An awesome Horror-Comedy in which life imitates art and then goes the other direction.
Bruce plays himself or more appropriately, a parody of himself because he really isn’t a jerk; he can be flippant but he’s usually entertaining the crowd, his cutting remarks aren’t meant at put-downs. When I had my brief face time with Bruce almost 10 years ago, the guy was very warm and he enjoys seeing fans.
Anyway…
Several teenagers from a small Oregon town have stupidly defiled a mass grave unleashing its murderous guardian. Since the threat is supernatural, the teen who caused the crisis believes that movie star Bruce Campbell can defeat this monster like he did in Army of Darkness and many other films.
Meanwhile, Bruce’s life is a disaster. He’s currently starring in an awful direct-to-DVD feature, his fans annoy him with derogatory comments, his ex-wife is squeezing him and his agent Mills keeps landing him crap projects. Now his birthday is coming up. It sucks to be Bruce Campbell.
After a rather trying shoot, Bruce meets Mills at a local strip club. They argue, Bruce threatens to fire Mills yet withdraws the threat because of a promised surprise. Bruce figures Mills remembered his birthday; maybe it’s a decent role to get off the D List. Enthused, he returns to his trailer to celebrate and gets kidnapped by the Oregonian teenager. Bruce initially fears the kid is an obsessed fan but upon arriving at the small town, he thinks this is stage one of Mills’ present…a starring role with all these small-town characters!
It’s pretty obvious what happens next since Bruce Campbell is involved.
I can’t help but love this gift to his fans. Bruce practically paid for it out of his own pocket by donating his property (it was shot at his house/yard) and time. He could’ve taken more lucrative jobs instead. His generosity extends to the cast for several roles are filled by past co-workers from the Evil Dead and Army of Darkness flicks. Ted Raimi also appears as three characters to crank up the humor, you have to pay attention carefully since one takes a little effort to notice.
The movie has some flaws yet they don’t matter. Bruce made the ultimate fan film as a thank-you present to everybody who has supported him. He’s a great guy who isn’t afraid to do anything nor feels any role is beneath him. For this, Bruce has convinced me to check out Cars 2 since he will be in it as Rod Redline. I’ve always loved his voice work.