The King referred to in the title is indeed Elvis...but not the Elvis of youthful rebellion and a pathetic exit fuelled by pills and burgers.

This Elvis - as played by Gabriel Garcia Bernal - is a seemingly gauche teen recently discharged from the Navy and looking to put down some roots.

However, the place he would like to call home is the town lived in by his absentee father (Hurt), a hellraiser-turned-baptist minister in the Texan backwater of Corpus Christi.

When Elvis first confronts his old dad, Hurt coldly lets him know that he may be one of God's family...but he doesn't want him bothering his new one.

Unfortunately, Elvis has caught the eye of Hurt's daughter Malerie (James), a wan teenager irresistibly drawn to the half-brother she doesn't know she has.

Despite, being warned off, Elvis and Malerie are soon getting to know each other biblically in his dingy motel room and the prodigal son looks set to stay.

Then - out of the blue - a violent turn of events reveals that behind Elvis' disarming smile there lurks the lethal drive of a cuckoo.

British director James Marsh - working from a script by Milo "Monster's Ball" Addica - begins with what appears a simple story of a son seeking his father into one of familial destruction on an Old Testament scale.

Thankfully, Bernal is up to the role of Elvis, a sociopath whose twinkling eyes mask monstrous depths.

Hurt, too, is excellent as the haggard preacher unhappy with charity beginning at home but still called upon to demonstrate the ultimate power of forgiveness.

Another strongpoint is Paul Dano's performance as Hurt's God-bothering son Paul, a Christian activist who wants Darwinism wiped from the school curriculum.

Where the film slips is the murky motivation of Elvis - has he had it all planned...or are things a terrifyingly random sequence of events?

Nevertheless, it's worth watching to follow the burgeoning menace of one Elvis who will leave you All Shook Up.

Tim Evans