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DVD Review HTF Review: Bubba Ho-Tep - Collector's Edition (Highly Recommended!) (1 Viewer)

Joe McCabe

Second Unit
Joined
May 6, 1999
Messages
336
Chalk me up in the not impressed category.

Campbell was very good in his role, I don't think anyone can deny that. I always enjoy Ossie Davis, though I don't think this was one of his more memorable roles.

Other than those two factors, I thought this film took so many cheap avenues in it's attempt to reach cult status, that I really can't respect it at all.

Elvis, a black man who thinks he's JFK, a soulstealing mummy, and dick jokes? It's begging us to award it cult status, and I'm not doing it.

It's almost arrogant in it's reliance on it's cheese factor to entertain us. It screams "look how whacky I am!", and that's what cheapens the whole experience for me.

And just to be fair, I do think the hype surrounding this film played a major role in my disappointment with it.
Had I stumbled across it on a rainy Saturday afternoon, I may have found it somewhat amusing.
 

Richard Kim

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2001
Messages
4,385
Count me in as a big fan of Bubba Ho-Tep. I bought this sight unseen on DVD, and I loved the cheesy, over the top nature, as it is reminiscent of Bruce Campbell in the Evil Dead films. And at least it's entertaining and livens up the mood, unlike another cult film, the boring and dull Donnie Darko. I also found this to be a very moving film, as Elvis struggles to regain his dignity that he lost.
 

Bill A

Grip
Joined
Aug 12, 1998
Messages
22
I was bored by the movie for the most part. I picked it up after reading the great reviews. I did, however, enjoy the Elvis angle to the picture. I'm not a fan of the King, but the switch with the impersonator was interesting, and the quest to do something meaningful with the remainder of his life was touching. The comdey was totally lost on me for the most part; but then, I don't really enjoy comedies. I thought that the humor might appeal to me because the premise was so "out there"; but I found it to be silly as opposed to funny. And finally, the action. Believe me, I didn't go in expecting "The Matrix", or even "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". I thought that old folks battling a demon was an inventive switch, and was curious to see what could be done with it. For me, the answer was "Not much". We've all seen movies where the protagonist has to come up with a creative defense/offense to overcome their limitations (i.e. "Home Alone"). They used the tools at their disposal, and turned negatives into positives, but the solutions in "BH-T" were uninspired.
 

ChrisBEA

Screenwriter
Joined
Jul 19, 2003
Messages
1,657
I loved it, bought it blind.
I thought it was funny, bizarre, even touching at times. casting was excellent. It did embrace it's B status, but that was only to it's benefit. The Bruce/Don commentary i thought was good, the extras good. The King commentary seemed a bit dull, I only listened to some of it, but it's cool as a novelty. A nice SE for a non-major release of a relatively unknown movie.

Also, I didn't notice any crackling, but I don't have a very good audio systm on it...
 

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