By Geno McGahee

Joel Gilbert is a great filmmaker. He is very good at putting together documentaries with an edge, which is what he did with PAUL MCCARTNEY IS REALLY DEAD: THE LAST TESTAMENT OF GEORGE HARRISON, which he released in 2010. It took facts mixed with speculation and lore, and blended them together into a compelling story that was easy to get into. I think that everyone that watched the documentary had their doubts about the narrator being the dead George Harrison, but you just put that doubt aside and have fun with it as you would with THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT.

Gilbert got some negative feedback over his Paul McCartney documentary, but there was great deal of people that loved it. It was done well and a lot of fun. I was looking forward to the next musical legend that he tackled and it didn’t take long with the release of ELVIS FOUND ALIVE.

The idea of Elvis faking his death has been around since his passing. There are enough strange things to make you scratch your head enough to convince some that “The King” may have faked his death. Gilbert takes the evidence and wraps it up into a fun documentary with a man that is supposedly Elvis.

We begin with Joel Gilbert, as himself, made a freedom of information request to the government for all files on Elvis, and it doesn’t take long for a box to arrive. The group works hard to remove the ink that was used to blacken out information and they succeed, coming up with an address of a man that is on the witness protection program by the name of Jon Burrows.

Gilbert and the gang go to the address and, remarkably, Elvis lives and grants Gilbert an exclusive interview. This documentary doesn’t take itself too seriously, perhaps an answer to those that got upset at the “draw your own conclusions” approach with his prior Paul McCartney film, but it didn’t take me long to get into it. The “Elvis” that they got was fantastic. It was very easy for me to be drawn in and it became a documentary narrated by Elvis.

Elvis goes through his life, his thoughts on his family and career, and speaks of his rise to the top, the controversy and the threat that he posed to the system. This is a very thorough documentary and one that any Elvis fan would enjoy, and I’m an Elvis fan. It is broken up into different segments, which include his rise, the controversy, the mob, the faking of a death, the rise of the hippies, becoming an FBI agent and more.

Joel Gilbert does it again. ELVIS FOUND ALIVE is a great documentary from a unique angle, making it enjoyable for Elvis fans as well as those that aren’t. The only negative thing was the initial terrible acting by the Gilbert crew, but once they find Elvis and sit down with him, you will be glued to the screen.

ELVIS FOUND ALIVE is a winner. Joel Gilbert is a fantastic filmmaker and this is another example of his creativity and unique approach to documentaries. I highly recommend this one.

Rating: 8/10

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