Bruce Campbell's Elvis-Themed, Low-Budget Horror Movie Deserves A Bigger Audience
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Bruce Campbell is a genre legend. Though he's best known as Ash from the "Evil Dead" franchise, he's one of those character actors who has been to a lot of places and done a lot of things, leaving hidden gems along the way. Once such hidden gem also happens to be one of the best movies ever made by "Phantasm" director Don Coscarelli: "Bubba Ho-Tep."
Released in 2002, the movie centers on a now aged Elvis Presley (Campbell) who winds up in an East Texas nursing home. Naturally, nobody believes he's actually who he says he is. There, he befriends Jack (Ossie Davis), a senior citizen who claims to be President John F. Kennedy. Before long, residents of the retirement community begin dying under strange circumstances. Elvis and Jack discover that an Egyptian mummy is behind the deaths, and it's up to this unlikely duo to stop him.
Few actors have ever been as entertaining as Campbell at his peak, and Ash Williams will forever be his calling card. But "Bubba Ho-Tep" is him stepping into totally different shoes, putting his very unique stamp on a cultural icon, with a genre legend behind the camera. It's B-movie greatness, yet it never quite received the love it so sorely deserves.
Made in scrappy fashion on a budget of just $1 million, the movie made scarcely more than that at the box office. Fortunately, "Bubba Ho-Tep" has gone on to become a cult favorite of sorts, but it still remains undiscovered by far too many. Weird, fun, and surprisingly thoughtful, it's a truly wonderful look at the universal feeling of growing reflective as one gets older. But, ya know, with a mummy and a wonderfully offkey take on Elvis hunting him down.
Bubba Ho-Tep is a true hidden genre gem
I had the fortune of seeing "Bubba Ho-Tep" on the big screen a couple of years ago at the Texas Theatre in Dallas, as part of a double feature hosted by genre guru Joe Bob Briggs. More than 20 years after its initial release, the movie plays better now than it ever has. Granted, most of us won't have the opportunity to have it teed up by a man as passionate and eloquent as Briggs, but the sentiment still rings true.
Don Coscarelli was, himself, a filmmaker reckoning with age. He was in his 50s and his best days as a director were arguably behind him. Similarly, Campbell was reckoning with how to get out of the shadow of Ash as he too was becoming an aging character actor. Both of them found a story that they could really tap into here — as did Ossie Davis, who is himself a very underappreciated actor.
Like most great genre movies, this is truly about something beyond its great hook. Elvis being secretly alive in a nursing home in Texas fighting a mummy is a stellar pitch. Using that to tell a story about aging and finding meaning in life, while allowing Campbell to truly flex his muscles as a lead actor, is the real bang-for-buck this true hidden gem has to offer. Sadly, Campbell has ruled out the proposed "Bubba Ho-Tep" sequel, "Bubba Nosferatu," but sometimes, it's best to leave well enough alone.
As it exists, this movie feels like a bizarre treasure one might find in the back corner of a video store. Something that doesn't feel real, but very much is, and the sort of cinematic treasure one relishes sharing share with others.
Bruce Campbell is at his best in Bubba Ho-Tep
"Bubba Ho-Tep" takes on new meaning in the here and now. Bruce Campbell has retired his most famous character, Ash Williams. A part of that had to do with the cancellation of "Ash vs. Evil Dead." A bigger part of it has to do with the fact that Campbell isn't as young as he once was. "Evil Dead" is moving on without him, just as the world moved on without Elvis — even though in the world of "Bubba Ho-Tep," Elvis was very much alive.
The movie's message is bigger than that, though. The world moved on without virtually everyone at that nursing home. Older folks tragically have to spend a lot of their later years in solitude waiting for the inevitable. Not to be grim but, Campbell also recently revealed his cancer diagnosis, all while promising to keep being the king. There's something about having to face this beloved actor's mortality, as a fan, that makes "Bubba Ho-Tep-" feel like the most relevant, important piece of his entire filmography.
Brian Tyler provided the score for "Bubba Ho-Tep" early on in his illustrious career, bringing his musical touch to this wonderful little bizarre treasure of a motion picture. He's now one of Hollywood's biggest composers, scoring all of the "Fast & Furious" movies, several Marvel movies, and even "The Super Mario Bros. Movie."
There are lots of movies about Elvis. There are lots of movies about mummies. There are no other movies about both that I'm aware of. And even if there are more, there's no chance they're as good as this one.