Bubba Ho-tep

It sounds like the opening line of a really good joke -- Elvis (Bruce Campbell) and John F. Kennedy (Ossie Davis -- yes, Ossie Davis) are sitting in a retirement home in Mud Creek, Texas. But it's actually the setup for a really good little movie. The year is...well, 2003, and Elvis is a hulking shell of his former self, trying to convince the hospital staff he's actually the King and not Elvis impersonator Sebastian Haff (the two men traded places, just before "Elvis"'s tragic death...or did they?). He's got a painful growth of unknown origin in a very sensitive place, he can't get around without the help of a walker, and his only friend is "JFK," who claims his skin has been dyed black and his brain replaced with a sack of sand (all at the orders of Lyndon Johnson). And to make matters worse -- because the movie just wasn't weird or goofy enough -- the nursing home is tormented by an awakened Egyptian mummy who wears a cowboy hat and boots and sucks the souls of the living out of their asses. Oh yeah, it's strange. But it's also hilarious, and Bruce Campbell is a revelation as the King of Rock. It may be an obscure little indie flick, but find it if you can.

Rating: ****