Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) Reviews

• A Real Shock - It's Good!

  ccthemovieman-12005-11-15

  I laughed when a friend suggested this movie. "Yeah, right," I answered, eyes rolled up. "Well," he finally said a few weeks later, "Here, just look at it. Take my copy and bring it back." "Okay, " I answered, "what do I have to lose? " Obviously, I was shocked. This has to be one of the all-time surprises I've ever encountered in movie-watching. Who would have thought this film was this good? Talk about "original!" This is about as original and entertaining as they come, and, as I have stated in several other reviews, entertainment is the name of the game....so I have to rank this film right up there with my favorites. I refuse to detail the story because the more you explain what it's about, the stupider is sounds and the less likely you will give it a shot. I will say Bruce Campbell does a fabulous job of imitating Elvis Presley. In fact, he is the best I have ever heard, speaking-voice-wise. Ossie Davis is also a hoot as the old black man who thinks he's President John F. Kennedy. See? I can't say more, because it gets worse, story-wise, the more you explain. Just trust me that if you appreciate dark humor with some horror thrown in, you'll love it. It's a bit sleazy and the language is very rough, so be ready for that. I guess you could say this "is not for all tastes." You have to be a little warped to enjoy this, but most of us are to some degree. Be also be ready for one of the oddest films you've ever seen.

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• Fabulously original film

  mattbw742002-08-11

  I recently had the wonderful opportunity to see this film at a horror and fantasy convention. Since it is not yet in distribution I jumped at the chance. Just to set the record straight, I didn't go into this film with normal expectations. The god that is known as Bruce Campbell stars in this film, and let's just say that any morsel of Bruce Campbell goodness I can get is going to make me absolutely love a movie. The basic premise of this film is that Elvis Presley is alive and not too well. He lives in an East Texas nursing home. It seems that years before Elvis tired of his fame and switched places with an Elvis impersonator. The Elvis we see in this picture is a 68 year old man with a penchant for rings and large, jewel studded sunglasses. Whenever he claims to be Elvis, everyone just laughs at this crazy old Elvis impersonator obviously going senile in his old age. Elvis discovers that there's a mummy inhabiting his nursing home who is sucking the souls out of the residents through a rather disturbing bodily orifice. So Elvis teams up with an old African American man (Ossie Davis) claiming to be John Kennedy (his explanation for what happened to him has to be heard to be believed, and is one of the funnier jokes in the movie) to stop the mummy and save the souls of the residents of the nursing home. As crazy and silly as this setup sounds, the film actually achieves depths that most "serious" movies can't even begin to touch. The film deals with what it's like to be an elderly person in this country when nobody cares about you. Elvis and Kennedy are both regretful about not being there for their children when they needed them. And a last chance for glory and leaving this world honorably is a recurring theme throughout the film (see Kemo Sabe's showdown with the mummy). All of these themes are handled with a deft hand, never hammering the point home, but intended to be taken seriously. Ossie Davis gives a terrific comedic performance as "Jack" Kennedy. He delivers some rather eyebrow raising exposition with such a light touch, the audience is forced to except his explanation as fact and move on. And then of course, Bruce Campbell. Campbell plays Elvis as we've never seen him, a 68 year old man with a bad hip and a cancerous growth in a very uncomfortable place. Anyone who has seen any of Campbell's performances knows he can play the hero or the buffoon with equal skill. But here, he pushes the bounds of his talent like never before. Perhaps the highest praise I can give his performance is that 10 minutes into the film, I forgot it was him, and truly believed it was Elvis on the screen. The film was written for the screen and directed by Don Coscarelli. Coscarelli has been in something of a rut since his breakthrough hit with "Phantasm" over 20 years earlier. This is truly his best film since that horror classic, it may even be better. The film was based on a short story by Joe R. Lansdale, the gifted writer. Lansdale routinely puts different genres in a blender together and comes out with something better than a genre outing. This film played just like one of his novels: Horror, comedy, fantasy, and a little bit of western. Bruce Campbell was on hand for the screening I saw and made some comments before the film. He said that he did the film because it was so weird and that we need more films that aren't in the cookie cutter format. I couldn't agree more and I can't recommend this film highly enough. It breaks all molds and expectations. Seek it out when it finds a distributor, you won't be disappointed.

