YMMV / Bubba Ho-Tep

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• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Even Elvis himself at one point doubts that he's really Elvis in a deleted scene. Then he decides that it doesn't matter one way or the other.
  • The director states in the commentary that it was intentionally left so that it works whether or not he and JFK are really who they think they are. He specifically points out one line that could be Elvis and JFK talking about their family lives, or both admitting they are fooling themselves.
  • There's a moment that implies JFK's story is true, and this makes the other characters' stories more plausible by extension.
• Awesome Music:
  • The soundtrack to this film elevates it another level above what it could have fallen into. It helps that the score is by Bryan Tyler, who also provided the music for Six String Samurai, another (albeit indirectly) Elvis-centric film.
  • The Sebastian Haff Show plays during Elvis' reminiscence of his glory days and perfectly sums his character up.
  • "Hail to the king, baby."
• Cry for the Devil: When Elvis meets The Mummy named Bubba Ho-Tep for the first time, He sees how The Mummy died and what happened before he came to terrorize the rest home. Before he died he was a Pharaoh who was assassinated by his royal priests. We dont know why they killed him, but we see him being seduced by two women and then later a priest jams a hook thru his nose while he's alive and awake and removes his brain. The mummy is an evil soul sucking fiend, but you still feel bad about the way he died.
• He Really Can Act:
  • No less a critic than Roger Ebert declared this the best acting Bruce Campbell has ever done, even one of the best performances of Elvis on screen he'd ever seen.
  • At a Q&A session before the film was released, Campbell proudly stated "A 68-year-old fatass Elvis who has cancer on his penis. Let's see Tom Cruise tackle THAT part!"
  • Also something as an example for the B-movie genre as a whole: A ridiculous plot, schlocky effects, and gratuitous violence mask a surprisingly deep story with compelling characters.
• He's Just Hiding: The follow up concept was going to be an Immediate Sequel where the nurse comes out to perform CPR: Clean, Pretty, Reliable on Elvis.
• Questionable Casting: Bruce Campbell as an elderly Elvis. And it works. According to the DVD Commentary, his agent found it so bizarre he initially threw it out.

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