Bubba Ho-Tep

Director - Don Coscarelli (Phantasm, The BeastMaster)

Starring - Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead, Maniac Cop), Ossie Davis (Baadasssss!, The Stand), and Bob Ivy (Near Dark, Sorority House Massacre), 

Release Date - 2002

Genre - Horror/Comedy

Tagline - "You know the legends... now learn the truth"

Format - UHD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     There was so many fantastic genre films release during my high school years. We had films like George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead, Zach Snyder’s remake of Dawn of the Dead, Edgar Wright’s horror comedy Shaun of the Dead, the horror comedy Dead and Breakfast, Freddy vs. Jason, Blade II, and the oddest of them all, Bubba Ho-Tep. Beast Master and Phantasm director Don Coscarelli adapted the Joe Lansdale story in 2002 and it became an instant cult classic. I bought the DVD on release day and I’ve watched it numerous times since then. Scream Factory released the film on blu several years back and I was reluctant to upgrade my DVD copy. Sure, I would have liked to upgrade the picture and audio quality of the film, but that DVD release held a lot of memories from high school and college. When Scream Factory announced the UHD release of the film I was still on the fence. A crispy new release of a film that I have such a nostalgic love for would be great to add to my collection, but I don’t really want to get rid of my DVD. After some internal debating I decided to look into upgrading my copy when Scream Factory sent over a copy of the UHD release for review. I was not expecting it and I couldn’t wait to revisit this one in high definition. Like always, I want to thank Scream Factory for hooking me up. 

      The film follows an elderly Sebastian Haff (Campbell) who lives in a south Texas nursing home. He tells people that he is the real Elvis that traded the spotlight for a more relaxed life with an Elvis impersonator. However, a bum hip and too much gyrating left him in a coma after a horrible infection. Now, he’s alone with some of the other elderly people in the home while an ass sucking mummy in a cowboy hat works his way from room to room at night sucking souls. He teams up with an elderly black man claims to be former president John F. Kennedy in order to stop Bubba Ho-Tep. 

      Bubba Ho-Tep is a film that relies heavily on the writing for several different reasons. We have one of the wildest stories outside of 70s exploitation cinema and when you combine that with the amazing dialogue you get something that should have the cult following that it does. It’s movies like Bubba Ho-Tep that got me into horror. It’s an all-around fun watch that appeals to more than just horror fans. It’s not perfect but it tells a story which something is a lot of movies, especially now with the rise of extreme horror, forget to do. The acting in this one is so much fun ranging from the film’s stars, supporting cast, and even a few cameos. Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis carry the film and the characters they brought to life are legendary now. Especially among horror fans who quote the movie regularly. This movie was released 20 years ago and I often think about Campbell’s portrayal of Elvis and quote his dialogue at the most inopportune times much to my wife’s chagrin. We also get some performances from Phantasm’s Reggie Bannister and Ella Joyce along with a funny cameo from Daniel Roebuck. I love this cast and what they were able to do with the script placed before them. The story for this one is really fucking weird even by today’s standards. A man claiming to be Elvis, with a growth on his pecker, befriends a black JFK in a south Texas nursing home and is terrorized by a mummy in a cowboy hat. I’ve never read Lansdale’s novel but I could only imagine it’s even stranger with stuff they couldn’t pull off on the budget. When you mix this with the fucking amazing dialogue you get something that is still enjoyable all these years later and still unlike anything you’ve seen. Finally, this is not a bloody film. We have a cool looking mummy, some make-up effects, and some visual effects and that’s the extent of it. The film is not bloody but some gore would have been a lot of fun. Overall, Bubba Ho-Tep is not for everyone and I’ll be completely honest about that. It’s bonkers and out there but for those of you that like the serious side of the genre then you will be very disappointed. However, fans of wild stories and character pieces then you will love this. I highly recommend snagging this UHD release from Scream Factory. It’s worth every penny.