Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)

Bubba Ho-Tep takes an incredibly wacky (yet winning) premise of wish-fulfillment fantasy mixed with a slice of irony to create an offbeat horror-comedy that will (at the very least) have fans of the genre intrigued and probably slightly bewildered. The main idea (based off a short story by Texas writer Joe R. Landsdale): what if Elvis was still alive, but instead of reclaiming his fame, he was forced to spend the rest of his life in a drab Texas nursing home because of back problems? What if the Elvis that actually died was an Elvis impersonator, who agreed to switch places back in the 70s? What if Elvis’s best friend in the nursing home is an old black man (played wonderfully by Ossie Davis) who thinks he is actually JFK? What if their goal is to stop a mythical cowboy-mummy who begins to haunt the residents of the nursing home? It’s all very bizarre, but thankfully the film maintains the balancing act of horror and comedy long enough leave an impression. One would think that the film keeps the proceedings light with this kind of concept, but it actually goes for a darker tone, dealing with loneliness and the inevitability of old age and death. There is humor to be sure (one bit involves Elvis’s contract with the impersonator becoming lost during a freak barbeque explosion), but there is a surprising sadness of the characters’ situations that undercuts some of the craziness found in the offbeat storyline.

One of the main reasons the film works as well as it does is the excellent performance of Bruce Campbell as the aging Elvis Presley. Famously known for his slapstick swagger played to comic perfection in the Evil Dead films, Campbell here seems much more restrained, especially under layers and layers of old-age makeup. Thankfully, his face is still expressive as ever, and he’s able to portray Elvis as a man who’s down but not out. It makes it all the more impressive that his performance is not a straight up Elvis impersonation, but his wit, humor, and swagger all shine through the lonely character he’s playing, and you get a sense that this really could have been Elvis: The Elderly Years. Director Don Coscarelli (of Phantasm and Beastmaster fame) and the filmmakers also thankfully have a sense of reverence towards Elvis, so instead of becoming a punchline, he becomes a real character who just seems to be stuck in an uncanny situation. The other main performance, Ossie Davis as JFK, is hilarious because the way Davis ramps up the paranoia, believing everyone is out to get him, be it Oswald or Johnson. Together their chemistry and comic timing provides for some great laughs as they scuttle around the nursing home trying to deal with the mythical villain.

The movie is obviously influenced by the horror-comedy that preceded it, and it’s hard not to mention the Evil Dead films as a major influence, especially when you have Bruce Campbell in the title role. There is one hilarious bit with Campbell’s Elvis fighting off a persistent scarab beetle in his room that would probably feel right at home in Sam Raimi’s classic series. Unfortunately, for all its offbeat qualities, the film loses steam in the second half (the final standoff against Bubba Ho-Tep fells oddly rushed and a little anti-climactic), and there are times where the filmmakers seem to be trying a little too hard to make an instant cult hit. However, it’s bizarre concept and great first half keeps things enjoyable, so if you’ve ever wondered what would happen if Elvis and JFK teamed up to fight mummies, you’d be hard pressed not to find some sort of strange answer here.

Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)