Joe R Lansdale is a award winning writer who loves writing about horror, mystery and martial arts. So when he wrote an award winning novel that dealt with all of these, a movie had to be made. The result, Bubba Ho-Tep, is a weird, horrific and hilarious duel between famous senior citizens and an Egyptian spirit for the souls of the nursing home residents. The result is touching, funny and well worth your time. So, how did Elvis and JFK get into a fight with an Egyptian Soul Sucker?

In the early 1970s, Elvis (Bruce Campbell) became tired of the fame and the fans. So he switched places with an Elvis impersonator, so that he could enjoy life again. After a freak barbecue accident destroys the only proof Elvis had of the switch (which means he couldn’t switch lives back), Elvis continues as an impersonator until a concert accident eventually lands him in a nursing home 20 years later. His roommate (Ossie Davis) is JFK who survived the assassination attempt, but had his skin dyed and was abandoned in the nursing home by LBJ. All of this is taken seriously and at face value. Elvis and JFK are roommates in a Texas nursing home which looks like it’s a year away from being a haunted house.

Several residents of the nursing home die (as happens in nursing homes), but JFK suspects the nursing home cockroaches mean that an Egyptian Soul Sucker has been killing the residents. The movie then deals with Elvis and JFK trying to defeat the mummy (which is dressed like a cowboy) that Elvis dubs “Bubba Ho-Tep”. The fight scenes are as realistic as you would expect between an ancient mummy and two senior citizens (one in a wheelchair and one in a walker).

What makes the movie special, besides the idea of JFK and Elvis fighting a mummy, is the presentation. The movie runs on the internal dialogue of Elvis who is dealing with growing old. He also muses on his past, his mistakes and his relationships with his ex-wife and daughter. The dialogue is touching and Elvis (who became famous as a young idol) is forced to deal with the indignity of the aging process while living in a culture focused on youth. And most of all, Elvis is annoyed by the pustule on his penis.

Don Coscarelli, who wrote and directed the 4 Phantasm movies (and Beastmaster) does a great job here. The nursing home is a huge character in the movie, with it’s dark and dilapidated and exactly the type of place an Egyptian Soul Sucker would show up. The movie also treats it’s two main characters fairly. There are no nods or winks to the audience that these aren’t the real JFK and Elvis. The movie plays everything straight. The mummy itself looks like it stepped out of an East Texas High School horror play. It’s not the best special effects and it’s not much of a horror movie. But with a wonderful internal monologue by Elvis (Bruce Campbell really sells the part) and the friendship with JFK, the movie is well worth seeing. Highly recommended.