Though it doubtlessly turns his stomach to think about it, Bruce Campbell knows he will forever be remembered as Ash, the hero from the Evil Dead trilogy. But how he, along with long-time
friend and director Sam Raimi put together an ultra low-budget horror
movie that would go on to be one of the most recognizable and enduring cult classics is only one of the many tales in this outrageously funny autobiography. Bruce Campbell relates the events which led to him becoming one of the busiest and most popular actors in the history of B-grade cinema with an endearing and refreshingly honest and self-deprecating voice. He recounts side-splittingly funny stories from his pre-adolescent years in Bloomfield, Michigan and how, in his early teens, he becomes interested in
acting through his town’s theater group. It is during this time that a fateful meeting occurs when, in high school drama class, he is introduced to a fellow student by the name of Sam Raimi. Raimi had already been making his own productions using a super-8 video camera. Soon, Campbell, Raimi and other friends are writing and acting in dozens of super-8 films. This continues as everyone moves into their early twenties when Sam Raimi, having become fascinated by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, hits upon the idea of actually shooting a real motion picture based on elements of those stories. A
budget of 150,000, an impressive sum for the late 1970s, is projected and Campbell et al manage to raise almost the entire amount by petitioning several local business owners and corporate figures to become investors. A filming location in a place called Morristown, in rural Tennessee, is selected and the would-be filmmakers are on their way. What follows is a bittersweet reminiscence of three months worth of sloughing through mud, swamps and rain soaked forest to get all of the footage that would later become the
film Evil Dead. The production wrapped in January, 1980. Bruce Campbell, Sam Raimi and friend and collaborator, Rob Tapert, head to Hollywood to try to pitch the movie to a major studio. Another break comes when they are able to attend the Cannes Film Festival in France where none other than horror writer Stephen King sees their film and gives it a ringing endorsement. Evil Dead finally begins to sell overseas, doing so well that American movie studio New Line Cinema agrees to market the picture. With money coming in on two fronts they decide to shoot a sequel to Evil Dead. The film is equally successful but Campbell is still faced with the very real problem of the lack of a steady income. Now he begins to take parts in various genre pieces such as Maniac Cop, Moontrap(alongside Star Trek alumni Walter Koenig) and, of course, Army of Darkness before finally landing his first starring role in the mid ‘90s on the, sadly, short-lived TV series The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. When this show is cancelled Campbell goes back to acting in small movie roles and making guest appearances on several TV shows. Soon he is contacted by friend and producer Rob Tapert to come to New Zealand to join the cast of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. With a recurring character on this show, and its spin-off, Xena: Warrior Princess, Campbell made his first forays into working behind the camera, directing several episodes of each show. This book was published in 2001 and since that time Bruce Campbell has still been going strong, cheerfully taking roles in obscure and sometimes downright atrocious movies. But he always manages to keep his wits about him.
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