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• All is well

  CuriosityKilledShawn2004-07-03

  Who would have thought it? Don Coscarelli, the man who wrote and directed Phantasm a long, long time ago comes back out of nowhere, after spending his entire career in the dregs, with something like this. A film that is more an exploration of regret, fading dignity and growing old than it is about a soul-sucking mummy. Very old Elvis is brilliantly played by Bruce Campbell. The voice, the hair, the mannerisms are all perfect. He's stuck in Mud Creek rest home where the cynical staff believe he's really called Sebastian Haff, the man Elvis traded places with back in the 70s. And when Haff died, so did the Elvis the public loved. This only left the REAL Elvis free to live his life in peace and eventually indignity. He pals up with a man who believes he's JFK, only problem is he's black. Though it's more likely he's senile rather than a truth-teller like the so-called Sebastian Haff. Both men have one concern, to stop some kind of Bubba Ho-Tep mummy from taking the souls of all the rest home residents. Yes, it's insane. But also wildly imaginative and more than balances out the endless, heartless, conveyor belt Hollywood productions. Elements of the story will stay with you and the character development is graceful and important. The finishing touch is Brian Tyler's awesome score. The main theme is one of the best ever and will flood you will feeling and emotion. Not only is Bubba Ho-Tep blessed with a cast and crew who care about the film their making, it also has wonderful music too. I am lucky enough to have the rare score CD (autographed by Coscarelli and Tyler). Hunt it down, it's seriously worth it. Keep a lookout for Reggie Bannister as the rest home manager. And watch all the way to the end of the credits for a weird message... ELVIS RETURNS IN 'BUBBA NOSFERATU: CURSE OF THE SHE VAMPIRES'

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• brilliant pop culture weirdness

  awalter12004-08-16

  "Bubba Ho-tep" is a low budget movie that went for the B-movie feel on purpose, accomplishing its goal of being a "fine" piece of pop culture weirdness. The story is set in a current-day East Texas rest home and focuses on two residents who believe they are Elvis and JFK--the JFK character just happens to be black, and the rest home also houses a few other crazies, including the Lone Ranger. Elvis and JFK soon learn that an Egyptian mummy--who was stolen from his traveling museum exhibition--has come to life in their neighborhood and is killing the rest home residents by sucking their life force out their backsides (you can harvest a soul through "any major orifice," you know). Eventually, our decrepit heroes realize that only they can meet the mummy in a showdown. The film is really a clever piece of pop culture mythology, working up hilarious back stories for JFK (Ossie Davis who is recognizable from, at the very least, several Spike Lee films) and Elvis (Bruce Campbell of the "Evil Dead" movies). Campbell's performance is particularly excellent, Don Coscarelli's as director did a perfect job finding the right mood and balance of humor for the film, and the leisurely plot--from Joe Lansdale's original novella--is totally engaging and a cinephile's dream.

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• At last, a Lansdale adaptation!

  LeonardPine2005-02-20

  Very faithful to Joe R Lansdale's weird and wonderful short story, this film is a real gem. The gist of the story is that Elvis (Bruce Campbell) didn't die (it was an impersonator he swapped places with who popped his clogs),and is spending the rest of his days in a Texas rest home, with a busted hip and a growth on the end of his pecker,and he's none to happy. That is until a soul sucking mummy turns up at the rest home and Elvis is forced into action to defend his home and it's residents. Teaming up with another resident, an elderly black man who thinks he's JFK (Ossie Davis) they decide to take care of business and defeat Bubba Ho-Tep. If that sounds weird, it is, it's also very funny, hugely entertaining and oddly moving. It also has THE best performance of The King that this Elvis fan has ever seen! Bruce Campbell, i salute you! So check this baby out. And if you like it you could do worse than check out the original story by Joe R Lansdale. This guy is some storyteller.

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