Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)

78% of critics liked it
(102 reviews)
77% of users liked it
(53,606 ratings)

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… More 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, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 32 min.
Directed By: Don Coscarelli
Written By: Joe R. Lansdale, Don Coscarelli
Genres: Horror, Comedy

In Theaters: Oct 2, 2003 Limited
On DVD: May 25, 2004
Studio: Silver Sphere Corporation

Critic Reviews

Todd McCarthy, Variety
A mismatched marriage of offbeat character study and unimaginative horror riffs.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Writer-director Don Coscarelli piles on unpleasant details and cynical asides as if they were the stuff of wisdom, though they seem intended to produce guffaws rather than thoughts
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
This absurdly clever caper is elevated by Bruce Campbell's pensive Elvis into a moving meditation on the diminutions of age and the vagaries of fame.
Michael Senft, Arizona Republic
Fry up a peanut butter and 'nana sandwich, hop in your Cadillac and take one last ride with the King.
Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
It gets by on a kind of demented charm.
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
Neither particularly funny nor scary, but tiresome.
Felix Vasquez Jr., Cinema Crazed
An original horror movie worthy of your attention; original horror movies are hard to come by these days...
Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com
Don Coscarelli still doesn't know how to make cookie-cutter genre films. Let's hope he never learns how.
, Empire Magazine
Not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, but there's enough here to entertain even those for whom 'cult' is a four-letter word.
Nigel Floyd, Time Out
There's plenty of scatological humour and knockabout fun to get one through the slower passages.
Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
It's outrageous and full of novel ideas that will tickle the fancy of anyone who is stimulated by the absurd.
Jordan Hiller, Bangitout.com
There may be some deeper meaning to all this madness about living beyond your prime and regret, but it just barely escapes me how it all fits in
Anton Bitel, Movie Gazette
the true horror here, far from being some middle-eastern revenant in a cowboy hat, is the indignity of disease, the anonymity of old age, and the inevitability of death
Matthew Turner, ViewLondon
A sharply written, surprisingly moving little film with a terrific performance by Bruce Campbell.
Jamie Russell, BBC
A fiendishly funny comedy horror.
Jay Antani, Los Angeles Alternative
Bubba Ho-Tep tries ineffectually to be both a lyrical character study and a darkly satirical horror flick.

Read all 16 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Spencer S

You can without a doubt state that this cult comedy B-movie is original. Centering around a still kicking Elvis Preseley and a "died black" John F. Kennedy, Bubba Ho-Tep is not at all clueless to it's creamy crazy center. Something nice and short for a night in.
Chris W

What a crazy and imaginative idea for a movie! The fact that the actors basically play it straight actually kinda helps. tpp. It's really funny to see Ossie Davis in a film like this, playing this type of role. This is a horror comedy, or rather, a dark comedy with bits of horror… More
What a crazy and imaginative idea for a movie! The fact that the actors basically play it straight actually kinda helps. tpp. It's really funny to see Ossie Davis in a film like this, playing this type of role. This is a horror comedy, or rather, a dark comedy with bits of horror thrown in, but it's also a really touching and interesting study about three leaders of some sort who are all supposed to be dead, but aren't as well as a look at mortality in general. I love this this is not only low budget, but that CGI was kept to a minimum. You couldn't do this kind of film and get the same results if it were a big budget studio affair- there's just no way. Bruce Campbel delivers as always, and I already praised Davis. The two have pretty good chemistry together. I didn't like this film as much as I thought I would, and it's not an extremely great movie overall, but it's still a fun and entertaining ride.
Anthony L

Hail to the king baby, Campbell IS the king! Love it. RIP Ossie Davis
Randy T

Perfect off-beat, campy launch pad for Bruce Campbell's unique comedic genius. If you're a fan of Campbell's other films then this one is a must-see.
Bruce B

Really didn't enjoy this one, Elvis part was played out good, but it really just lacked any enjoyable point. Have it in my collection, but will pass it on to anyone who wants it.
_kelly .

A movie with this line: "I'll be damned if I let some foreign graffiti-writing soul-sucking sonuvabitch in an oversized cowboy hat and boots take my friends' souls and shit 'em down the visitor's toilet." that is also done well is something worth seeing.… More
A movie with this line: "I'll be damned if I let some foreign graffiti-writing soul-sucking sonuvabitch in an oversized cowboy hat and boots take my friends' souls and shit 'em down the visitor's toilet." that is also done well is something worth seeing. Elvis and JFK are really still alive, living together in a rest home and battling a mummy that uses ugly scarabs to attack the elderly and steal their souls. The King and The Pres team up to take on the Bubba Ho-Tep (redneck pharaoh descendant) while also offering some great cinematography and engrossing version of a rest home. Some dialogue is cliche but none of it is smack the screen annoying, and some bits are really memorable, evoking even a hurrah when Elvis stands up to his nurse. Bruce Campbell fans will surely love this, as will B movie lovers, conspiracy theorists, and Elvis movie aficionados. Your average movie goer will get some laughs and fun from it as well.
Al S

An excellent movie. A rocking good time that never stops. An absolutely hilarious horror/comedy. It has you screaming in laughter. Remarkable and absolutely original. Ossie Davis is brilliant. Bruce Cambell is phenomenal. One of the best performances of his career. These two great… More
An excellent movie. A rocking good time that never stops. An absolutely hilarious horror/comedy. It has you screaming in laughter. Remarkable and absolutely original. Ossie Davis is brilliant. Bruce Cambell is phenomenal. One of the best performances of his career. These two great actors shine with undenieable chemistry. An oddly effectionate, thrilling and endlessly fun movie. Cool, brilliant and endlessly enjoyable. This is one really entertaining movie. This movie screams classic. A masterpiece. Hail to the king babey.
Tim S

