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Bubba Ho-Tep (Don Coscarelli)
"Bizzare, Original, Cult B Movie Goodness"
Bubba Ho-tep tells the story of what really did become of Elvis Presley. We find Elvis as an elderly resident in a rest home, who switched identities with an Elvis impersonator years before his "death", then missed his chance to switch back. Elvis teams up with Jack, a fellow nursing home resident who thinks that he is actually President John F. Kennedy, and the two old codgers sally forth to battle an evil 3,000 year old Egyptian entity who has chosen their long-term care facility as his happy hunting grounds.
If someone told me that I would be watching a movie about a pushing 60 year old Elvis in a rest home, battle a 3,000 year old mummy, with the help of a black JFK who believes that his part of his brain has been replaces with a bag of sand...I'd say your crazy. But as you can see, this film does indeed exist and as I'm about to tell you, you do indeed need to watch it. As crazy as the movie sounds, it works, and it works beautifully.
Bubba Ho-Tep has B movie written all over it, Bruce Campbell, named a B movie god by some, a cult movie director, the most bizarre story line and a limited budget. So placing it in the cult movie/ B movie category warrants it's fans somewhere, no matter how bad the movie, or in this case, how good a movie.
How would you classify this movie, is it a drama, a horror piece, comedy, or is it to be just classified as a B movie, well, it's hard to say because it manages to blend all these elements together so well. The limited budget only adds to the atmosphere and the intensity of the film. Throughout the first half of the movie, our hero, our main character, spends that time mostly in the comfort of his own bed. How can a movie pulls this off? Well, when you have an actor like Bruce Campbell, that may help. It's safe to say that this is Campbell's best movie performance of his career and in cinema. It's like Jamie Fox being Ray Charles, it's not Fox it's RAY, here it's not Campbell, it's Elvis, alive and well...well, alive anyways. To see the legend of Ossie Davis in one of his better roles was a treat and it's good to see that he had some gas left in the tank before he passed on.
Don Coscarelli handles this film like it's his own baby, unlike many directors who want to just shoot the film and go on to their next project (I'm looking your way Spielberg). Even though it is based off a book, it feels more like Don's creation then anything. It is clearly his best attempt at film making.
The film is surprisingly emotional, I for one wasn't ready for the ride that I was going for, who knew that two old timers could bring such excitement to the screen, such a rush, and such a good time. Many of you will be turned off by the movie because you don't want to sit through the speed of it, because it goes about as fast as Elvis does in a race. But you should at least give it a chance, right after Elvis gets up and moving, the story takes you to another place. The movie's theme song is powerful, and will fill you with a warm, cool, feeling that you can only get while listening to the theme music and seeing Elvis on the screen, it fits so well. Kudos to Brian Tyler.
Check this movie out, if not for the acting, or directing, or the music, which is all top notch, check it out because it's so bizarre and original. It's a film that doesn't fit into the Hollywood cookie-cutter blend, and this is one kind of film that we need to see more of.
8/10
"Bizzare, Original, Cult B Movie Goodness"
Bubba Ho-tep tells the story of what really did become of Elvis Presley. We find Elvis as an elderly resident in a rest home, who switched identities with an Elvis impersonator years before his "death", then missed his chance to switch back. Elvis teams up with Jack, a fellow nursing home resident who thinks that he is actually President John F. Kennedy, and the two old codgers sally forth to battle an evil 3,000 year old Egyptian entity who has chosen their long-term care facility as his happy hunting grounds.
If someone told me that I would be watching a movie about a pushing 60 year old Elvis in a rest home, battle a 3,000 year old mummy, with the help of a black JFK who believes that his part of his brain has been replaces with a bag of sand...I'd say your crazy. But as you can see, this film does indeed exist and as I'm about to tell you, you do indeed need to watch it. As crazy as the movie sounds, it works, and it works beautifully.
Bubba Ho-Tep has B movie written all over it, Bruce Campbell, named a B movie god by some, a cult movie director, the most bizarre story line and a limited budget. So placing it in the cult movie/ B movie category warrants it's fans somewhere, no matter how bad the movie, or in this case, how good a movie.
How would you classify this movie, is it a drama, a horror piece, comedy, or is it to be just classified as a B movie, well, it's hard to say because it manages to blend all these elements together so well. The limited budget only adds to the atmosphere and the intensity of the film. Throughout the first half of the movie, our hero, our main character, spends that time mostly in the comfort of his own bed. How can a movie pulls this off? Well, when you have an actor like Bruce Campbell, that may help. It's safe to say that this is Campbell's best movie performance of his career and in cinema. It's like Jamie Fox being Ray Charles, it's not Fox it's RAY, here it's not Campbell, it's Elvis, alive and well...well, alive anyways. To see the legend of Ossie Davis in one of his better roles was a treat and it's good to see that he had some gas left in the tank before he passed on.
Don Coscarelli handles this film like it's his own baby, unlike many directors who want to just shoot the film and go on to their next project (I'm looking your way Spielberg). Even though it is based off a book, it feels more like Don's creation then anything. It is clearly his best attempt at film making.
The film is surprisingly emotional, I for one wasn't ready for the ride that I was going for, who knew that two old timers could bring such excitement to the screen, such a rush, and such a good time. Many of you will be turned off by the movie because you don't want to sit through the speed of it, because it goes about as fast as Elvis does in a race. But you should at least give it a chance, right after Elvis gets up and moving, the story takes you to another place. The movie's theme song is powerful, and will fill you with a warm, cool, feeling that you can only get while listening to the theme music and seeing Elvis on the screen, it fits so well. Kudos to Brian Tyler.
Check this movie out, if not for the acting, or directing, or the music, which is all top notch, check it out because it's so bizarre and original. It's a film that doesn't fit into the Hollywood cookie-cutter blend, and this is one kind of film that we need to see more of.
8/10