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Movies / On DVD / Bubba Ho-Tep
Bubba Ho-Tep

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Bubba Ho-Tep (2003)

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Reviews Counted:100

Fresh:78

Rotten:22

Average Rating:6.8/10

Consensus: The best movie to star both the King and JFK.

Runtime: 1 hr 32 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: Don Coscarelli's BUBBA HO-TEP finds Elvis Presley (Bruce Campbell) alive but not so well, living in a small Texas nursing home. Although he's preoccupied with his ailments and his memories, the... Don Coscarelli's BUBBA HO-TEP finds Elvis Presley (Bruce Campbell) alive but not so well, living in a small Texas nursing home. Although he's preoccupied with his ailments and his memories, the elderly Elvis befriends another resident who thinks he's John F. Kennedy (Ossie Davis) when they both begin to suspect that their neighbors aren't dying of natural causes. Their investigation leads to the discovery of an evil mummy with a fondness for cowboy gear and an appetite for the souls of senior citizens. Armed with little more than a walker and a wheelchair, the King and JFK must take on this ancient evil. Based on a short story by Joe R. Lansdale, BUBBA HO-TEP mixes comedy, drama, and horror to create a remarkably quirky film. As the aged and ailing Elvis, Campbell gives an outstandingly funny and poignant performance, while Davis exudes intelligence and warmth as JFK. Although horror is a key element of the story, much of the movie focuses on the life of Elvis and his new friendship with the former president, leading to many oddly comical scenes and even a few genuinely touching moments. Of course, their embalmed foe and his creepy minions must be confronted, making this the first movie about Elvis and JFK to appeal to horror enthusiasts, or, conversely, the first horror movie to appeal to Elvis and JFK enthusiasts. Either way, it's a highly unconventional tale that no adventurous filmgoer should miss. [More]

Starring: Bruce Campbell, Ossie Davis, Ella Joyce, Larry Pennell

Starring: Bruce Campbell, Ossie Davis, Ella Joyce, Larry Pennell, Bob Ivy, Daniel Roebuck, Reggie Bannister

Director: Don Coscarelli

Director: Don Coscarelli
Screenwriter: Don Coscarelli
Producer: Don Coscarelli
Studio: Vitagraph Films

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Bubba Ho-Tep

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, but there's enough here to entertain even those for whom 'cult' is a four-letter word.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A fiendishly funny comedy horror.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
10/06/04
Jamie Russell
Jamie Russell
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A sharply written, surprisingly moving little film with a terrific performance by Bruce Campbell.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/19/04
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

There’s plenty of scatological humour and knockabout fun to get one through the slower passages.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Nigel Floyd
Nigel Floyd
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

About halfway through this offbeat horror comedy you realise you're watching a cult classic.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
09/19/04
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

The moment the plot takes hold, this most likable film unmercifully dies.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment 1 Comment
02/29/04
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Bubba Ho-Tep sounds more like a hip Saturday Night Live skit. Unfortunately, it also plays like a standard SNL movie, all high concept with little story.

Full Review Source: Sun Newspapers of Cleveland | comment 1 Comment
12/08/03
Gerry Shamray
Gerry Shamray
Sun Newspapers of Cleveland

Writer-director Don Coscarelli piles on unpleasant details and cynical asides as if they were the stuff of wisdom, though they seem intended to produce guffaws rather than thoughts

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment 1 Comment
09/24/07
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader

There are much more rewarding films to rent.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment 1 Comment
10/23/02
Mark R. Leeper
Mark R. Leeper
rec.arts.movies.reviews

The best comedy ever made about Elvis, JFK, a soul-sucking ancient Egyptian and giant cockroaches ... [but] the film can't sustain the humor.

Full Review Source: Internet Reviews | comment 1 Comment
10/02/03
Steve Rhodes
Steve Rhodes
Internet Reviews

As disappointing as the stale routines of most Elvis impersonators.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
10/17/03
E! Online
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
10/22/03
Boston Phoenix
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
12/05/03
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Coscarelli’s direction is appropriately subtle and poignant for such a knowingly eclectic premise...but somehow there doesn’t seem to be a genuine climax.

Full Review Source: Premiere Magazine | comment Comment
09/26/03
Aaron Hillis
Aaron Hillis
Premiere Magazine

Campbell, who narrates the film in a sad, recriminatory mumble, somehow manages to make ol' swivel hips affecting, frayed pompadour and all.

Full Review Source: eye WEEKLY | comment Comment
03/25/03
Adam Nayman
Adam Nayman
eye WEEKLY

[Director] Don carries this film with a tight blend of comedy and horror.

Full Review Source: Juicy Cerebellum | comment Comment
12/06/03
Alex Sandell
Alex Sandell
Juicy Cerebellum

a smart comedy that dares to take on the sublime and the ridiculous, succeeding on both counts with equal aplomb

Full Review Source: Killer Movie Reviews | comment Comment
09/27/03
Andrea Chase
Andrea Chase
Killer Movie Reviews

the true horror here, far from being some middle-eastern revenant in a cowboy hat, is the indignity of disease, the anonymity of old age, and the inevitability of death

Full Review Source: Movie Gazette | comment Comment
10/30/04
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Movie Gazette

If you can swing with the central idea and accept the production limitations as a kind of offbeat virtue, you'll likely find this smartly silly horror comedy to be, of all things, rewarding.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
10/03/03
Bob Strauss
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
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Latest News for Bubba Ho-Tep

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