Ran a search before starting this thread, and didn’t find anything quite similar. Just a lot of the movie appearing on “movies to avoid” or “movies to recommend” list threads.
I watched it this afternoon with Only Mostly Missus, and while she went away from it amused but not really impressed, I was really amazed. I expected absurdity (Bruce “Boomstick” Campbell plays an old Elvis in an East Texas retirement home with a black man who believes he is JFK, and they fight a soul-sucking mummy?? SWEET!), and while the movie did deliver on that, it was wrapped in so much more. Genuine empathy for both Elvis and Jack, especially at the end when they both die “guns blazing” in fighting and defeating the mummy, souls intact and dying with their own modicum of dignity. Heck, I even got a loving smile to see Kimosabe go out fighting.
There was emotion to it. The mummy was not the story. Coming to terms with old age, feelings of inadequacy, dignity, and the masterful symbolism of the cancer-pus penis, these were what made the story.
Bruce was great, and maybe he was just a caricature of what Elvis would have been in old age, but he was a well-acted caricature. Of course, he was nothing next to the late Ossie Davis. That man stole the movie.
It was one of the better films I’ve seen recently. I do wish they’d given a bit more screen time to Ossie, but it seems like it would’ve been hard to do without making the movie longer, and it’s just about the right time as-is.
Definitely a good film, but I think it got poor distribution because it doesn’t neatly fit into any genre. It’s sort of horror-humor (more on the humor side of things) but as the OP noted it took great efforts to develop the characters as real people, even if they were charictures.
I recommended it to a few cow-orkers. One guy really liked it, but he’s into kind of off-beat stuff. Others confirmed that they would never accept a recommendation from me again, especially after I touted The Triplets of Belleville so highly. Their loss.
I have to say I usually am very impressed with the movies and/or shows being recommended here (Carnivale, Napoleon Dynamite) but was severely unimpressed with this one.
I just didn’t think it was funny enough to be considered a comedy.
It wasn’t scary enough to be a horror-movie.
It wasn’t serious enough to be considered a drama.
I didn’t hate it, but didn’t think very much of it (oh, and I am a big fan of Bruce Campbell).
I liked it a lot. And Ossie Davis absolutely shone.
I’ve only recommended it to my sister, and she hasn’t rented it yet. But she loves Bruce as much as I do, so I’m sure she’ll like it.
Incidentally, anyone see Alien Apocalypse on SciFi? It was a SciFi original, and I only watched it for Bruce, but it, well, wasn’t good. I know that it was supposed to be campy and bad, but it didn’t do the campy and bad in a good way, if you know what I mean. Bruce rocked, tho’.
Absolutely one of the best surprises of recent years. Genuine characterization resulting in genuine emotion. If anyone stayed away thinking it would be just a mindless horror flick, time to rethink that decision.
I thought it got unnecessarily low-brow a couple of times, but I was also pleasantly surprised by the movie. I was expecting a 'Bruce Campbell is SO cool-fest - and I have NO problem with those - but instead it was actually poignant and the story had real emotion in spite of the absurdity. I love that. His inner monologues about Priscilla were a highlight for me.
It’s as good a time as any to plug the work of Joe R. Lansdale, who wrote the short story on which Bubba Ho-Tep is based. As far as the movie goes, I loved it. That exchange between Elvis and JFK, where they realize they were never there for their kids? I misted right up.
Multiply what you said, about it being bad, by at least 1000. I don’t accept that “it was supposed to be bad” shit; it was just dreadful, Bruce included.
Now let us never speak of it again.
Bubba Ho-Tep, on the other hand, is a pretty good way to spend a couple of hours. Funny and weird works for me.
I was going to start a thread on that one but never got around to it. SciFi has continued their proud tradition of each SciFi original being lousier than the last. But this one is going to be hard to beat. Every single actor stunk up the joint, Bruce being no exception. Admittedly, given the script and the apparent $600.00 budget that they seem to have spent largely on 2 x 4s and bug costumes, the actors didn’t have much to work with. To save anyone the pain of watching it, try imagining a movie with the exact plot of Battlefield Earth, but with worse everything.
Someday, I hope someone can explain to me how an alien race can conquer the entire Earth, yet manage to be chased off by a handful of savages equipped with bows and arrows.
I, too love Joe R. Lansdale. I just finished his western, The Magic Wagon. Wonderful. That said, I have to be very careful reading his stuff, as much of it makes me physically ill. Listen to the reading of the original Bubba Ho Tep bonus on the DVD. Gives you just a taste. Mr Lansdale, I think, has some … issues.
