Bubba Bo Bob Ho-Tep

When I first heard the story of Bubba Ho-Tep, I had to laugh at its how ridiculous it sounded. It has "Elvis Presley" (who is alive after he switched places with an impersonator to live a normal life again) and "John F. Kennedy" (who got a piece of his brain taken out and “dyed” to look like a black man) fighting against an Egyptian mummy (who wears a cowboy hat and boots) in an East Texas rest home. This story has the makings of a hilarious and campy film, especially with Bruce Campbell (of Evil Dead fame) playing Elvis. Upon actually seeing the film, though, I was surprised to find out that it was not what I expected.

This movie actually treats all the characters with respect. Bruce Campbell’s Elvis is a man who is wasting away, who asks “What if?” questions and has regrets about his past. This is a man so pitiful, that getting a hard-on is an achievement. Ossie Davis does a good job playing JFK...or a black man who believes he is JFK. The movie doesn’t make fun of these characters and doesn’t mine their shortcomings for cheap gags. Bubba Ho-Tep himself, an Egyptian mummy who needs to suck souls to survive (but has to suck a lot of them since the souls in rest homes are small) isn’t really seen that much in the movie. There is also relatively little violence for a “horror” film.

As my mom put it after we finished watching the movie, “Bubba Ho-Tep represents death and that’s something older folks encounter when they are in those types of homes.” People in rest homes, especially those who are never visited by their families, see their souls gradually getting sucked away until they die sad and lonely. As a movie, it has its moments, but ultimately it's only so-so. However, I have to give it credit in that it’s a lot deeper than it seems. It finds humanity in some truly strange characters and given that it features an Egyptian mummy redneck...that’s saying something.