bubba ho-tep: film review

My friend Jaden had recommended this movie, not necessarily to me personally, but to those who are looking for a different kind of a movie. A type of movie that is hard to fit into a specific genre. Is it a comedy? Is it horror? Action? Kinda all three.

Now that I think of it, there are a couple other movies that come to mind that might fit in that bracket, like Shaun of the Dead or Planet Terror. But I digress.

Bubba Ho-Tep­ is a story about Elvis and JFK battling an evil Egyptian mummy that’s terrorizing the nursing home they live in. Seriously. Does that sound like anything you’ve watched before? Does that sound like something you wanna see? Don’t lie! You know you wanna!

Seriously though, this movie was pleasantly surprising. I didn’t really know what I was getting into even after reading the premise. But that’s a good thing. Not knowing keeps me on my toes. Besides, it’s so out there yet so original, even if I knew how it would end I would still watch.

I also was in the perfect mood to watch this movie. A perfect mood is when I’m in need of escapism. This film fit the bill. It didn’t relate in the slightest to the real world that I live in and brought me to a land about two legends who somehow got transported to another body before/after they died. I mean that part alone was enough to go “Hmmm.”

Then you add the whole mummy story, and why the mummy was there in the first place, and then you have a crazy story. It makes you wonder, could this really be happening? Is it all in their heads? Are they really the King and the President? I agree with Jaden, the story is told in such a way that it’s possible to believe this could happen.

So who is this movie for? That’s hard to say. Which is possibly why this movie might be a little known film (at least to my circle of friends, who had never heard of it). But Netflix had been recommending it to me for who knows how long, so I finally gave in after getting that push to check it out. This is another movie I don’t think I’d watch enough times to want to own. But it’s still worth checking out and telling others to check out, especially if you are a fan of the movies I mentioned above. The main difference is that those movies have bigger budgets, slightly more popular names (no offense to Bruce Campbell or Ossie Davis), and much better promotion. It’s rated R, but I think the kiddies can handle most of it. In other words, parents should screen it first.

I hear rumor that a sequel/prequel is in the mix. I’ll check that out whenever it happens.