:
Bruce Campbell,
Bruce Campbell,
Ossie Davis,
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Don Coscarelli,
Don Coscarelli
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: 
: MGM
: Comedies, Independent, Black Comedy
: 92 min.
: English
: English, Spanish, French
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An ancient evil finds resistance in the most unlikely of places in this oddball comedy horror effort from Phantasm director Don Coscarelli. Resting in the confines of a Mud Creek, TX, nursing home after fading into obscurity following his departure from the limelight, an aging and embittered Elvis (Bruce Campbell) befriends a delusional patient named Jack (Ossie Davis) who claims to be John F. Kennedy. It seems that at the height of his popularity Elvis had switched identities with a convincing double, and, upon the death of the substitute, missed his chance to reclaim his former fame. Despite his anger at never having made a comeback, Elvis finds a new reason to live when Jack tips him off to an evil mummy that is feasting on the souls of hapless nursing home inhabitants. Before long the geriatric duo must muster the strength to fend off the malevolent soul sucker lest they ultimately fall prey to the fearsome Bubba Ho-Tep (Bob Ivy). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
 In 1979, a 21-year-old filmmaker warped countless young minds with a terrifying bit of surreality called Phantasm. A quarter of a century later, he's entertaining us with a tale of Elvis and JFK, both alive (yet feeling their age), as crime-fighters. Don Coscarelli tells Jonathan Marlow about casting Bruce Campbell in Bubba Ho-tep - and where that hideous silver sphere came from. Full article >>
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| All Hail The King Baby T.C.B.
by markh
September 13, 2004 - 11:12 AM PDT
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6 out of 7 members found this review helpful
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| I'll keep this short, its not Evil Dead and it's definatly not Driving Miss Daisy! It is about old farts, not a popular subject in this country I know, it is funny and disturbing. Some dodgy special effects, excellent camera work, solid direction, great acting and a dream of a script. Rent it but kiddies don't expect a fangoria blood fest, its a grown-ups movie. |
| gentle commentary on aging
by JBellows
August 20, 2004 - 10:42 PM PDT
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3 out of 10 members found this review helpful
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| Okay, so I killed it with a two star review. The director is a has-been, sorry to say. If ever there was an example of a director who needed to stop, this is it. However, at the same time, this is a fitting end film.And the actors give the story credit. Its all about aging, getting old, not up to pluck or living up the legend you have built for yourself. In short, an essay on being old. And it did it well enough for the genre the director is comfortable with. It was also funny when it needed to be. It was never scary (hopefully, it wasn't supposed to be scary...) but just popcorn munching fun. And Campbell and Oz, geez, they stole the whole show! |
| brilliant pop culture weirdness
by AWalter
August 16, 2004 - 12:59 PM PDT
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11 out of 11 members found this review helpful
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"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," of course). 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). Campbells performance is particularly excellent, Don Coscarellis as director did a perfect job finding the right mood and balance of humor for the film, and the leisurely plot--from Joe Lansdales original novella--is totally engaging and a cinephiles dream.
The one perfect complement to the film is the DVDs commentary track. Well, actually, there are two excellent tracks, but the second one is hysterical, with Bruce Campbell doing Elvis--the real Elvis this time though, who is also still alive and agreed to see this movie and talk about it. He rips on the movie from start to finish, commenting on the performances and the budget, expressing outrage at the films portrayal of him, offering his insights as a film veteran ("I made 33 films, you know"), getting angry at the films ending, playing a few bits from songs hes working on, voicing his disappointment at the swearing and violence and at women being treated as objects on-screen, munching on pop corn and taking cell phone calls during the movie. . . I laughed at this almost as much as I did at the movie!
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