Bruce Campbell isn’t opposed to
making a fourth installment in the Evil Dead series that has helped secure his reputation
as a B-movie
superstar. In fact, both he and childhood friend Sam Raimi, who used the Evil
Dead movies as a launching pad to the
mammoth success he now enjoys as the architect of the Spider-Man franchise, have gone
on record as saying that another
sequel is tentatively in the works.
Just don’t expect Campbell, still
boyishly handsome at 50, to leap at the prospect simply because it exists.
In The City as part of a
nationwide tour to promote his second directorial feature, the proudly
low-budget comedy My Name Is Bruce, the
actor known almost as well for his tough-guy chin as his acting chops, cites
Steven Spielberg’s decision to revisit Indiana Jones as proof of the dangers of
reliving past glories.
“If you ask a theater of 300
people if they wanted another Indiana Jones movie, two hands go up,” he says.
“They just forced that
movie down people’s throats, but I don’t think there was any need for it.
“The time to make a fourth Evil
Dead was probably 12 years ago. Just so
you know, Army of Darkness is already
17 years old. Sometimes I wonder what the point would be. Still, I love working
with Sam, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened, but I have no idea when
it might.”
Although Campbell warily acknowledges that fans and
journalists inquire about the possibility on a daily basis, he’s hardly wanting
for work as the franchise remains dormant. After the twin successes of his 2002
autobiography (If Chins Could Kill) and
a follow-up novel (Make Love! The Bruce Campbell Way), he’s busy on a
new book. He’s currently working on
a five-year contract with the USA Network for the hit cable series Burn
Notice. And he’s currently winding down a
rigorous but exhausting driving tour of the U.S.
As for My Name Is Bruce, in which
he plays a drunken, loutish version of
himself doing battle with a homicidal Chinese demon?
“It’s just a silly comedy,” he
says of the film, which premiered on consecutive nights in The City and
Berkeley this past week. After making his feature directorial debut with 2005’s
middling Man With the Screaming Brain,
Campbell shot his follow-up on a set he built at his home in Oregon. He worked
almost exclusively with local talent and credits that decision for making the
process smoother and more satisfying.
Just don’t expect it to be
anything more than what he intended – a movie for fans, not critics.
“I don’t know what people were
expecting,” he says. “The guy in the New York Times acted like I stepped on his
dog. I must’ve cut him off in the streets or something. But they’re not going
to run me out of town. I have a lot of movies left in me, don’t worry about
that.”
