STUFF YOU GOTTA WATCH

MONDO ELVIS

(Alternate Title: Rock 'n Roll Disciples) (1984 - TV)
With Frankie Horrocks, Artie Mentz, Judy and Jenny Caroll
Directed by Tom Corboy
Reviewed by JB

Looks like Kentucky Rain's a-comin'10 A half hour dedicated to three of Elvis Presley's most devoted fans not long after the death of their hero. We meet Frankie Horrocks, a woman whose life is filled with tragedy, some of her own making, some befallen on her from above; Artie Mentz, an Elvis impersonator who describes himself as a priest in the Church that is Elvis; and the Caroll twins, a pair of young girls who believe Elvis is their father. Of the three, Artie is the one you would probably most want to hang out with. Although he thinks Elvis speaks to hims, he seems relatively normal, all things considered, and not a bad impersonator at that. The young Caroll sisters would make any sane person want to flee the room instantly. It is Ms. Horrocks who is most compelling, as she tells the increasingly sad tale of her life, from falling in love with Elvis in BLUE HAWAII, divorcing her husband, being estranged from most of her kids, and losing her only-Elvis loving daughter to a murderer who was later found to be insane. Every time I see this film, this woman rips my heart out. She obviously needed help, and I pray that she got it and is at peace.

Aside from rabid Star Wars fans, there is no easier target on Earth than rabid Elvis fans, the ones who, as webmaster John L. once pointed out to me, always seem to worship the excessive, sequenced jump-suit Elvis of the '70s rather than the young, slick, King of Rock and Roll Elvis of the '50s. (Nobody ever seems to worship Goofy Movie Elvis of the '60s). MONDO ELVIS has no narrator, as director Tom Corboy allows his interviewees to tell their own stories without outside commentary. Nevertheless, Corboy's footage is usually ironically embarrassing to the inevitably nice and sincere Elvis fan at the center of it, and the cheesy music he uses throughout - weepy, quickly produced Elvis tribute songs - pretty much sums up his feelings on the whole subject of Elvis worhsip. Some of his subjects will make you smile, such as the woman who holds up a picture she happened to take at Graceland of a cloud that "really looks like Elvis!". Others will make you wonder where the men in the white suits are to cart these people away, such as the guy who changed his name to Elvis Presley because his friends told him he looked like The King (his friends obviously lied). MONDO ELVIS is a weird and utterly fascinating trip into the weirder side of Elvis fandom. - JB

ADD ANOTHER QUOTE AND MAKE IT A GALLON

"And if they don't like our Elvis Presley music than they get thrown out on their ass... and if they say anything against God or Elvis they get thrown out on their ass again."