Bubba Ho-Tep came out on video yesterday, and although I caught it in a theater when I was in Gainesville, FL, Jym had not been subjected to this monstrous masterpiece. Nothing so hip and fun as this "Redemptive Elvis Mummy Movie" ever comes to Chattanooga, and he missed the chance to catch it in Atlanta--so Bruce Campbell-y goodness had not yet been his. We remedied that sad injustice last night, and lo, there was much rejoicing.

Although I initially reviewed this movie last year, upon seeing it a second time I feel compelled to give it another once-over for good measure; and rather than merely link my original review, I'm going to rewrite it here and present it to you as a new creation, chock full of spanky new content for your reading pleasure.

Think of it as Cherie does Bubba Ho-Tep: Version 2.0

I must warn you in advance of spoilers--for yes, you shall unearth some within this entry. Now that BHT is out on video, I don't feel quite so obligated to hide such things beneath a cut tag--for I assume that most of you who would be interested in seeing this film have already done so. Still, I will keep the spoiling to a minimum--i.e., I promise not to reveal the movie's ending. And by way of brief synopsis, I shall offer up the following paragraph:

Elvis Presley (Bruce Campbell) lies in a nursing home in east Texas, where he has been for some years--but so far as anyone knows, he is actually an Elvis impersonator, and there is no convincing the world to the contrary. John F. Kennedy Jr. (Ossie Davis) has similar identification difficulties. This elderly black man insists that he is really JFK "dyed dark" as part of a vast conspiracy. These two "delusional" old coots become good friends and together they investigate a series of unusual deaths that have begun to plague the nursing home. In the course of their sleuthing, they learn that the deaths are being caused by a long-lost and forgotten museum mummy who comes to life each night to suck the souls of the living.

If for some reason you have been heretofore unaware of this movie, then I predict that you, as reader, are thinking one of two things right now: (1). "I love Bruce Campbell! and he plays ELVIS? How cool is that!???! I'm going to run out and grab it RIGHT NOW ... or (2). That is the stupidest premise for a movie i have ever heard, with the possible exception of Space Jam.

If you are in the first category, then I pray you godspeed. Go ye thereforth to Blockbuster, whip out your card, and Bubba Ho-Tep is yours for the renting. If you are in category number two, however, I do hope that you would reconsider your hasty dismissal of this tale. Though Bubba Ho-Tep is, at heart, a cheesy monster movie--it is also a peculiarly poignant buddy story that offers belly laughs, a solid mystery to be unraveled, and more than a touch of genuine suspense. I would have been prepared to swear it couldn't be done, but Bubba Ho-Tep very successfully walks a thin and wobbly line between outright goofiness and credible threat. Here is a conspiracy theory that bring Elvis and JFK together in an east Texas nursing home, after all. With a mummy. In cowboy boots.

In some respects, the two main characters serve as superb foils for one another; we immediately assume that Campbell is Elvis, and not a debilitated impersonator--but we just as quickly assume that Ossie Davis cannot possibly be JFK. Yet in the course of the movie it is revealed that "Elvis" suffers from coma-induced brain damage--thus casting a little bit of doubt on our certainty. At the same time, we learn that "JFK" really does have a series of strange scars on the back of his head and neck just as he claims--casting a tiny shadow of doubt upon our skepticism. The balance is nicely written and exceptionally well directed.

The mystery of the mummy is also handled fairly well--if a bit "Scooby-doo-esque" as Jym put it. There is no off-handed glossing over of the question, "Why is a dead Egyptian wandering the halls of an east Texas nursing home?" It would have been easy for the director to throw out some line about a lame curse or a museum exhibit, but that would have been an unnecessary short cut. Instead, we gradually learn the interesting story of a heist gone wrong and a stranded mummy who now rises to feed from his watery resting place--a submerged bus in a nearby river.

[Tiny side gripe: in Elvis's early confrontations with the mummy, he is granted flashes of the creature's memory and history--and i wish this had been explained. It was probably thrown in as a method of explaining some of the story that would otherwise be difficult to work into the screenplay, but since Elvis later asks "how did he get inside my head?" the matter ought to have been addressed more fully. If they were just going to use it for expository atmosphere, fine, but let Elvis keep it to himself.

My inner critical theorist would probably plug the hole something like this: in the first monster run-ins, the mummy makes a point of not attacking Elvis--though Elvis stands there with a "fish-in-a-barrel" look on his face. The mummy stares right at him, pauses to beam a few episodic memories into the aging rock star's head, and moves on. Perhaps the audience is intended to infer that the mummy recognized some sort of "kingship" in Elvis. The mummy was no former king himself but a servant of a king (or so one surmises), so perhaps old habits die hard--and he cannot or will not take advantage of perceived--even metaphoric--royalty.(/end tiny side gripe)]

Speaking of the mummy, Bubba Ho-Tep himself is genuinely creepy. Like many presently young people, I find nursing homes to be creepy as well--and when you've got a creepy mummy running around a creepy nursing home, the effect is...you know...creepy. And the suspense is enhanced by the physical limitations of the two protagonists--Elvis must pursue the beast while leaning on an aluminum walker, and the octogenarian JFK tootles around in a wheel chair. These are not healthy, strapping heroes--these are decrepit old men in terrible shape. Besides the fellows' advanced ages, JFK professes to have a baggie of gravel and sawdust lodged in his skull ("I'm thinking with sand here, man!"), and Elvis has an oft-and-graphically-discussed growth on his penis that he's convinced is cancerous. But despite their obvious restrictions, Elvis and JFK are determined to take down the mummy and make the nursing home safe once more.

Something that really struck me on a second viewing of BTH--in addition to the surprising level of narrative density--was the sense of epic that this small movie manages to establish. And it IS a small movie; this is a small story told on a small budget about small souls in a small town. It's ninety minutes of two guys ambling around a nursing home, for heaven's sake, but it feels huge. For all its diminutive scale, this is not a story of The Hero in Everyman™. This is no retiree fable wherein ordinary guys rise up to finally achieve a long-denied glory--so far as the audience is concerned, the protagonists are Kennedy and Elvis. By the middle of the movie, no one cares that JFK is an old black man or that Elvis Presley may well be naught but an impersonator. For the purposes of the tale, these are two of the greatest icons of the 20th century--back one last time to save the day.

With this in mind, Bubba Ho-Tep is not afraid to take itself seriously. Yes, this is a silly monster flick and yes, we have two dubiously-identified heroes, and yes, Elvis goes after the mummy wearing a white sequin jumpsuit and cape. So what? It's a damn fine story that is masterfully put together and exceptionally well-written. BHT refuses to apologize for being what it is, and I respect that more than I can take the time to explain here. It's ludicrous, and it's deep; it's wacky and it's profound. It's hilarious and heartbreaking, sometimes only a few seconds apart. For all its bizarre fictional liberties, this is one of the most "true" stories I've ever been told--and it effectively enters my canon of all-time favorites.

~w_w~

[p.s. Since a couple people have e-mailed asking, yes, I do have
a spot where my favorite movie reviews (written about movies that are not
necessarily my favorites) are gathered together. Have at.]