Big movie studios just don't know a good thing when they see one do they? All they are willing to release is trash that makes a quick buck, but has no soul and its getting to the point where even mainstream audiences are seeing right through their risk free schemes and starting to look elsewhere. As was the case with DONNIE DARKO, a low budget directorial debut that had an unfathomable plot, but word of mouth spread on how great it was regardless and it went from an unknown independent gamble to a massive cult hit within a few years and raked in enough cash for Richard Kelly to even release a director's cut of the film. BUBBA-HO-TEP is also one of those movies, it is very strange, yet also speaks to you on a human level, it's a classy little horror comedy that hardly has an ounce of gore in sight yet is still up there with the best of them and it deserves all the praise it can get.

You see, the horror elements of BUBBA HO-TEP are neither particularly substantial or work that well, and at its heart is a layered drama that is actually pretty bittersweet, it also treats old people with respect despite always verging on territory where it could easy be mocking them and in the end is both insane and interesting in equal measures. Campbell plays Elvis like he would be now, he doesn't mimic his rock star persona, he develops the character into something far more involving. Cantankerous and contemplative, you really get a feel for what its like being stuck where he is, and it's a performance of great depth that doesn't just ring true for the character, it comments on how society perceives and treats old people as a whole. He is supported by an equally good Ossie Davis who plays a fellow resident that thinks he is JFK, despite being black (his excuse for this is that "they" dyed his skin in order to cover up the fact that he made it out alive after the shooting). While Campbell gets all the classy one liners and most of the emotional baggage, Davis's outrageous performance had me in stitches every time he opens his mouth and they bounce off each other brilliantly. The scene that struck me in particular as being a prime example of this was when the two men first discover The Mummy's penchant for graffiti while in the gents, its absolute comic perfection, with each man getting funnier every time he retorts.

There are so many other reasons why I loved BUBBA HO-TEP. The beautifully haunting score that adds so much depth to the more "serious" scenes, the cameo from a certain Coscarelli regular, the script that rides the line between both making fun of and being a tribute to Elvis are just a few of them. It is also an undeniably first rate example of its genre, a hybrid horror comedy that works for very different reasons than most do and in the end it is a highly satisfying experience because of just that. With a great cast and an original story it is totally unique, charming and has great heart. Everyone should see this film.