3 posts tagged “comedy”

William Tell Overture for Moms

I watched another free OnDemand movie last night while vegging out in bed before going to sleep.  This time, it was the comedy/horror cult hit, Bubba Ho-tep, the small 2002 flick starring Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis. A very clever, funny, and basically charming movie, perfect for a laid back Saturday night.

Campbell plays Elvis Presley, or maybe he's really Sebastian Haff, Elvis impersonator. Or maybe it is Elvis pretending to be Sebastian. Or maybe he's Sebastian, who really thinks he's Elvis.  In any case, he teams up with JFK, played by Ossie Davis(!), who's been dyed black and had his brain replaced by a bag of sand.  These two do battle with Bubba Ho-Tep, a mummy who has been using the Shady Rest Convalescence Home in east Texas as his personal soul farm.

A movie with far more depth than it has any right to, with interesting commentary on growing old, dealing with the elderly and knowing who you are.  Throw in a great performance by Bruce Campbell, some laughs and some scares and you have a movie with surprising depth for a small horror flick.  I enjoyed it quite a bit, and got several laughs to go with it.  

Bubba Ho-Tep (Limited Collector's Edition)

We've all been trying to recover from colds and fevers, so Friday afternoon, the girls and I settled in to watch a classic - Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. They were initially disappointed that it was a black and white movie, but by the end, R. said that "Even black and white movies can be fun!".

In this comedy-horror classic, Costello (Wilbur Grey) and Abbott (Chick Young) are shipping clerks who get involved with a plot by Dracula (Bela Legosi) to revive Frankenstein's Monster (Glenn Strange), using Abbott's(!) brain.  The Wolfman (Lon Chaney Jr.) is trying to help them expose the nefarious plot, while he battles his own full moon affliction.

I really enjoyed this, and so did the girls. Like Maltin's review says, an important part of the movie is the fact the monsters all play it straight and the laughs just come from the goofing done by Costello.  He keeps seeing the monsters but no one believes him.  We even watched it a second time on Saturday, and the girls, especially A (who is 6) enjoyed it even more.  She liked it better, she said, because she wasn't as scared.  There are a few close calls, where Abbott barely escapes capture.  The ending, with Frankenstein's monster walking through some flames, was a little intense too, I thought. I could've done without them watching the wide shot of a burning Frankenstein, before he plunged through the dock. But it didn't seem to bother the girls.

On Saturday, we followed up a repeat viewing of "Meets Frankenstein" with the other movie on the DVD, Mexican Hayride. In this tepid affair, Costello plays Joe Bascom, a schlub played for a sucker by Abbott's Harry Lambert. Abbott gets chased around Mexico City, even after he's named "Amigo Americano" and given the keys to the city. Mayhem ensues, including a bullfight which received many guffaws from the audience, especially when Abbott gets head butted out of the ring and then falls back in, riding away on the bull.

"Mexican Hayride" wasn't that great an A&C effort, a Cole Porter Broadway musical without the music. But we still enjoyed it, and I think I might have to pick up this Volume 3 DVD, which also includes the classic "In The Foreign Legion" and "Meet the Invisible Man".

The Best of Abbott & Costello, Vol. 3 (Abbott & Costello Go to Mars / Abbott & Costello in the Forei