BUBBA HO-TEP (2002) - ELVIS & J.F.K vs THE MUMMY...in a nursing home.

DIRECTED AND WRITTEN by Don Coscarelli based on the novella "Bubba Ho-Tep" by Joe R. Lansdale.

STARRING  - Bruce Campbell as Elvis Presley/Sebastian Haff,  Ossie Davies as John F. "Jack" Kennedy,  Ella Joyce as The Nurse,  Bob Ivy as Bubba Ho-Tep,  Heidi Marnholt as Callie,  Larry Pennell as Kemosabe,  Reggie Bannister as Rest Home Administrator,  Daniel Roebuck as Hearse Driver.

PLOT - Sebastian Haff is a lonely and abandoned old man living out his final days in a nursing home. What people don't realise is that "Sebastian" is actually Elvis Presley. Decades ago, disillusioned with the rock and roll lifestyle, Elvis swapped places with an Elvis impersonator - the real Sebastian Haff - and lived out his new life in peace, leaving Haff to take on Elvis's identity. It was Haff who died on the toilet in 1977, not Presley.

Years later Elvis finds himself in a nursing home, contemplating his own mortality and worried about a potentially cancerous growth on his penis. Elvis's only friend is an old black man in the next ward - a man known as Jack. Jack believes himself to be ex president of the United States - John F. Kennedy. A J.F.K who survived the assassination in 1963 and had his skin dyed black to complete his disguise. Whether Jack is the real deal or whether he's just a deluded old man is never revealed.

However, death stalks the corridors of the nursing home and not in the usual way that you would expect. An ancient Egyptian Mummy - Bubba Ho-Tep - is preying on the residents at night, killing them and drinking thier souls and Elvis and Jack are scheduled to be next on the menu. Can two broken old men find the inner strength and courage needed to fight this undead evil and save the souls of thier fellow residents ?

DIALOUGE  - Elvis - "Come and get it, you undead sack 'a shit !"

PERFORMANCES  - This absolutely insane little movie is held together by two brilliant performances. 

First we get B-Movie legend Bruce Campbell in the role of Elvis Presley (he also plays the lookalike Sebastian Haff). I've loved everything Bruce Campbell has been in, you're always guaranteed a lot of fun when he's onscreen and this film is no exception. Campbell's take on Elvis is probably one of his best performances rivaling even his most iconic role, the mighty Ash Williams in The Evil Dead movies and TV series.

Campbell plays Elvis as a bitter and maudlin old man. Elvis feels like he's been abandoned, that the world has moved on without him. That he's become a joke to be patronised by nurses, he's also full of regret that he squandered his youth and talents on drink and drugs. Remorseful that he had to leave behind his wife and daughter to seek the inner peace that he was lacking. Campbell plays these scenes with real heart and due to this sincerity the film rises above it's bizzare B-movie plot and becomes a meditation on the theme of getting old and facing one's own mortality. It's quite effecting and touching, it really is, and it makes you think...are we all living our best lives ? What regrets and frustrations will haunt us in our own twilight years ?

Mixed with this, Campbell does get some lighter moments to indulge in his own particular brand of physical comedy - The sight of an elderly Kung-Fu posing Elvis is memorably funny and he gets a great Evil Dead-esue fight scene with a demonic Scarab Beetle. By the end of the film, Elvis has been reinvigorated by his struggle against the forces of darkness which results in a spirited last stand. The ending of which is both sad and strangely uplifting. 

Then we get Ossie Davies as Jack/J.F.K. - it's a great idea - the notion that Kennedy survived and disguised himself as a black man, it's silly for sure but it works within the context of the story. It's never explicitly stated whether Jack really is the ex-president or if he's just insane and senile.  He certainly seems to be privy to hidden knowledge about the way of the world but its left up to the audience to decide if he's the real deal or not. Davies plays the role as a wise old man rather than a deluded lunatic. Jack becomes Elvis's mentor as the story progresses and eventually the two join forces to take down the undead monster that is haunting the care home.

A quick mention here to some of the supporting roles. Ella Joyce is great playing the world's most condescending nurse. She's constantly talking down to Elvis and the other residents. To her these elderly people are just a burden to be insulted and patronised, it's great when Elvis tells her to get lost and calls her a "patronising bitch". A true punch the air moment.

We also get a nice cameo from Reggie Bannister as the care home's administrator. He's a real jobsworth and also seems to care little for those in his charge. Bannister is a regular in Coscarelli's movies best known for playing Reggie - the undead battling Ice-Cream man in Coscarelli's Phantasm series. Its good to see him here. Reggie AND Ash in the same film - it's a horror fan's wet dream.

SFX  - The main visual effect is the Bubba Ho-Tep Mummy itself. Its "man in a creature suit" time and as always it works well. Its a really good realistic piece of makeup work which always helps to bring a monster to life that little bit more convincingly. Plus he looks cool in his cowboy hat and boots. Quite why an ancient Egyptian Mummy has taken to dressing like a small town hick is never explained but it's funny all the same...

It's also great when he swears at Elvis and Jack using Egyptian runes...

You can't beat a monster with a bit of personality.

We also get the Scarab Beetle - he's a pretty cheesy looking effect but is also a lot of fun...

I love his mean looking little face, he reminds me a bit of one of the Zanti Misfits from The Outer Limits. He also appears to give Elvis the finger at one point, so he's just as abusive as his dad.

SEX & VIOLENCE  - The film is set in a nursing home full of old people, so no sex here. Although Elvis does get his first erection in decades when the nurse is applying lotion to his worrying penis growth. The nurse's face says it all...

A great moment in cinema history.

Considering the story involves an undead Mummy drinking people's souls out via thier arseholes (Yes, that's what he does), there's little actual violence, we just get to see the aftermath rather than the act itself.

One old boy, Kemosabe, a senile old man who thinks he's the Lone Ranger, tries to shoot the Mummy with his toy cowboy guns. He drops dead of a heart attack before the Mummy can get him, robbing the monster of a soul in the process. Kemosabe dies with his boots on and his arse intact.

RATING  - On the face of it Bubba Ho-Tep is a silly movie with a silly story, but scratch the surface and you'll find something a lot deeper and more satisfying. 

As well as being a fun campy horror movie, it also manages to be a bitter sweet meditation on the ageing process and a satire of how badly Western society treats it's senior citizens. The care home is shown to be a grim dehumanising place, it's custodians to be just as callous and uncaring as the murderous monster that haunts it's grimy corridors at night. It's a film that gives you thrills, chills and laughs but it also makes you think. The ageing process is the true horror in this horror movie not the monster.

I'm giving this 5 old Elvises out of 5. It'll make you laugh and tug your heart at the same time.

POSTER/VHS/DVD ART  -

There was also a spin-off comic book series where Elvis gets to meet Ash Williams - two of Bruce Campbell's best roles meet up and trade insults...

And finally, here is the cover to Joe R. Lansdale's original Novella which the movie was based on...