Bubba Ho-Tep (2003)
Other than rabid Bruce Campbell fans,
I can't imagine who "Bubba Ho-Tep" was made for. Still,
it's a fun and campy wannabee cult film that will
probably end up on video for those who desire to see
it.
Campbell plays Elvis. Yep, Elvis.
Not Elvis in the past but Elvis as if he were alive
today. African-American acting icon Ossie Davis plays
JFK. Yep, JFK. The duo, relegated to a small town
Texas nursing home in their old age, end up taking
on an Egyptian mummy that is preying on their co-inhabitants
and sucking their souls out of their anuses.
Yep, you are reading correctly and
this is not a joke.
The most amusing thing about watching
"Bubba Ho-Tep" is hearing Campbell, as a really decrepit
Elvis, say words like "shit," "asshole" and "pecker."
It's funny.
Basing his script on a short story
by Texas author Joe. R. Lansdale, writer/director
Don Coscarelli seems to have a real fascination with
Elvis' penis and his bodily functions. It's amusing
but it starts to wear thin after the third or forth
reel. Should we expect anything more than this from
the man who brought us the entire "Phantasm" film
franchise? ("Phantasm's End" is also due this year).
What more needs to be said about
this film? It is what it is. The whole thing is done
with a wink and a giggle. The special effects are
horrible. The acting is as campy as it should be.
The plot is pure cult film fodder and the music is
never by Elvis.
As interesting as it is obscure,
"Bubba Ho-Tep" is a for- fans-only type of film. If
this review makes it sound like something you would
be interested in, then you should like it. I'm glad
that I got to see it. But I wouldn't want to see it
again anytime to soon.
Viewed in Austin in March 2003
at the SXSW Film Festival.
