Bubba Ho-tep (2002)

Bubba Ho-Tep is a 2002 American comedy horror film co-written, produced, and directed by Don Coscarelli. It stars Bruce Campbell as Elvis Presley — now a resident in a nursing home. The film also stars Ossie Davis as Jack, a black man who claims to be John F. Kennedy, explaining that he was patched up after the assassination, dyed black, and abandoned.

The title comes from a novella by Joe R. Lansdale which originally appeared in the anthology The King Is Dead: Tales of Elvis Post-Mortem. Originally the film was "roadshowed" by the director across the country. Only 32 prints were made and circulated around various film festivals, though these garnered critical success. By the time it was released on DVD, it had already achieved cult status due to positive reviews, lack of access, and inclusion of (and similar on-the-road hard work by) Campbell.

While the novella and film revolve around an Ancient Egyptian mummy (played by Bob Ivy) terrorizing a retirement home, Bubba Ho-tep also deals with the deeper theme of aging and growing old in a culture that values only the young. The film also features a cameo by Reggie Bannister, the hero of Coscarelli's Phantasm cult series.

Synopsis

An elderly man at The Shady Rest Retirement Home in East Texas is known to the staff as Sebastian Haff, but claims to be Elvis. He explains that during the 1970s, Elvis Presley (Bruce Campbell) grew tired of the demands of his fame and switched places with an Elvis impersonator named Sebastian Haff (also Campbell). He claims it was Haff who eventually died in 1977, while he, the real Elvis, lived in quiet, happy anonymity and made a living pretending to be himself. After a propane explosion destroyed documentation which was the only proof that he was actually Elvis, he was unable to return to his old lifestyle.

Actors