I first saw this movie during my freshman year at college, thanks to my roomy, Kevin. He’s a big Bruce Campbell fan and since I'd, at the time, seen a very small amount of his films, he insisted on watching this weird movie. After reading the tagline (“The King vs. The King of the Dead”) and back of the DVD case, I was still skeptical, but very intrigued.
The setting is Mud Creek, Texas at Shady Rest Retirement Home. Bruce Campbell is an aging, retirement-home ridden Elvis. No jokes about it, he’s the real deal. In the same retirement home is a conspiracy believing, aged John F. Kennedy (Ossie Davis)… but he’s been dyed black, and part of his brain replaced with sand after the shooting. Out of no where, a very unwelcome guest begins killing off residents and leaving ancient Egyptian graffiti (hieroglyphics) in the public restrooms. Unwilling to go down without a fight, the two of them struggle to overcome their aging bodies hindrances, the nurses on duty, and attempt to stop a mummy that somehow made it to Texas.
Being very critical, I could bash this movie all over the place, but it does a nice job of covering its own ass. Campbell delivers some amazing monologues, both humorous and dramatic, while lying in a hospital bed contemplating his life, fame, and the growth on the end of his pecker. The horror aspect isn’t bad, especially since it’s more of a mystery/comedy movie and the horror edge helps both the comedy and mystery a great deal. The social commentary it delivers about how we tend to dump our hassle-some elderly into retirement homes packs a powerful punch. Even the way it explains how Elvis is still alive seems believable. Now, the JFK explanation is a little crazy, and I don’t think we’re supposed to believe it, but Davis makes you believe that he believes it! And who doesn’t want to see some old folks duke it out with a zombified mummy creature?! I mean, it can’t get much funnier than that.
I have enjoyed it every time I watched it and anyone who likes Bruce Campbell should definitely watch Bubba Ho-Tep. I will warn ya, though: the ending is very cheesy… but it works, and doesn't detract from the film (unlike the ending in VanHelsing that was cheesy and sucked). If it works, don’t try and fix it. And, Bubba Ho-Tep definitely works.