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: #6430 in DVD
• Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
• Released on: 2004-05-25
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 92 minutes

Features

• Nothing should stop you see this film! The Gate 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 decrepit and 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

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

Elvis & JFK vs. The Mummy
Yes, I love this film dearly.
Yes, it's [very] funny.
Yes, it's probably one of the best films I have ever seen...and not just of the year but one of the best films of all-times.

"Bubba Ho-Tep" is a joy to watch, not because of the ludicrous premise and the silly situations, but because of the acceptance of the ludicrous premise and silly situations.

And the feeling that (except for the mummy bit) this may all be true.

Bruce Campbell (of the "Evil Dead" series of movies) gives the performance of his LIFE as Elvis Presley...an Elvis Presley who did NOT die. Instead, Elvis resides in a Texas resthome, waiting for death to take him out. His glory days are forever behind him and he's in a state of depression after watching his roommate kick the bucket next to him.

Time passes slowly and so do his days and it makes him even more sick knowing that he can feel his demise coming.

It's wrongheaded for most critics to overlook the metaphor in "Bubba Ho-Tep". Director Don Coscarelli ("Phantasm") cleverly adapts the story (from author Joe R. Lansdale's short story) and successfully brings the concept to life. You believe that Bruce Campbell is Elvis because he plays Presley with such heart and dignity that any Elvis fan will want "Ho-Tep" in their movie collection when it hits the video-shelves. Ossie Davis gives a warm-hearted performance as "Jack" AKA JFK. He's so sweet and lovable and you want him on your side because he's noble.

And that's the brilliance of this movie: Campbell and Davis plays their rolls with a straight face. You believe that THEY believe they are who they say they are. It's deadpan comedy at its finest. It just better illustrates that this is a movie about growing old and confronting regret and fear before your time is up. Dress it up and make it dance but that's still what's at the core of the film and you can't deny it.

As writer Stephen King once said, "We're all gonna die someday, baby. I'm just trying to make it interesting."

I loved it.

--Matt

"Don't make me use my stuff on ya, baby!" (4.5 stars)
In the tradition of the "Evil Dead" movies, Bruce Campbell is back in true form in this horror/comedy/drama flick that's a roaring good time. You just don't know what to expect next once you start this bad boy. Filled with laughs, horror and surprisingly, heart, "Bubba Ho-Tep" is everything you'd want from a B-Movie and more.

Campbell stars as an elderly Elvis who lives in a Texas retirement home. People keep thinking he's just an impersonator off his rocker, but in reality he had traded places with an "Elvis" impersonator so he could get away from all of the fame and hardships of a rock-n-roll star. However, something strange has been happening in this retirement home. Folks are dying mysteriously every night without any clear explanation. As it turns out, an Egyptian mummy is the cause for the deaths and it needs to feed on their souls to stay alive. It's up to Elvis and his buddy, JFK, to take on this monstrous foe before it slaughters every living person in the retirement home. The end results are unpredictable and off-the-wall.

The premise alone intrigued me to see it. That, and Bruce Campbell. I'm always in the mood to see a good funny horror movie, and this movie did a great job of fulfilling that need. Not one minute went by where I was bored or disappointed. While the story may be over-the-top, it's done in such a creative and clever way. The movie has fun with itself and it's very easy to see. Bruce Campbell does a marvelous job as "Elvis," and let's not forget the great Ossie Davis as the one and only "JFK." The movie combines elements of comedy, drama and horror. It doesn't know what it wants to be at times, but the cast knew that from the get-go and they even goof on that fact (watch the featurettes and listen to the commentary).

The DVD has some outstanding features. The movie sounds and looks really good for a flick that was done under such a low budget. The commentary tracks are definitely worth you time, and you MUST listen to the commentary track where Bruce Campbell does it as "The King" and stays in character the entire time. It is the funniest thing I have ever heard. Other extras include featurettes, a music video, deleted scenes, the original trailer and more. All of this makes one heck of a great package.

"Bubba Ho-Tep" is a great time from Campbell and company. Any fans of the "Evil Dead" movies will definitely want to put this on their list. Just keep in mind that this is a movie that you watch to be entertained and nothing more. This movie was pure enjoyment from beginning to end. It's bound to become a classic sooner or later. The King still lives, Baby! -Michael Crane

Bittersweet rumination on life, aging, and death...
"We couldn't tell them the truth. That Elvis and JFK were chasing an Egyptian mummy that was wearing cowboy duds.... We didn't want them to think we were crazy..."

What can you say about a movie that has an aged, impotent Elvis in an east Texas rest home recuperating from a broken hip, a black man who could very well be JFK, and an ancient Egyptian mummy using the home as a feeding ground?

How 'bout: It's one of the best movies of the year.

With such outrageous elements, (it's based on a short story by Joe R. Lansdale), this could easily be a grade B forgettable flick. Instead, we have an entertaining, bittersweet meditation on life, on aging, and on death. Director Don Coscarelli, (of Phantasm fame), hits the right blend of horror, drama and comedy. The intentional comedic moments work beautifully; the audience laughs at all the right places. The 'make you jump' moments work without resorting to gore. It elicits sympathy and empathy for the characters, and manages to be thoroughly convincing. No easy feat given the subject matter - it simply *works*.

Bruce Campbell, (of Evil Dead fame), shines as Elvis. It seems in the early `70s Elvis grew tired of the fame and fortune and swapped places with an impersonator - then made a modest living impersonating himself. Until he took a tumble from a stage, breaking his pelvis, ending up in the rest home. He's lost all proof of who he really is and most everyone thinks he is a little 'confused'. The only person who believes him is a black man, (Ossie Davis of The Stand), who claims to be JFK. ("They dyed me this color!") Through a believable plot device, a mummy shows up and starts sucking the 'small' souls of the rest home residents.

Only the walker assisted Elvis and wheelchair riding JFK figure out what is happening. Their hunt for the mummy acts as the backdrop as we watch the aged Elvis start to live again. He now has a meaning in his life, a mission. A chance to redeem himself. To perhaps actually be the hero he played in all those B movies. To 'take care of business' one more time...

Thank you... thank you very much...