*SLIGHT SPOILERS* Bubba Ho Tep was not the film I expected when I finally got to see it last year. Nor was it the movie many of my friends, and many of the people I speak to online were expecting. The trailer pointed to the ultimate Bruce Campbell movie: Ash as Elvis, kicking an ancient mummy's butt.
While that features as a prominent aspect of the movie, it's not what it's about. Those expecting Evil Dead in a retirement home will most likely be surprised to find it has more in common with the wonderful About Schmidt. It deals not only with being Elvis and the world not believing you, but the horror's we face in life when we become too old and too fragile to look after ourselves.
I awarded it a 10 out of 10 because this is the most vital contribution to cinema in the last five years. Forget any movie that won an Academy Award, or was hailed by critics, or was directed by Quentin Tarrantino or whoever else. Don Coscarelli's film is one of the sweetest, most heart-breaking films I've ever witnessed.
Roger Ebert wrote in his review that as a horror film it doesn't work because of the drama and comedy. And therefore as a drama or comedy it doesn't work because of the horror. I have to agree with him in some respect, especially in terms of comedy and horror. But Bubba Ho Tep to me is a classic because of how dramatic it is. And Don, Bruce and the films composer Brian Tyler all get this. The film is about lamenting not only on a life you may have wasted, but one you'll never get back even if you wanted to. That is what makes the idea of this being Elvis so wonderful and apt.
How would you respond to an old man dying of cancer who tells you he's the real Elvis? You wouldn't respond because it sounds preposterous. And it really is. But what if it was true, and the only person who believed you was a certifiable loon? A black man who believe's he's JFK? That's a funny situation to find yourself in, and one the film uses to base much of its comedy on. But I also happen to find it heartbreaking.
When the world tires of you and wants to put you aside until you die, how do you live those last remaining years, months or day's? What can you possibly do to justify yourself when nobody really cares for you anymore? In Bubba Ho Tep, two men save the lives of the only people who really matter to them now - other elderly folk. It's beautiful and it's poignant. But above all else, it's heartbreaking. And the film never wants you to forget that.
Special mention has to go to Brian Tyler's score - which is, in my opinion, one of the greatest soundtrack's I've ever heard (if not the best). I'll admit that I don't much care for the rockabilly tunes infused to fit the Tex-Mex element the film has, or the horror themes for whenever the mummy pops up. What I care about is the dramatic score used to highlight many of the films pivotal moments - the Elvis switch, the Elvis dream, the Heroes Walk, the All Is Well ending.
Don Coscarelli, Bruce Campbell and Brian Tyler have made an astounding movie - and one that will forever live in my heart.
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