2002-Silver Sphere, Vitagraph Films
Starring Bruce Campbell, Ossie Davis
Don Coscaretti, Director
Run time: 92 minutes
Genre: Comedy, Horror
Why it’s worth a view:
An absolutely ridiculous, insane plot, great performances, hilarious, bittersweet
Spoilers Ahead
At a southern rest home, the narration begins. It’s Elvis Presley, who never died at Graceland. That was an Elvis impersonator; he volunteered to take the King’s place when Elvis was in a crisis and wanted to get away from the madness his life had become. He took the impersonator’s place and had a great time making his music at lounges.
Somewhere in Egypt, a mummy is unearthed. And of course, its tomb carries a curse. During a tour of the US, the mummy is hijacked and is never found.
Since Elvis has gone by the impersonator’s name for so long, nobody believes him as his health fails and he wants his identity back. The nurses think he’s senile.
Another resident (a wonderful performance by Davis) claims to be John F. Kennedy. Two problems: he’s black, and everyone knows that JFK is dead. As Jack, he claims one night to Elvis that after the “Assassination”, the CIA took part of his brain and replaced it with a bag of sand. Then they dyed him black: “Even my dick is black”. And here he sits in a rest home. At first even Elvis doesn’t believe him. Then, mysterious deaths begin to take place among the other seniors and Elvis sees the mummy walking the halls. As they make eye contact, he sees the mummy’s past and a bus crash from a nearby bridge. The bus was carrying the stolen mummy of Bubba Ho-Tep (so named because he wears a stetson hat and Dingo boots). He tells Jack, and admits he knows that Jack is President Kennedy, and the two team up to stop the mummy from sucking the souls out of the seniors at night.
They lure the mummy, now trapped in the water where the bus crashed, to them, planning to burn it. President Kennedy is killed but, mortally wounded, Elvis succeeds in torching the mummy and ending the curse.
As he dies near the riverside, his voice-over continues; he has two regrets: he wishes he could see his daughter and that he had treated Priscilla better, but for him, he’s saved lives and redeemed himself. As the camera looks down on his face, he utters a prayer: “Thank you. Thank you very much.” The credits roll.
While I was busy being psycho, I saw this on Tubi. It was scary in parts, but funny, and very sad at the end as two forgotten men of greatness join forces to save lives. Campbell more than captures an elderly Elvis, maintains a consistent, bleak set of mannerisms, and sells it.
Davis, as JFK, is astonishing. His story is preposterous, but he does it! They team up as forgotten heroes on what’s essentially a suicide mission. So despite the laughs, I choked up at the end.
I needed that. The laughs, the camp, the mild fright and the way the friends died together.
I found by chance that I’m easily moved to tears, and that many remain to be shed. But this movie was a surprise and a welcome distraction.
Put this, if you’ve never seen it, on your list of summer movies to watch when going outside is not in your best interest. You’ll like it.
Memoirs of an American Asshole 