Product Description

Mud Creek, Texas, is about to get all shook up. When mysterious deaths plague the Shady Rest retirement home, it's up to an aging, cantankerous "Elvis" (Bruce Campbell) and a decrepitand black"JFK" (Ossie Davis) to defeat a 3,000-year-old-Egyptian mummy with a penchant for sucking human souls! Can the King show the world that he can still take care of business?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8852 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-05-25
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: AC-3, Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 95 minutes

Amazon.com
Don Coscarelli directs and Bruce Campbell stars as the King of Camp in this intentionally over-the-top schlockfest. Bubba Ho-Tep is partially about Elvis Presley and partially about the title character, an Egyptian cowboy zombie, but mostly it is about camp. The movie is equal parts story and back story. We learn through narration and flashback how Elvis didn't really die, ending up instead in a rest home in East Texas with JFK (played by Ossie Davis), who was dyed black and had his brain removed, presumably for reasons of national security. Campbell and Davis realize that something strange is going on when their rest-home compatriots start dropping off suspiciously. The whole movie leads up to a final showdown to the death with the Egyptian cowboy zombie who has been sucking the souls of their fellow residents because he thought no one would notice. The movie unfolds a bit slowly; it is, after all, a geriatrics-fight-Egyptian-cowboy-zombie movie. However, one wishes this self-conscious movie's pacing took its cue from the atypically fast-moving zombie instead of from the senior-citizen Elvis and JFK. In the end, though, Campbell is flawless as the aged King; his accent, intonations, glasses, and trademark karate are at the same time sincere and over the top. --Brian Saltzman

DVD features
Bubba Ho-Tep may have the most substantial and most worthwhile bonus features of any single-disc DVD release. "The Making of Bubba Ho-Tep" focuses on effects, make-up, and the musical score (which includes Don Coscarelli interviewing the composer, Brian Taylor). While the focus isn't on the filmmaking itself, the 45-minute, four-part documentary (which can be viewed in segments or in its entirety) is an insightful exposé with lots of screen time for Bruce Campbell and Don Coscarelli discussing the success of the film on the festival circuit and the financial and industry challenges of making an "Elvis and JFK aren't dead Egyptian zombie" movie that is set in Texas. The making-of is the heart of the bonus features, but there are also a couple of deleted scenes, a photo gallery, TV and theatrical trailers, and two commentary tracks, one by Campbell and Coscarelli and one by Campbell playing Elvis ("the King"). The limited edition also includes a small scrapbook liner note insert with photos and a brief letter from Bruce Campbell. --Brian Saltzman

Customer Reviews

One of the greatest movies ever!
10 out of 10 stars. Bruce Campbell as Elvis and Ossie Davis as JFK enough said!!!!!

Bruce is The Man.
I love Bruce. He is amazing in everything - and as Elvis he is the perfect choice. Bruce can do no wrong in my book, He is a film God in his own rights. I Love this man and he rocks this part.

So Bad It's Good
This movie is so bad it's like a bad accident--you can't take your eyes away. The entire premise is ridiculous to the point of hilarity. Don't watch this expecting a really great movie. But the acting is mostly good, and it is entertaining. If it hasn't already, this movie will certainly become a cult classic.