FILMBRATS - REVIEWS

What if Elvis Presley never actually died? Perhaps he got sick of his life and traded places with an uncanny impersonator who took over. Maybe he’s actually slowly deteriorating inside a small nursing/retirement home down in Texas. Now, what if John F. Kennedy’s brain wasn’t actually missing? Perhaps the government decided to implant it into the head of a young black man. Maybe that man is now well-aged and in the same home with the king. Okay, stay with me here. What if a cursed mummy suddenly popped up? Perhaps he began feeding on the souls of the old folks residing there. Maybe the only people that can stop him are Elvis and JFK.

What if you have a promising, extremely original concept….ahhh, forget it. Suffice it to say, the actual movie doesn’t quite live up to the same standards as the king’s sequenced jumpsuits. I think I was just expecting a different movie: one with more action, better pacing and even more quirk. The film does come off as campy weird at times, but seems to take itself a little bit too seriously, what with Elvis’ voice over narrative reflections on the subtle tragedy of growing old. Now, I know this Mr. Presley can’t gyrate his hips like he used to, but more action of some kind is in order. It takes so long for anything noteworthy to happen, you begin to wonder if the old fogies will still be breathing when the times comes to spring free from their bedpans.

I hate to say anything bad about Ossie Davis, but the man could have done better as JFK. I know the brain no longer inhabits the same body, but the brain controls all, right? So shouldn’t he still have the same mannerisms and speech patterns (and I don’t mean the voice, just the style) as the former president? It threw me off. Bruce Campbell as Elvis does an alright impression, but the make-up used to make him look old does not work one bit. It looked like his face was melting. I was half expecting the prosthetics to fall off at some point.

The filmmaking is relatively solid. I can’t say I particularly enjoyed the jump cuts in the beginning, but the flashback scenes reminded me of “The Frighteners,” which isn’t a bad thing at all. I just wish the flashy, varying styles we see in the opening were either not employed at all, or seen through to the end. Instead it comes off as a simple attempt to jazz up the boring part of a picture that wouldn’t need it if the time frame were more condensed. The movie is already short, but I don’t think the characterization and interplay between the two would-be famous old men is enough to warrant it being an entire feature. Or at least, not in the way it was presented.

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