Bubba Ho-Tep

source: Bubba Ho-Tep

"Bubba Ho-Tep" has got to be one of the strangest movies I've seen in some time. It has a plot that you won't believe! The film opens in a nursing home in the present day. One of the residents is Elvis (Bruce Campbell)--though everyone thinks he's an Elvis impersonator. Soon a series of killings occur in the home and it turns out it's all due to an evil mummy! Naturally, no one believes Elvis when he tells them what is afoot--so he gets his friend, John F. Kennedy, to help!! Now, mind you, JFK is played by Ossie Davis--a VERY black man! According to 'JFK', after he was shot, the surgeons somehow turned him black and left him in a crappy nursing home!! Considering that the destruction of evil and the future of humanity rests on these two, we appear to be completely screwed! This is just an exercise in bizarreness--albeit a very clever one. Campbell is VERY memorable as a foul-mouthed Elvis and his army of fans (due to his cult-like Evil Dead movies) must have loved every minute of this. Davis is also quite good--and it's a two-man show. Amazingly, the budget was practically nothing and dollar-for-dollar, it is a wonderful film. Well worth seeing--and young filmmakers should see this to see how much film they can make for a pittance. By the way, at the end of the credits, it announces a new film--"Bubba Nosferatu: Curse of the She-Vampires". Sadly, this film has NOT been made--and a decade later there's little evidence that it's coming any time soon.

*SLIGHT SPOILERS* Bubba Ho Tep was not the film I expected when I finally got to see it last year. Nor was it the movie many of my friends, and many of the people I speak to online were expecting. The trailer pointed to the ultimate Bruce Campbell movie: Ash as Elvis, kicking an ancient mummy's butt. While that features as a prominent aspect of the movie, it's not what it's about. Those expecting Evil Dead in a retirement home will most likely be surprised to find it has more in common with the wonderful About Schmidt. It deals not only with being Elvis and the world not believing you, but the horror's we face in life when we become too old and too fragile to look after ourselves. I awarded it a 10 out of 10 because this is the most vital contribution to cinema in the last five years. Forget any movie that won an Academy Award, or was hailed by critics, or was directed by Quentin Tarrantino or whoever else. Don Coscarelli's film is one of the sweetest, most heart-breaking films I've ever witnessed. Roger Ebert wrote in his review that as a horror film it doesn't work because of the drama and comedy. And therefore as a drama or comedy it doesn't work because of the horror. I have to agree with him in some respect, especially in terms of comedy and horror. But Bubba Ho Tep to me is a classic because of how dramatic it is. And Don, Bruce and the films composer Brian Tyler all get this. The film is about lamenting not only on a life you may have wasted, but one you'll never get back even if you wanted to. That is what makes the idea of this being Elvis so wonderful and apt. How would you respond to an old man dying of cancer who tells you he's the real Elvis? You wouldn't respond because it sounds preposterous. And it really is. But what if it was true, and the only person who believed you was a certifiable loon? A black man who believe's he's JFK? That's a funny situation to find yourself in, and one the film uses to base much of its comedy on. But I also happen to find it heartbreaking. When the world tires of you and wants to put you aside until you die, how do you live those last remaining years, months or day's? What can you possibly do to justify yourself when nobody really cares for you anymore? In Bubba Ho Tep, two men save the lives of the only people who really matter to them now - other elderly folk. It's beautiful and it's poignant. But above all else, it's heartbreaking. And the film never wants you to forget that. Special mention has to go to Brian Tyler's score - which is, in my opinion, one of the greatest soundtrack's I've ever heard (if not the best). I'll admit that I don't much care for the rockabilly tunes infused to fit the Tex-Mex element the film has, or the horror themes for whenever the mummy pops up. What I care about is the dramatic score used to highlight many of the films pivotal moments - the Elvis switch, the Elvis dream, the Heroes Walk, the All Is Well ending. Don Coscarelli, Bruce Campbell and Brian Tyler have made an astounding movie - and one that will forever live in my heart.

When I give "Bubba Ho-Tep" 10/10 stars, I of course assume that the only people who will even opt to read my review are the types who have decided that they like the movie even before they've watched it. Such people should already know the plot: Elvis Presley (Bruce Campbell) and John F. Kennedy (Ossie Davis) are both alive and living in a retirement home in Texas, and they have to fight a mummy. It'll be cool to cult fans. When I saw the movie, Bruce Campbell was supposed to appear at the theater, but had to cancel. Right before the movie started, they showed some footage of him thanking the audience for coming to watch the movie. Then, his phone rang. From there, it went like this: "Oh, Sam Raimi? I'll get back to you in a minute, Sam." (He turns back to the camera.) "So I'd like to thank all of you for supporting this movie." (He turns back to the phone.) "Now then, Sam, what did you want to talk about?...Evil Dead 4?!...I'll do it!"

