communication breakdown

Movie Review: Bubba Ho-Tep (2003)

[ 4 / 10 ] "Bubba Ho-Tep" is about as weird as they come. It's as if the director purposefully set out to find and film the strangest story he could - and he quite possibly might have succeeded. This shouldn't be too surprising, if you note that the director, Don Coscarelli, is responsible for the "Phantasm" horror series, also with a reputation for being about as weird as they come. With these thoughts in mind, let's dig in...

First off, let's just get the storyline out there, so that the less open-minded readers will decide they'll never watch this film and needn't read any further. Elvis and JFK are rest home neighbors in a sleepy Texas town. Elvis has spent the years mourning his plight as the victim of swapping places forever with one of his own impersonators. JFK's story is even crazier - apparently he is the victim of conspiracy, and after Dallas was "dyed" and now looks to be a frail old black man. The rest home is a place where time moves quickly, until an ancient mummy in transport is involved in a vehicle crash close to the home. As a result of the crash, the mummy's coffin is opened and a millennia-old Egyptian soul-sucking undead creature shows up at the home to plague on the weary souls of the elderly - with Elvis and JFK left to put a stop to his devious plans. Anyone still with me?

I'm open to any kind of story, if the presentation is good. And there are a couple of good things about the film. For one, the two main characters, who occupy about 90% of the screen time, pull off their parts excellently. Bruce Campbell is probably the best Elvis impersonator I've seen - he nails the aging Elvis part in a respectful yet humorous way. Ossie Davis is just as good in the role of "JFK" - I add the quotes because for the first half of the movie we're all convinced he's senile, but whether he really is JFK or not, he wins you over with his sincerity. There are a couple of witty lines here from both characters, and the music is even interestingly sentimental in a cheesy way. So it sounds like a good film, right?

Wrong - at least in my opinion. Let me start by saying that it's entirely possible that I just didn't get it - I get the feeling that there's an intended audience for this film, and I'm not a member. Maybe I missed a lot of subtle humor, or maybe the dramatic overtones didn't sit right with me. But here's my problem with the movie. It doesn't know what it wants to be. Just like anything in the world, a movie has to be confident of its own identity for it to be understood and respected - and it seems that "Bubba Ho-Tep" chose the shotgun approach to self-identification. Is it a comedy? drama? horror? Some would say all three, and that would be OK by me - many of the best movies cross genres. But I think it's none of the above.

There are a couple mildly funny phrases, mostly thanks to Elvis' deadpan one-liners. But for the most part, the tone of the movie wasn't light and it was never laugh-out-loud funny. At times it feels dramatic, especially when it examines the lives of the main characters and explores the issue of how society deals with its fallen icons. But it is just too silly and ridiculous to be taken seriously as a real drama. And it has to be considered for horror-movie status, simply by virtue of the fact that it contains a soul-hungry mummy. But the special effects are laughable and there's never a real sense of danger - if anything, it's camp rather than horror material.

Basically, I don't know what to make of this movie, but it didn't leave me with much. Personally, I think it should have chosen the comedy road and made this a really hilariously campy movie. But Coscarelli pulls all his punches as he refuses to commit to anything. As a result, he hasn't really turned out much more than a showcase of weirdness. I would probably only recommend it as a training video for Elvis impersonators. As a film, either I missed the point, or there never was a good one to begin with.