriend, and does a blog on horror movies, loves watching movies, putting much thought into the actors, directors, the plots, and movie quality(or lack of it).
Erik has a sense of humor and likes to recommend comedies to me, but he also likes movies that go beyond the laughs like Forrest Gump. He also read the book Forrest Gump Winston Groom and will soon start another book by the same author entitled Better Times Than These, a novel about the Vietnam War because he likes Groom's writing style.
In short, I value Erik's knowledge and recommendations about lots of things in life, movies just being one of them. So when he recommended BUBBA HOTEP, I was immediately on board.
Back to BUBBA HO-TEP, throughout the movie Elvis recalls his life in a series of flashbacks. At one point, fed up with his fame and the demands being imposed on him and the unnecessary complexity of his life (as well as the drug scene), Elvis choose to seek a more modest life: to do so he exchanges his identity with the best Elvis "impersonator" he knows, a pretend rock and roller named Sebastian Haff. In the process, Elvis finds his new more modest life of being an "Elvis impersonator" more to his liking.
Elvis grows to prefer his new life to his previously annoying one. Even though, he is now, Sebastian Haff, Elvis impersonator, women in the audience, continue to throw themselves at him. (I guess that HAFF an Elvis is better than none) Life is now better for Haff, the real Elvis, until the fatal night: during a hip swiveling, gyrating performance by Haff (remember, Elvis really impersonating himself) the legendary rock and roll singer throws out his hip, causing him to fly headfirst into the audience. The injury results in the end of his performing career and so begins his decline and the start of his new path to the Mud Creek rest home.
At the rest home, movie viewers discover the aging Elvis to be quite a philosopher as he ponders how he went from being the King to being in a East Texas rest home, so distant in time and space from the "Big Time" where the King once reigned.
Elvis ponders how he went from being the King to being in the rest home, so far from the "top" where he once had been. He also reflects on the loss of the love of his former wife Priscilla and the love of his daughter, Lisa Marie.
He even wonders if, at the end of a person's life, does anything really matter? Clearly, Elvis has lost the sparkle of his former life, and everything at the rest home reminds him of that daily, including the death of his roommate.
Soon thereafter Elvis meets a fellow rest home resident who claims to J.F.K. who survived Dallas and was hidden by the government for security. The two men realize that their jobs, Elvis the entertainer and J.F.K. the President kept them from being the fathers and husbands that they would have preferred to have been.
Elvis and J.F.K, accepting of each other from their very first meeting, become friends.
But as you well know, my friend, movies without conflict don't even qualify as stories(how many of our former English teachers labored to get that concept in our brains?).
The conflict in the movie BUBBA HO-TEP arises from three sources: (1) the flying scorpions(and Elvis using his martial skills (a great send up of the real Elvis's martial arts) and a bed pan to fight back, (2) the deaths of several rest home residents, and (3), oh yeah, the arrival of BUBBA HO-TEP, a mummy from ancient Egypt.
Elvis with his walker and J.F.K with his mechanized wheelchair must devise and execute a battle plan to rid East Texas of the vicious, insensitive, swaggering bully BUBBA HO-TEP, who sucks the souls out of humans through one of the major orifices. Only by subduing the mummy can Elvis and J.F.K save the lives of their fellow rest home residents
***For more on this concept of "soul-sucking and Egyptian mummies, see the movie.
84-year old Ossie Davis, as an older African-American J.F.K, does a good job of portraying the American President who escaped his fate in Dallas. Why a Black Man portrays J.F.K. is explained very logically early in the movie.This movie is based on short story by Joe R. Lansdale.
By the way, see the Wilipedia link below on Mr. Davis to see a quick review of the diverse and prestigious careers/achievements of the man.
I gave this movie three out of four stars. Coincidentally, so did movie critic Roger Ebert. I hope that he didn't copy me.
Bruce Campbell Movies at Roger Ebert.com
BUBBA HOTEP at imdb.com
Bruce Campbell at Wikipedia
Ossie Davis at Wikipedia
Elvis at Wikipedia
Elvis in 1970, age 35
Photo from Wikipedia.org
HO-TEP photo in Egyptian
Archives for protection
until 4018 (unless extended)
© Bob Hoff, 2009
Have you ever seen _Raising Arizona_? Great writing and off-the-wall humor.
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