Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)

Directed by Don Coscarelli. Starring Bruce Campbell, Ossie Davis, Ella Joyce, Heidi Marnhout, Daniel Roebuck, Daniel Schweiger, Reggie Bannister. [R]

A horror-comedy with a better premise than execution, but what a premise. It turns out that Elvis Presley (Campbell) didn’t die on the toilet back in ‘77; tired of the pressures of fame, he swapped places with an impersonator a few years earlier, and now in present day, he lives in a Texas retirement home. And who’s his only friend at the home? None other than John F. Kennedy (Davis), who survived the assassination attempt and had his skin dyed black. But wait…there’s more—an ancient Egyptian mummy lost during a museum tour as it moved through the area is attacking residents of the home at night and feeding off their souls, so it’s the King and JFK to the rescue! Takes itself more seriously than one would expect, and Campbell (in a terrific performance) manages to not only become a credible facsimile of Presley, but also imbues his persona with introspection, poignancy, and humanity. A lot of the jokes land, closer to sly than campy on the spectrum, though unafraid to seek out a boisterous, vulgar punchline on occasion. Where it falls short is the monster, who’s not especially imposing or memorably-designed, and the climax is a let-down. As a mummy movie, it’s mediocre, but as an Elvis movie, hail to the king, baby. Director Coscarelli also wrote the screenplay, adapted from a same-named novella by Joe R. Lansdale.

70/100