Bubba Ho-Tep

What do you get when you have a seventy year-old Elvis Presley and a black man in a wheel chair claiming to be JFK, in a retirement home fighting an ancient mummy dressed as a cowboy? The answer is "Bubba Ho-Tep", a 2002 black comedy B-picture that is executed with such perfection, and exists in such a specific plain of absurdity, that it had no choice but to instantly become a cult classic. The movie stars B-movie darling Bruce Campbell in the role of an elderly Elvis who never died, and is secretly living out the rest of his days in a retirement home in Texas. Ossie Davis plays the role of 'Jack' a man who claims to be a betrayed JFK. Together they begin to investigate the mysterious deaths of their fellow senior citizens, which brings them face to face with an ancient mummy dubbed 'Bubba Ho-Tep'.

Most interesting about "Bubba Ho-Tep" is that behind the guise of a quirky black comedy, the films actually functions as a brilliant meditation on growing old, and what it means to be forgotten. The film is narrated by Elvis. We learn that he gave up fame years ago by switching places with an Elvis-Impersonator, and it was the impersonator that died, leaving the real Elvis to live out his life forgotten and unloved. Spending his days bed-ridden and dying of testicular cancer, Elvis spends much of the movie lamenting a wasted life and the sorrow of growing old. He watches as one by one his friends from the retirement home die and are carted away, with no family coming by to pay their respects, and no one to carry on their memories.

When a mummy shows up and begins to eat the souls of the elderly, none of the nurses take note, assuming these people have died of natural causes, but Elvis refuses to go out like a sap, and with the aid of JFK, the two take up arms and fight back against the ancient Evil. It's here that Bruce Campbell really lets loose and brilliantly delivers his own quirky spin on the Most Impersonated Man in America. Campbell plays the seventy-year old King as a man who, though forgotten, never lost his edge or style. Ossie Davis is adorable as the old coot who doesn't only talk incessantly about JFK conspiracy theories, but actually claims to be the ex-president himself. Together, these two elderly legends join forces and swear to become the defenders of the old and forgotten.

The film's running time is surprisingly short, but it is simple, sweet, and to the point. There are just enough laughs to make it a comedy, just enough ominous music to make it a horror movie, and just enough Elvis-imbued existential genius to make it a movie worth your time.