Finally…talk about waiting ages to see a film!! Bubba Ho-Tep arrives on DVD thanks to Anchor Bay UK and whilst it is an enjoyable romp, I’m afraid I couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about?
Bruce Campbell plays Elvis against Ossie Davis’ JFK with hilarious results, as they take on a soul sucking Mummy who is offing the residents of a rest home, but there’s really nothing to get that excited about, as it’s all in jest.
Bruce Campbell carries the film and does it well, putting in the first performance that might make people say ‘Bruce Campbell from Bubba Ho-Tep’ instead of the inevitable ‘Bruce Campbell from The Evil Dead’. Ossie Davis is also a hoot as JFK ‘dyed black’ and Ella Joyce is hilarious as well.
The film has top notch performances, and actually made me laugh out loud more than once, but by the end I was left feeling like it was all a bit pointless really.
I didn’t care about any of the characters other than the leads, and the horror scenes were few and far between. This meant that we had far too much back story concerning Elvis, and there wasn’t really a point to any of it anyway.
The film was aesthetically pleasing, had appearances from a couple of genre vets, and also had something to say about old age and it did it in a fun way, but there was no need to have any horror in this whatsoever, they could have just made it a dark comedy.
OVERALL SUMMARY
I will no doubt be lynched for writing this review, but it was important for me not to get caught up in the hype. Yes, this is a good film but no it didn’t amaze me. I have been the victim of too much hype before, but I wasn’t so easily fooled this time.