Fun and dark little campy flick.
Adam M

Elvis: But I still have my soul. It's still mine. All mine. And the folks up there at Shady Rest... they have theirs, too.
Luke B

Elvis and a black-wheel chair bound John F. Kennedy team up to fight an Egyptian mummy with a cowboy fetish who sucks the souls out of peoples asses and leaves graffiti in the bathroom. After reading that you'll know if this film is for you or not. It certainly isn't… More
Elvis and a black-wheel chair bound John F. Kennedy team up to fight an Egyptian mummy with a cowboy fetish who sucks the souls out of peoples asses and leaves graffiti in the bathroom. After reading that you'll know if this film is for you or not. It certainly isn't hilarious or terrifying but it is a very amusing and often creepy surreal look at what it is to be a true hero. The use of OAP's as the heros is also a sweet little twist and Campbell deserved an Oscar damnit.
Aaron N

Elvis: Even a big bitch cockroach like you should know... never, but never, fuck with the King. A B-Movie made to be that way. Also one of the more original movies to come along. Bruce "don't call me ash" Campbell plays Elvis, who is alive and well in this movie.… More
Elvis: Even a big bitch cockroach like you should know... never, but never, fuck with the King. A B-Movie made to be that way. Also one of the more original movies to come along. Bruce "don't call me ash" Campbell plays Elvis, who is alive and well in this movie. What if he didn't die, and he was in fact living in an old folks home in Texas. Well that's how it goes here. Ossie Davis is also here as an old man believing himself to be JFK. Elvis: No offense, Jack, but President Kennedy was a white man. JFK: They dyed me this color! That's how clever they are! They have to battle an escaped mummy feeding off the souls of the elderly. Great setup right there. The movie is campy and a lot of fun. What also helps is of course, Campbell. He IS the King, he plays the character very human. Probably his best performance as an actor, you feel for the king. In his narration he talks about his past life and how he wishes he could have bettered himself, his family, and make better choices, and you care for him. Very well done movie, with an amazingly outrageous premise. Elvis: Jack wait. Marilyn, how was she? JFK: That... is classified. Top Secret! But between you and me... Wow!
Curtis L

As much as I like Bruce Campbell, and even saw the movie in the same theater as him, it wasn't that good. I hate to admit it.
xGary X

Elvis Presley is alive and well (well, apart from a growth on his pecker) and living in a rest home in Texas. Until, that is, an evil mummy comes back from the dead to suck the souls of the residents through their ass-holes, so he enlists the help of John F. Kennedy (who is now old.… More
Elvis Presley is alive and well (well, apart from a growth on his pecker) and living in a rest home in Texas. Until, that is, an evil mummy comes back from the dead to suck the souls of the residents through their ass-holes, so he enlists the help of John F. Kennedy (who is now old. And black. "They dyed me!") to battle the fiend...Sounds ace doesn't it? But the fact is, that's about it. There is very little else to it apart from those initial gags which hang on a plot borrowed from a weak episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Of course, it is fun watching Bruce Campbell impersonating Elvis on a Zimmer frame, but that starts to wear a little thin after an hour and a half. Fun, quirky, but about as substantial as wet toilet paper.
Jens S

What if Elvis was still alive, living in a retirement home and had to take on a cursed mummy which is stealing old people's soles? That's what this movie is trying to answer. Bruce Campbell gives an outstanding performance as The King. With some really great laughs and… More
What if Elvis was still alive, living in a retirement home and had to take on a cursed mummy which is stealing old people's soles? That's what this movie is trying to answer. Bruce Campbell gives an outstanding performance as The King. With some really great laughs and wonderfully odd ideas, even though the film is as slow as an oldbie on a walker at times. Extremely silly but very likeable.
Lafe F

It's a good premise for a movie, but I just couldn't get into this one. I do not care for Elvis movies; the man is scarier than any mummy. The humour felt a bit forced, although the end battle is great fun. They should've been making Phantasm V instead.
Dr Blood

Great Elvis impersonation from Bruce Campbell but not scary in any way. It's just a bit of fun and very nicely made.
A.D. V

Bruce Campbell OWNS in this film.
Cindy I

Bruce Campbell is amazing as the aging Elvis protecting his fellow nursing home residents from an deadly monster. MUCH better than it sounds.
Drew S

Did I totally miss the appeal here? A 7.4 average rating on IMDB and generally favorable reviews here seem to belie the fact that this is a boring, uninspired and painfully uneventful movie. It's not that the writing is bad. The script really doesn't have many… More
Did I totally miss the appeal here? A 7.4 average rating on IMDB and generally favorable reviews here seem to belie the fact that this is a boring, uninspired and painfully uneventful movie. It's not that the writing is bad. The script really doesn't have many weaknesses...except for the fact that it's not funny. I think I chuckled maybe four or five times throughout the entire movie. It actually served as a more interesting drama film than it did in a comedy context, but it didn't do that particularly well either. Bruce Campbell spends a lot of time ruminating on his wasted life as he lies there in a hospital bed for what seems like 90% of the movie. The pacing, on that note, is bombastically bad. I'm not ranking the movie poorly because its humor is puerile, like I'd do for a low-brow movie. I'm ranking it low because the humor just ISN'T THERE. The movie has its charms, but they do not exist in the dialogue or plot. A potentially great premise is utterly squandered on this lethargic, listless, overlong (even at 90 minutes!) wisp of a movie. Watch Shaun of the Dead!!!
Michael G

If the premise alone doesn't suck you in you've got problems.