Amazingly, though, it works extremely well, and manages to be a really sweet little film that, once you've absorbed the premise, doesn't dwell on its eccentricities gratuitously. Central to the film's success is Bruce Campbell's nuanced performance as a broken-down Elvis Presley, killing his last days at a Texas nursing home. Campbell is so good here (indeed, this seems like the role he was born to play) that you quickly forget every Elvis punchline you've ever seen in a movie, and to his credit, he limits the "Thankyouverymuch" schtick to only the most spare peppering throughout, and integrates Elvis's persona organically. Ossie Davis is very nearly as good as (perhaps) John F. Kennedy, who didn't actually die, but was dyed black by those who conspired to overthrow him, and he is now a resident at the same nursing home. The movie could have gotten by on the baffling historical revisionism alone, as Campbell and Davis form a unique bond that seems to indicate the death throes of true old-school Americana. But then there's the additional layer of having an undead mummy feeding off the souls of the elderly residents of the home, and it's up to Elvis and JFK to stop him! The tone shifts crazily from philosophical navel-gazing to straight slapstick and/or Evil Dead-style horror at the drop of a hat, yet the befuddling storyline and inscrutable intent actually starts stacking up as one hugely fun little voyage after awhile, instead of seeming stupidly random or unfocused. Everyone clearly had a blast making the film, and yet it ultimately succeeds as more than just a campy cult flick. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around why anyone would even conceive of, much less concoct, such a strange brew, but in any event I found it mighty tasty. I think it's simultaneously the best Elvis movie, Mummy movie, and JFK conspiracy movie I've ever seen.
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