12 Best Films & TV Shows Starring Bruce Campbell

3. Bubba Ho-Tep

Simultaneously regarded as one of the weirdest films Campbell has ever starred in, as well as one of his most impressive and multi-layered performances, Bubba Ho-Tep absolutely should not work. The story, basically, is set in a nursing home and centres on an elderly Elvis Presley. That's right - Elvis DID NOT die, as the world was led to believe. Instead, he had secretly swapped out his career for that of an Elvis impersonator, and the impersonator was the one that had died instead. That seems fairly plausible, right? Well... Also living in this retirement home is an elderly John F. Kennedy. Who is played by legendary African-American actor Ossie Davis. Apparently the assassination was all a cover-up by Lyndon Johnson, and he had been dyed black so that no-one would ever believe his story. Elvis (who has a cancerous lump on his penis) and JFK become close friends and share their life stories. Until, that is, the nursing home becomes haunted by a mummified cowboy that sucks its victims souls out through their anuses. Elderly Elvis with his walker and aged JFK in his wheelchair thus set out to rescue their fellow residents from this monstrosity. Because, as Elvis remarks to JFK, "Ask not what your rest home can do for you. Ask what you can do for your rest home". As crazy as the film is, Campbell and Davis manage to keep it together with two mind-blowing performances. At turns hilarious, sympathetic and intense, both actors are at the top of their game. Bubba Ho-Tep is the ultimate proof that, given the right platform, Campbell could easily have achieved far greater things in his career.
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