A true American success story, Bruce Campbell first met and befriended Sam Raimi when the two of them were high school students in Michigan. Campbell first gained attention in Raimi’s Evil Dead films and he’s been a mainstay in Raimi’s films ever since. He’s also been a favorite of the Coen Brothers, Don Coscarelli, William Lustig, and scores of other director. Few actors can balance both drama and comedy with the adroitness of Bruce Campbell.
Campbell, of course, is best-known for his performance as Ash Williams, the S-Mart store clerk who lost his hand while spending the weekend at a cabin, spent some time in the past, and later earned the right to tell us all to say “hail to the king, baby.” Campbell’s ability to do often violent slapstick comedy, along with his ability to deliver the most absurd of dialogue with a straight face, came together to make him into a true pop cultural icon. Though Campbell has since announced his retirement from playing Ash (saying that, at his age, he can no longer physically spends hours a day getting beaten up), he remains a beloved actor to horror fans everywhere.
Today’s scene that I love comes from 1992’s Army of Darkness and it features Bruce Campbell at his best. All Ash has to do is remember three simple words and say them before taking the Necronomicon from its place. Of course, Ash being Ash, things don’t quite work out that simply….
1992’s Waxwork II opens with the finale of the first Waxwork. The cursed waxwork is burning to the ground, taking out the monsters within, along with Sir Wilfred (Patrick Macnee) and Wilfred’s army of do-gooders. Only Mark (Zach Galligan) and Sarah (now played by Monika Schnarre) are able to escape. Fleeing the burning building, they manage to catch a cab. Sarah wonders what they’re going to do now. Mark replies that they’re going to go back to school and pretend that none of this ever happened.
Good luck with that! It turns out that one other thing did escape from the waxwork. A disembodied hand follows Sarah home and murders her abusive stepfather. Sarah manages to drop the hand down the garbage disposal, destroying it but also destroying the only proof she had that she didn’t kill her stepfather. Sarah is put on trial for murder and the jury does not appear to be impressed with her “It was a supernatural creature” defense.
What she and Mark need is proof that the waxwork was full of monsters. Fortunately, a trip to Sir Wilfred’s house reveals not only a recording of Sir Wilfred explaining how there’s an alternative universe known as the Kartagra but also a compass that can be used to find portals into the Kartagra. Mark and Sarah enter the Kartagra, searching for proof of Sarah’s innocence.
Mark and Sarah go from one universe to another, meeting iconic horror characters along the way. Just as with the exhibits in the first film, each universe features it own set monsters and its own distinctive style. For instance, Mark finds himself suddenly cast in the role of Henry Clerval, best friend of Baron Frankenstein (Martin Kemp) and the lover of the Baron’s wife, Elizabeth (who is actually Sarah). Of course, the Baron has more to worry about than his wife cheating with his best friend. There’s also the angry monster living in the basement and the angry villagers that are due to start pounding on the front doors of the mansion.
Later, Mark finds himself in a black-and-white recreation of The Haunting of Hill House, working with a researcher (Bruce Campbell) and two psychics to investigate reports of a ghost at an old house. Mark must bring peace to the ghost while avoiding all of the slapstick complications that one might expect when Bruce Campbell shows up as a paranormal researcher. While Mark is dealing with that, Sarah is floating in space, trying to protect the crew of her dingy spaceship from an acid spewing alien.
You get the idea. Waxwork II is essentially an affectionate collection of homages to other, better-known horror films and it must be said that Waxwork II does an excellent job of recreating each film, from the crisp black-and-white of haunted house scene to the grittiness of the Alien sequences to the over-the-top swordplay of a trip to a medieval world. There’s even a trip to the mall from Dawn of the Dead! Wisely, Waxwork II doesn’t take itself particularly seriously, with many scenes developing into outright comedy. Zach Galligan gives an enjoyable and nicely modulated comedic performance, even holding his own with Bruce Campbell.
At 104 minutes, Waxwork II runs a bit too long for its own good but it ends on a sweet note that nicely wraps up the entire saga. It’s a film that works as both a continuation of Waxwork and as an entertaining film on its own.
As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on Twitter and Mastodon. I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie! Every week, we get together. We watch a movie. We tweet our way through it.
Tonight, at 10 pm et, #FridayNightFlix has got 1992’s Army of Darkness, starring the one and only Bruce Campbell!
If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 10 pm et, and use the #FridayNightFlix hashtag! It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.
Army of Darkness is available on Prime! See you there!
Today, the Shattered Lens wish a happy birthday to the one and only Bruce Campbell! And what better way to celebrate and to get the day started than with an iconic scene from 1987’s Evil Dead II?
As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on twitter. I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie! Every week, we get together. We watch a movie. We tweet our way through it.
Tonight, at 10 pm et, I will be hosting #FridayNightFlix! The movie? 1996’s Escape From L.A.!
Director John Carpenter reunites with Kurt Russell and Peter Fonda, Steve Buscemi, Bruce Campbell, and Cliff Robertson are along for the ride!
