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Bubba Ho-Tep

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 29 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 29 votes
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy | Horror | Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
Don Coscarelli
Joe R. Lansdale (short story)
Directed by: Don Coscarelli
Release Date:
Theatrical: September 26, 2003
DVD: May 25, 2004
Running Time: 92 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for language, some sexual content and brief violent images
Starring Bruce Campbell, Ossie Davis, Reggie Bannister, Bob Ivy, Ella Joyce, Heidi Marnhout, Larry Pennell, and Harrison Young
Based on the Bram Stoker Award nominated short story by acclaimed author Joe R. Lansdale, Bubba Ho-tep tells the "true" story of what really did become of Elvis. (Silver Sphere Corporation)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar
I loved this film; from the opening Ben-Hur nod to the hieroglyph subtitles, it's simultaneously hilarious and poignant, with great performances.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter David Hunter
A zinger-filled crowd-pleaser that open-minded Elvis fans (but by no means all) will have fun with.
Read Full Review >Newsweek David Ansen
A one-of- a-kind horror movie: hilarious, a little scary and strangely poignant. Campbells cranky, valiant, sad-sack King is a soulfully funny creation.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Scott Foundas
Campbell is flat-out great, muting his beloved Sam Raimi shtick in favor of a genuine character turn, an act of transformation that makes you wonder why he's never been called on to interpret Elvis before.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman
A charming surprise, the kind of neat little low-budget movie that seems more like a collaboration among friends than it does a corporate investment.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Endearing and vulgar in about the right proportion. The movie doesn't exactly work, but sometimes when a car won't start, it's still fun to look at the little honey gleaming in the driveway.
Read Full Review >Premiere Aaron Hillis
A wildly creative amusement, thanks mostly to Campbell, whose weathered yet still-taking-care-of-business Elvis is alone worth the price of admission.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub
Surprisingly good as a quirky triumph of human spirit.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
As a satire and an off-the-wall comedy, Bubba Ho-Tep hits the bullseye. As a horror movie, it's less successful. Maybe we're too busy laughing to be scared.
Read Full Review >New York Post Megan Lehmann
It's a credit to the actors, particularly the superb Campbell, that completely preposterous material can be made strangely touching.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
Not a comedy of guffaws and goofy gags, but a wry, underplayed little piece with an undercurrent of loss and abandonment.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson
This horror-comedy about an aging Elvis in a haunted rest home proves not only is "Evil Dead's" Bruce Campbell a good actor, but possibly a great one.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
The film's good humor is often betrayed by its low-budget roots, however, as though it couldn't afford to be more original or ambitious than its premise.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
Much of the film is sub-sophomoric, but Campbell and Davis give hilarious deadpan performances.
Read Full Review >Empire Chris Hewitt
Diehards might be disappointed at the lack of chainsaw wielding, but this is Campbells finest hour since you-know-what.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Based on a short story by Joe R. Lansdale, this low-key oddity stresses character over broad laughs and shock effects, allowing Campbell and Davis to develop a quirky rapport that's a real pleasure to watch.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
Playing against rubber-faced type, cult icon Bruce Campbell grounds his Elvis in a wry, understated swagger that holds the film's wacky excesses in orbit and does more honor to the legend himself than a thousand Vegas lounge-show wannabes.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Kevin M. Williams
Coscarelli, the man behind the long-running "Phantasm" splatter series, can't quite conjure a complete movie out the concept and stretches the material until its humorous conceits repeat ad nauseum.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
It's the sort of sophomoric exercise that will be appreciated chiefly by viewers already convinced they love it even before they've bought their tickets.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
Mismatched marriage of offbeat character study and unimaginative horror riffs. Most compelling element by far is Bruce Campbell's inspired performance as a nursing home patient who insists he is the real Elvis Presley.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
A leisurely paced, subtly funny, though verbally crude chamber piece.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
A leisurely paced, subtly funny, though verbally crude chamber piece.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Don Coscarelli, writer-director of the logy, fatuous Bubba Ho-Tep, is trying to will a cult movie into existence -- which, of course, never works.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
Adapted from a story by Joe R. Lansdale, this might have squeaked by as a half-hour "Twilight Zone" episode, albeit with jokes about toilets and erections in old age.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
There is a grungy high spirit during the first third of this film, but then it dissipates like a mist from an aerosol can.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Ed Halter
Though unpainfully entertaining, its greatest dose of otherworldly mojo must have been spent warding off straight-to-video status.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
The film stars Bruce Campbell of the "Evil Dead" series as Elvis in a touching, funny and at times grotesque performance that is actually the best thing about the movie.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Davis contributes his usual dignity -- not easy when you're playing a character who thinks he's John F. Kennedy dyed black -- but it's not enough to save this silly thriller-comedy.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 29 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Lenny S. gave it a3:
Bleegh. Cute idea goes off the rails, bores you stiff.
Bill S. gave it a10:
Outrageous plot. Crazy characters. Delicious dialogue. How could you not love this movie? Although it is not very scary (for a horror film, that is), it sure is entertaining. Don't rent it, buy it. You won't be sorry.
simon h. gave it a10:
The plot sounded so rediculous I had to try it once. Boy am I gald I did. This was a touching soul retreiving from out of the gutter movie. Wiith all the horror kept at enough of a low level it was easy to see what the characters were about. Oh and Campbell as Elvis-GENIUS!!!!
Steven D. gave it a2:
Funny lines but everything else about this was terriable.
Chad S. gave it a 7:
What "Bubba Ho-Tep" leaves unanswered, is what gives this film its sad context. Priscilla, Lisa-Marie, his father, and anybody that The King associated with, knew that Sebastian Haff was a replacement, and respected Presley's wishes to be left alone. But after twenty-plus years following Haff's death on a Graceland toilet, you can see on Presley's face that nobody went looking for him. Mum is the word because this conspiracy allowed a lot of people to make money off his death and legacy. What looks like cheap jokes(the growth on "Little Elvis") at Elvis' expense, can be construed as the very real humiliations of a lonely man. Bruce Campbell's dead-on impression of Presley is somewhat wasted by all that Egyptian mummy nonsense, because all that old man-angst could've been used to indict an America for its cold-hearted jokes about his weight and drug use. My feeling is that nobody expected a B-movie actor like Campbell to be this good; so good that he helps transcend a silly cult film-wanna be into respectability, while making you wish they had attempted a serious mounting of this attractive "What if?" scenario. Nevertheless, you can't accuse "Bubba Ho-Tep" of lacking an imagination.
Jeff L. gave it an 8:
Cult fave Bruce Campbell gives a wonderful performance as an aging Elvis Presley, living out his not-so-golden years in a sleepy Texas retirement home. Along with fellow resident JFK (wonderfully played by the great Ossie Davis), the King is called upon to fight a particularly nasty Mummy who lives by feeding off the souls of the living. Whether you're a horror fan, an Elvis freak, or a fan of the offbeat, this is a hilarious and weirdly poignant effort from auteur Don Coscarelli (Phantasm, The Beastmaster.)
Cory M. gave it a 10:
Wonderfully understated, gently bizarre. It isn't at all a "joke" comedy, the humor really hits about 1/2 way through when you suddenly ask yourself what the hell you are seeing.
