Elvis has a lot of buzz this awards season, but Baz Luhrmann didn’t get the story right. The real Elvis Presley traded places with an impersonator in order to live a simple life as an impersonator himself before retiring to Mud Creek, Texas alongside John F. Kennedy, who was patched up and dyed Black after the assassination attempt.

Those are the facts according to Bubba Ho-Tep, at least.

The 2002 horror-comedy is based on the short story of the same name by Joe R. Lansdale (whose work would go on to be adapted into Cold in July and Hap and Leonard), first published in the 1994 anthology The King Is Dead: Tales of Elvis Post-Mortem. When cult filmmaker Don Coscarelli (Phantasm, The Beastmaster) approached Lansdale about optioning the story for a film, the author tried to talk him out of it, as he believed it couldn’t be made.

Lansdale passed on writing the screenplay for the same reason, so Coscarelli took it upon himself to adapt it, deftly translating the eccentric story into a three-act structure that could be made on a modest budget of $700,000. While a solid script is a necessary foundation for any good movie, Bubba Ho-Tep never would have worked without the right leads. Thankfully, Coscarelli convinced horror icon Bruce Campbell to play Elvis and venerable actor/activist Ossie Davis to co-star as JFK.

Coscarelli immediately establishes the tone by showing the contrasting definitions of “Ho-Tep” and “Bubba.” If that wasn’t enough to tip audiences off to the tongue-in-cheek approach, the first scene ought to do the trick. As the present-day Elvis eloquently puts it, he has gone “from the king of rock and roll to this, an old guy in a rest home in east Texas with a growth on his pecker.” (That growth becomes a recurring joke throughout the movie.)

Watching Campbell and Davis banter as Elvis and JFK would be reason enough to see the movie, but they also take it upon themselves to defend their senior cohorts from the titular monster (“A mummy in cowboy duds; some kind of Bubba Ho-Tep,” Elvis christens him). It essentially becomes, as Campbell accurately describes it in the audio commentary, “Grumpy Old Ghostbusters.”

Absurd as it may be, the concept is rather brilliantly conceived. What better place to claim souls unnoticed than a retirement home? Moreover, the mummy serves as a literal representation of death. While the movie pokes fun at senior citizens, at its core is a surprisingly tender story of redemption that shines a light on society’s dismissal of the elderly.

Coscarelli cleverly avoids the use of actual Elvis music or footage, which would have cost half the film’s budget to license, but its absence is hardly noticed. Brian Tyler – an early effort before scoring the likes of Marvel films, Fast and Furious movies, Rambo, and Scream (2022) – composed a score that blends Elvis-style rock and roll, western-inspired motifs, and horror cues with an Egyptian influence.

While the Evil Dead franchise made him a cult icon, Bubba Ho-Tep is perhaps Campbell’s career-best performance. While his buoyant disposition is ever-present, he disappears in the role to the point where it’s easy to forget it’s Campbell; a rarity for such a recognizable actor. The material is humorous, but he never resorts to a broad caricature; he channels a respectable, grounded impression.

Campbell dons old-age makeup that took two and a half hours to apply each day, complete with a full wig and mutton chop sideburns, fake chin, and fat suit. After spending the first act in bed, Campbell taps into his gift for physicality, as showcased in Evil Dead 2, while delivering a fully-committed performance. If the material wasn’t so idiosyncratic, he could have garnered serious award buzz.

Davis, in the part of the sidekick, further elevates the material with his conviction, earnestly delivering lines like “He had me on the floor and had his mouth over my asshole!” A seasoned stunt performer with a near-gaunt figure, Bob Ivy (Near Dark, John Dies at the End) was perfectly cast as the southern-fried mummy. Ella Joyce harkens back to her best known role as a nurse on the ’90s sitcom Roc to match Campbell’s charisma as Elvis’ nurse.

The cast also includes Phantasm favorite Reggie Bannister as the rest home administrator; Daniel Roebuck (Rob Zombie’s The Munsters) appears as a goofy morgue attendant; Larry Pennell (The Beverly Hillbillies) as a fellow rest home resident that likes to play cowboy; Harrison Young (House of 1000 Corpses) as Elvis’ roommate; and Heidi Marnhout (Phantasm IV: Oblivion) as the roommate’s daughter.

The legendary KNB EFX Group – one of their last gigs before Robert Kurtzman parted ways with Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger in 2003 – handled the special effects. The worked for a discounted rate as a favor to Coscarelli, with whom they previously collaborations on Phantasm II. (Incidentally, the trio first worked together on Evil Dead 2.) Kurtzman sculpted the mummy costume, while Berger tackled Campbell’s old age makeup.

Elvis’ rhinestones shine brighter than ever now that Scream Factory has restored Bubba Ho-Tep in 4K from the original camera negative, approved by Coscarelli, with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 sound. While no new special features have been produced, the new edition collects the plethora of extras from Scream Factory’s 2016 Blu-ray and the original DVD, plus three previously unreleased featurettes from Coscarelli’s archives.

Three audio commentaries are included. The newest one is from Lansdale, who is clearly proud of the film and how it exposed him to a new audience. (Sadly the adaptation of his novel The Bottoms that he mentions working on with Bill Paxton attached to direct never came to fruition.) Coscarelli and Campbell recorded a track for the original DVD that’s as breezy as the movie itself. The final track features “The King;” Campbell impersonating Elvis, but not the one in the movie, so he critiques its perceived inaccuracies. Superfluous though it is, it’s an entertaining listen.

The disc also features Blu-ray interviews with Campbell, Coscarelli, and Kurtzman. Campbell recalls how his first question to Coscarelli was if he was going to show the cancer-stricken penis. He also talks about training for the role, working with Davis, and the ill-fated sequel. Coscarelli explains how two fellow masters of horror helped him land the cast: Sam Raimi recommended Campbell for the lead, and Mick Garris wrote a letter to Davis (with whom he had worked on The Stand) on the filmmaker’s behalf. He goes on to detail the sequel and leaves hope that it could happen in the future.

The three previously unreleased featurettes consist of a tour of the filming locations as they appear now, a montage of footage from the film’s Egyptian Theatre premiere, and a Q&A with Coscarelli and Campbell from the Toronto Film Festival. Other extras include: the original making-of documentary; featurettes on the makeup/effects, costuming, and music; two deleted scenes with optional commentary by Coscarelli and Campbell; Lansdale reading an excerpt from the original short story; three EPK-style interviews with Campbell; footage from the Temple Room Floor; a music video; the theatrical trailer; a TV spot; and a photo gallery.

I can’t help falling in love with Bubba Ho-Tep. Elvis may not be as spry as he was in his hip-shaking heyday, but there’s nary a dull moment among the lively paced 92 minutes. Coscarelli and company take care of business with the requisite laughs and chills one would expect from a well-constructed horror-comedy, but the underlying commentary on aging is as timeless as it is poignant.