How awful un-nostalgic and sad this movie is to think it is a cliché' yet loving look into the what-could-have-been the life of Elvis Presley and John Kennedy if they were to have lived and met under these circumstances - in a nursing home for the delusional. Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis were (I am guessing) blackmailed into playing these parts b/c the director/writer/producer has some horrible secret about them that no body else knows and they don't want revealed to the western world - such as ... Bruce Campbell writes runon sentences and Ossie Davis wears size seven shoes. I saw the IMDb.com vote for this movie and it is insanely high... maybe one needs to be drunk in order to appreciate this - or perhaps one needs to be a BUBBA HO! Scary... (*sigh*) Anyway, avoid this as best you can b/c it will waste your time. Go see an Ed Wood movie and watch an authentic schlock master at work. 1/10. -LD ______________________________________________ my faith: http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/jbc33/

I looked forward to this movie for a long time and was disappointed after seeing it. Perhaps there's a connection there. Had I chanced upon it without expectations I wonder if I'd have thought differently about it. The biggest problem I had with it was the slowness. Over an hour passes before anything drives the plot. The premise is a good one though...Elvis didn't die but merely traded places with an impersonator who died, and JFK wasn't really killed in Dallas, just transformed into a black man with a head full of sand. Throw in a giant scarab beetle and a vengeful mummy and you got yourself a movie. It's rather dull though. Even the fight scenes are trifling. The mummy isn't scary and the notion of Elvis and JFK fighting him wears thin after ten minutes.

In Mud Creek, Texas, at the Shady Rest Convalescence Center, a man called Sebastian Half (Bruce Campbel) claims to be the real Elvis Presley. He has been living in coma at the home for twenty years since he tripped off the stage. Sebastian explains that he switched places with an Elvis impersonator since he was tired of his fame but their contract that could prove his real identity was accidentally burnt to ashes in a barbecue. When his friend Jack (Ossie Davis), who is a black man that claims to be President John Kennedy, shows evidence that an ancient Egyptian mummy is sucking the souls of the residents of the nursing home, the skeptical Sebastian sees evidences that show that his friend is correct. Now the two old men plot how to stop the mummy. "Bubba Ho-Tep" is an original, funny and highly entertaining comedy-horror film. The storyline is absolutely insane and weird, but it is worthwhile watching. Bruce Campbel is unrecognizable in the role of Elvis Presley, the true or the impersonator. Ossie Davis posing of a dyed John Kennedy is hilarious. The fight with the mummy is amusing. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): Not Available

** Here be spoilers ** We find ourselves in a retirement home in East Texas. Here a man that claims to be the real Elvis Presley lives, or more correctly, just spending time. He befriends another resident, who claims to be the real President Kennedy, during a night when the retirement home is attacked (?) by a few but very large aggressive bugs. Together they start to resolve a mystery where an ancient Egyptian mummy in cowboy-gear prowls the home in search for elderly souls to suck. As no-one would believe them if they told them about it (I hardly believed it, and I saw the movie) so they decide to take up the fight themselves. No worries that they are getting old and need aids just to walk around. Really, I thought that money was hard to come by when making a movie but evidently if you just have made a movie before, you will get funding for even the most ridiculous juvenile story. I know and understand that this movie was never intended to win an Oscar or award of any kind. I also know that there is a market for movie of the kind of Evil Dead (a masterpiece in comparison) and find them interesting and amusing. But this is really really bad. The story contains such juvenile elements that I wonder how old the writer really was (my guess would be 5). There is no suspense or horror as the movie is slow paced and scenes with any kind of action or trace of suspense is rare. I guess the actors and actresses do the best they can, but with the material at hand, it cant be very good. The attempts at being funny fail utterly. The only positive thing I can say about this movie is that the music is well used. Finally, I actually had to do a jigsaw puzzle during the movie to keep myself from falling asleep... 2/10

Oh, I hate to put this nice little film down, because it wasn't a bad movie. It really wasn't. I'd even go so far as to say that some of the eloquent and insightful comments about it here on the IMDb are well-deserved. But there is a problem. Perhaps if this movie had not been marketed as a horror/comedy, I would not have wasted my time watching and would not be here slagging it from the admittedly biased viewpoint of a horror fan and, what's more, a Campbell fan. Still, I won't be mean. I'll just say this. The movie is indeed a poignant portrayal of the loss of dignity and how people are discarded when no longer needed and BLAAH BLAH BLAH. Unfortunately, it's also long-winded, boring, devoid of suspense and, in the end, it rewards you with an anti-climax. The thing that disturbed me the most, however, was the endless and utterly unrelenting portrayal of someone getting old and being treated as a child; most of the time something to be ignored, mildly amusing at best. Sure, the fans will say that that is the film's entire point. But where's the saving grace? So these poor people are left to die in a retirement home. No one cares. They're treated like children. Yes, we got that whole point within the first ten minutes. THEN WHAT?! Nothing. Some mummy comes in and two old, crazy people play "Goonies." Another commentator here called it, "A film that is more an exploration of regret, fading dignity and growing old than it is about a soul-sucking mummy." And that's exactly the problem.