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DVD Bubba Ho-Tep (Limited Collector's Edition)
Don Coscarelli directs and Bruce Campbell stars as the King of Camp in this intentionally over-the-top schlockfest. Bubba Ho-Tep is partially about Elvis Presley and partially about the title character, an Egyptian cowboy zombie, but mostly it is about camp. The movie is equal parts story and back story. We learn through narration and flashback how Elvis didn't really die, ending up instead in a rest home in East Texas with JFK (played by Ossie Davis), who was dyed black and had his brain removed, presumably for reasons of national security. Campbell and Davis realize that something strange is going on when their rest-home compatriots start dropping off suspiciously. The whole movie leads up to a final showdown to the death with the Egyptian cowboy zombie who has been sucking the souls of their fellow residents because he thought no one would notice. The movie unfolds a bit slowly; it is, after all, a geriatrics-fight-Egyptian-cowboy-zombie movie. However, one wishes this self-conscious movie's pacing took its cue from the atypically fast-moving zombie instead of from the senior-citizen Elvis and JFK. In the end, though, Campbell is flawless as the aged King; his accent, intonations, glasses, and trademark karate are at the same time sincere and over the top. --Brian Saltzman
Review(s): DVD Bubba Ho-Tep (Limited Collector's Edition)
Ah, the wasted potential here....
First, if you don't recognize that from the gitgo, BHT was intentionally way, way, way over the edge, you'll be bored silly by it. The problem is that based on where it is, the slower pacing is often necessary, as is the back story. Campbell and Davis are excellent, and the plot is off-the-wall enought to be captivating in a wierd way. The big problem is that once things really get ging, it's over WAY too soon. This could've been a half-hour longer easily, and it would've added a whole other dimension to things. Worth it for the performances, but try to get a used or discounted copy.
All is well...
Many of the great films deal with old age and the ending of an era: The Wild Bunch, Citizen Kane, The Leopard, Once Upon a Time in America, The Lion in Winter, Touchez Pas au Grisbi, Unforgiven, Ride the High Country... and Bubba Ho-Tep comes surprisingly close at times to making the cut alongside them. On the surface an outrageous schlock movie with a premise that even Troma might find dodgy - an elderly Elvis and a black President Kennedy team up to destroy the soul-sucking Mummy in cowboy duds killing residents in their old folks home and defacating the remains in the visitors toilets - the reality is a surprisingly moving reflection on old age, unfulfilled expectations, loss of dignity, loss of self and the emptiness of celebrity in a culture that doesn't want its heroes to ever age. Bruce Campbell's Elvis-in-a-Zimmer-frame is a truly remarkable performance, never mocking, never going for cheap laughs, capturing the public face of the legend and the private disappointments of the man as he slowly realises he's treated his life a lot worse than life has treated him and finally gets the chance to really be the hero he always wanted to be. There's an epic dimension to the character that never spills over into grandiose mythmaking, firmly grounded in the horrible everyday reality of living in a place where friends regularly die or can't remember you, where family ignore you and other residents will steal from the more vulnerable. It genuinely is one of the great performances in independent movies.
Kudos too to Ossie Davis' President Kennedy, similarly playing it straight despite the lion's share of absurd dialog and character quirks: when, in the film's most iconic moment, the King in his Rhinestone suit, cape and Zimmer frame and President Kennedy in his best suit and wheelchair make their way down the corridor for their final confrontation, they really are genuinely heroic figures that you're rooting for even if they do have mobility problems. The downside is that the horror side of the movie is less considerably effective, the jokes never as funny as you'd like them to be, the fun never frantic and one scene too many with the would-be comic hearse drivers. But the compensations more than outweigh the cons (not least of them a versatile electric guitar theme from composer Brian Tyler that has the flexibility to be both tender or stirring depending on the orchestration). This is a film with real emotional weight - indeed, the ending is genuinely touching in a lump-in-the-throat, I've-just-got-something-in-my-eye kind of way. All is well...
MGM's disc is impressive, but those with multi-region players might want to check out Anchor Bay's PAL 2-disc UK release which has even more extras.
Bruce Campbell's Masterpiece
A disclaimer: This reviewer has never actually met anyone else who liked this movie. However, as you may have guessed by the four stars and title of this review, I love the movie.
I defy anyone, however stoic, to say this without cracking a smile. "It's an Elvis-JFK-Mummy redemption movie." However, that is the best single phrase that spells out what the movie is all about. However, like all good movies - and this is a great one - there are more ideas and implied themes than one can easily list in a short on line review, perhaps that is why there are nearly three hundred reviews on Amazon for this movie. You can get a detailed synopsis of the plot from the other reviews, this review will try and focus on some of the more interesting elements and themes from the movie without giving away too much of the story.
The special effects are horrible. This is a low-budget movie. Get over it. Try to use your imagination. Some movies require you suspend disbelieve and this is one of them.
One must have a passion or at least a tolerance for high levels of camp to sit through this movie. The basic theme of the movie, the poor special effects, and bizarre setting of an "old folks" home in western Texas all combine to create a situation that is implausibly ludicrous. As you watch this movie, you don't know if it is a horror or a comedy.
There are some great actors in this movie. Bruce Campbell is the king of camp, but Ozzie Davis is quite the heavy hitter. Obviously, he saw the inherent merit of this story.
The nursing home is the abode of several weird characters. Characters like Elvis, JFK, and the Lone Ranger all reside there. The story is crafted to imply that Elvis really is Elvis. JFK is probably not really JFK, but there are plenty of clues to make you think he might be. The Lone Ranger is not really the Lone Ranger and is like Ensign who beams down to the planet at the start of every Star Trek episode.
Vulgar, earthy passion for life is a theme in this movie. In addition to the rather disturbing references to Elvis' diseased member, there is the idea that Elvis (and JFK) are morally and spiritually dead at the start of the movie. Only by finding a love for life and the willingness - Christ-like in its purity - to give up life for others, can they find redemption. Just don't watch this with your kids, while you don't actually see the member, you hear far more then you want to about it.
Another theme in this movie is the horrible way we treat our elders in this society. Everyone in this movie is cast off from family and friends and only finds meaning in their bizarre fantasy life. Except for Elvis and JFK, unless of course the Mummy is not real.
Still yet another idea in this movie is that Elvis and JFK are suffering for the wages of sin, specifically their sexuality. While this reviewer is not sure how big a role this plays, it is true that Elvis and JFK do seek redemption in this movie. To be redeemed one must have sinned, so it makes perfect sense.
At least one other reviewer has noted that Elvis, JFK, and the Mummy are all three kings. I have no idea what relevance that has to our society, but perhaps that also is one of the implied themes of the movie. At least this simple redneck can take solace in the fact that the "elected" kings - JFK and Elvis - ultimately triumph over the unelected king of Egypt.
In short, if you like or can tolerate camp and the occasional vulgar or earthy elements of this movie, it is a wonderful story. The only negative that this reviewer can say is that it does move a bit slowly at the beginning. As others have explained, what do you expect with a movie where the protagonists are in an old folks home?
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