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Review: Bubba Ho-tep
Jake and I went to see Bubba Ho-tep at the Varsity theater in the U-District of Seattle last night! It is the bizzare "true story" of what really happened to Elvis Presley. It seems that many years ago, Elvis grew weary of all the fame and fortune, and swapped identities with the top Elvis impersonator, who bore a striking resemblance to him. The real Elvis blew his only chance to ever get his identity back, so he was stuck doing Elvis impersonations for the rest of his life to make a living. Little did anyone know that he was actually the REAL Elvis, impersonating an Elvis impersonator, impersonating Elvis. Meanwhile, the fake Elvis was killed by a bad heart condition, leading the rest of the wrold to believe that the King was dead. But the truth is, he is still alive, old and crusty and living in a retirement home somewhere. And that is the truth!
Such is the setting for Bubba Ho-tep. Bruce Campbell is truly excellent as the aging, arthritis-ridden Elvis whose story no one believes. Even the audience isn't 100% sure what to believe, since it is entirely possible that this guy only THINKS he is Elvis. Elvis teams up with another old-timer, JFK, who is played by Ossie Davis. Sure, he is black and JFK wasn't, but that's because there was a conspiracy and he was DYED that color. It's up to the two once-famous old farts to solve the mystery of a reanimated soul-sucking mummy that is using the old folks' home as a feeding ground.
For the most part, this is a dark comedy with occassional horror-movie touches, especially toward the end. There are lots of old people jokes, Elvis jokes, and jokes about Elvis's cancer-infected wang. The evil mummy is not all that scary, but he's plenty threatening enough for two creaky old guys, even ass-kicking creaky old guys like these ones. I thought the soul-sucking power of the mummy was a nice twist. Being killed by this thing is worse than death, because if it digests your soul, there will be no heaven, no afterlife, no reincarnation, no nothing. At least if you're killed by Jason you get to keep your soul. There is also a deadly beetle that appears and does battle with Elvis. Some people didn't understand the significance of it, but the truth is it was a scarab beetle, which is the religious symbol of ancient Egypt. Watch any mummy movie and learn.
I can't understand why this movie was released on such a paltry small scale. The theater we saw it in was packed, and this was a Wednesday night. I'm sure there are plenty of Elvis fans, Bruce Campbell fans and Evil Dead fans who would love the chance to see this movie but were not able to because it did not play within a 500 mile radius of them. Sure, it's got a B-movie feel to it, and it's not perfect, but it was a hell of a lot more entertaining than a lot of the boring crap that does get a wide release. It wouldn't have been the next Titanic, but there was certainly more demand than supply on this one. The distributor dropped the ball here.
I thought it was a thoroughly entertaining and fun movie. I especially liked the Elvis backstory and how Elvis redeemed himself by fighting a supernatural predator. It all makes sense! It is not Evil Dead 4, but it's got plenty of Bruce Campbell being awesome and a rotten mummy as a bonus. I give it two thumbs up.
But if you didn't get a chance to see it, don't worry. It is Will Smith's birthday today and as a celebration, all of his newest movies including Bad Boys 3 and Men in Black 3 will be coming to your local theater! Rejoice!
BBQ at September 25, 2003 
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