If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 10 pm et, and use the #FridayNightFlix hashtag! I’ll be there tweeting and I imagine some other members of the TSL Crew will be there as well. It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.
Escape From L.A. is available on Prime and Paramount! See you there!
In 1997, NBC’s series of In The Line of Duty movie went out in a blaze of glory with Lori Loughlin and Bruce Campbell!
Lori and Bruce play Jill and Jeff Erickson, an attractive couple who finance their perfect life by robbing banks. Jeff wears an obvious fake beard and, because he’s played by Bruce Campbell, it is easy to initially treat his crime spree as being a big joke. Jeff and Jill use their money to buy a big house and to open up their own used bookstore. Their robberies start to get bigger and more elaborate and Jill goes from being a passive observer to an active participant. Jill gets such a rush from the robberies that she can’t stop. While the press treats the two of them like a modern day Bonnie and Clyde, FBI agent Tom LaSalle (Bradley Whitford) tries to bring them to justice before someone gets killed.
Blaze of Glory is based on a true story. The crime spree of Jill and Jeff Erickson also inspired another film, John McNaughton’s Normal Life, which starred Luke Perry as Jeff and Ashley Judd as Jill. Normal Life is told almost entirely from the point of view of the bank robbers while Blaze of Glory, like all of the In The Line of Duty movies, is firmly on the side of law enforcement. Both films tell the same story and stay fairly close to the facts of the case but it’s interesting to see how behavior that was presented as being romantic and tragic in Normal Life is portrayed as being dangerous and arrogant in Blaze of Glory.
Bruce Campbell and Lori Loughlin are the two main reasons to watch Blaze of Glory. Campbell plays Jeff Erickson as being a slightly smarter version of Ash. Jeff may enjoy running his used bookstore and talking to people about literature but he simply cannot stay out of trouble. He has the confidence necessary to rob a bank but he’s also so reckless that he doesn’t think much about what he’s going to do after he puts on his fake beard and fires his gun at the ceiling. Lori Loughlin, having finally escaped from Full House, gives an uninhibited and sexy performance as Jill, who is never happier than when she’s helping her husband to rob a bank. Eventually, she turns out to be just as reckless as her husband and even more willing to fight her way out of a police chase. Campbell and Louglin are so good that it’s too bad that half of the movie is Bradley Whitford as the lead FBI agent and Brad Sullivan as his father.
After sitting out Kidnapped, Dick Lowry returns to the director’s chair for the final In The Line of Duty and it’s one of the best of the series. The action scenes are exciting and Campbell and Loughlin burn up the screen. Blaze of Glory was the finale of In The Line of Duty but what a way to go!
Everyday, we should give thanks to Bruce Campbell is not a jerk.
Seriously, can you imagine how disappointing it would be to discover that Bruce Campbell — ASH! GROOVY BRUCE! — was not a laidback, blue collar actor who appreciated his fans, had a sense of humor about his films, and who enjoyed ending the day with maybe a can of beer and a nicely rolled joint? It would be awful! Bruce Campbell going on and on about the method while telling people not to see his early films? Unthinkable! Bruce Campbell demanding a huge trailer and bad-mouthing his co-stars? That’s not our Groovy Bruce!
No, Bruce Campbell is pretty likable and appears to be downright nice. That’s a huge part of his appeal. He’s an actor but he’s also a fan. He’s talented but he’s also level-headed. He loves his films but he doesn’t pretend that they were anything that they weren’t. Other actors would hide the chin. Bruce shows it off every chance he get. He even named his first memoir after the chin!
And it’s quite a good memoir too, If Chins Could Kill is, Bruce discusses growing up. He discusses the first films that he made with Sam Raimi. The Coen Brothers make an appearance. There’s stuff about Bubba Ho-Tep and Maniac Cop. Really, it’s the definitive overview of the first part of Bruce Campbell’s amazing career and it’s a fun read. Campbell has a sense of humor about both himself and his movies but, at the same time, he also has a deep love and appreciation for indie filmmakers. It’s the humor that makes the book entertaining but it’s the love that will keep your reading. And, after you finish the first memoir, move on to Campbell’s subsequent books — How To Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way, Hail to the Chin, and The Cool Side of My Pillow. They’re all good books. They’ll make you appreciate not only Bruce and the movies but also the art of writing about yourself without acting like a pompous jackass. Bruce pulls it off and we’re all the better for it!
Today is an unofficial holiday for everyone who loves a good cult film because the one and only Bruce Campbell is 63 years old today! Whether he’s battling Deadites or making a cameo appearance in a Coen Brothers film or just being himself, it’s impossible not to love Bruce Campbell. In many ways, he epitomizes everything that people love about the movies. He’s a good actor, he’s a good storyteller, and — perhaps most importantly — he’s smart enough not to take himself too seriously.
In honor of Bruce Campbell’s birthday, here’s one of his best moments. From ArmyoftheDead, it’s the Battle of the S-mart. Hail to the king, indeed.
Through the Shattered Lens 