Bubba Ho-Tep: Elvis Lives and Battling a Geronticidal Mummy!
Wacky Theme
Imagine this: the one and only Elvis “The King” Presley is alive and currently living in a nursing home. Now imagine that his one friend in that nursing home (a wheelchair-bound black man played by Ossie Davis) claims that he is JFK. Yes, that JFK! He claims that "they" dyed him black in order to keep his existence a secret.
Well, this little synopsis already has the makings of the greatest buddy movie of all time but now let’s throw in another little plot addition to this already weird story -- an ancient Egyptian mummy is killing off the helpless nursing home residence one by one, night by night. Well, Elvis and JFK will not let this madness continue! They decide to fight this ancient evil even if it means their lives. Now you have the mother of all buddy/horror/comedy/drama movies!
To all the readers of this article that are salivating over this plot, wipe your chins off and go rent Bubba Ho-Tep. To the readers that think the synopsis described above is the dumbest thing they have ever heard, get off your high horses and go rent Bubba Ho-Tep!!!
A True Original
The 1992 movie starring Bruce Campbell (Elvis) and Ossie Davis (JFK) rises above the truly wacky plot-line and B-movie budget to become a well-written, well-acted and well-directed cult classic masterpiece. Written and directed by Don Coscarelli (the Phantasm movies), Bubba Ho-Tep is a critically-acclaimed, award-winning movie.
Coscarelli takes a story that lesser writer/directors would have taken to slasher film proportions and instead focuses on the human side of the situation the characters are in. Life in the nursing home, from the point of view of the elderly Elvis, is a major portion of the movie and makes this movie stand out from other B-horror films. Elvis’ frustration with his aging body and placement in a nursing home evokes sympathy and develops a full understanding and interest in the main character, an attribute lacking in too many horror films today.
The drama makes this movie special but the comedy is equally good. The back-story of the true Elvis is classic. Tired of the limelight, Elvis trades lives with an Elvis impersonator. It is that person who got fat and died on the toilet, not the real Elvis. The real Elvis grew old and is now stuck in a nursing home that is being tormented by an ancient soul-sucking mummy.
Bubba Ho-Tep trailer
Everyone Can Enjoy
The combination of the moving drama and the outrageous horror all wrapped within the absurd premise makes Bubba Ho-Tep a one-in-a-million film. It is a must see, not only for fans of the horror genre but to all those people who appreciate good movies.
