Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)

One of the reasons I started this blog was to champion films which I felt people should see. So far with this one I have achieved a 100% record. With all three of the people I lent it to loving (not liking I may add) it. Ladies and gentleman I give you the first Bruce Campbell entry on this blog.

For those of you who don’t know who Bruce Campbell is (and I can safely include my grandparents in this group), he appeared as the ring announcer, the snooty theatre usher, and the bumbling French waiter in the Spiderman trilogy. For us in the know, he was the star in director Sam Raimi’s other trilogy, the Evil Dead series. Bruce is also a best selling novelist with the books ‘If chins could kill – confessions of a B movie actor’ and ‘Make love the Bruce Campbell way’.

Along with having Bruce as the star, Bubba Ho-Tep has also ticked the other boxes for a small low budget in the comedy horror genre. It is directed by Don Coscarelli of the Phantasm series, and it is based on a short story by Joe R. Lansdale. Lansdale is definitely worth reading so check out his website for more details.

The film is set in the present day in a nursing home in Mud Creek, Texas. We meet an elderly resident called Sebastian, claiming to be the late Elvis Presley. The nurse points out that he used to be an Elvis impersonate and that he is just getting confused. A flashback tells over wise. It turns out that at the height of his career Elvis got fed up with his life, he had broken up with Priscilla and the drugs had taken hold. Elvis then went to search for someone to switch places with. He meets Sebastian and mucho mojo later they body swap.

The contract says that if there is a problem they can switch back. Unfortunately, Elvis’ copy gets blown up in a freak bbq accident. Like Elvis, Sebastian enjoyed the drugs a bit too much and the rest is history, leaving Elvis spending the rest of his days, with a cancer ridden penis, in the nursing home.

Meanwhile in the shadows something is killing the elderly patients one at a time. Elvis befriends another patient, Jack, claiming to be JFK, only problem is JFK is white, and the Jack is black. “They dyed me this colour! That’s how clever they are!” is the explanation. Together they discover an ancient mummy called Ho-Tep is sucking the souls from the patients. Together they team up to take on the mummy and save the nursing home.

Acting wise this is Bruce Campbell’s film and he can definitely lay claim to the best ever performance of Elvis, sorry Val Kilmer, sorry Kurt Russell. The late Ossie Davis is equally fantastic as Jack/JFK. Phantasm fans will also spot Reggie Bannister in a role as a doctor at the home.

Don Coscarelli went on to film another Lansdale short story for the first series of TV’s Masters of Horror. The episode entitled ‘Incident on and Off a Mountain Road’ was one of the better episodes and is worth checking out. The pair are now working together on ‘Bubba Nosferatu and the Curse of the She-Vampires’, a prequel to Bubba Ho-Tep. Sadly, initial reports suggest that Bruce Campbell will not appear as the young Elvis.

Bubba Ho-Tep is without a doubt the best body swap movie since Big, and possibly the best ever. I haven’t seen ‘13 going on 30’ or ‘Freaky Friday’ so can’t say for sure. Take care of business and make sure you watch this film!

Buy Bubba Ho-Tep [2002] on DVD