“If you don’t like Bruce, YOU WALK!”

The Scoop: 2007 R, directed by Bruce Campbell and starring Bruce Campbell, Grace Thorsen and Ted Raimi

Tagline: Kick some Ash

Summary Capsule: The Chin is sequestered by loyal fans to kick the tail of a Chinese demon.

Justin’s rating: Most definitely… groovy.

Justin’s review: It’s hard to imagine Mutant Reviewers without Bruce Campbell’s presence hovering over us, giving blessing to our efforts — and it’s impossible to imagine Bruce Campbell without Ash from the Evil Dead trilogy. While an Evil Dead 4 might very well never see the light of day, that’s not for the lack of trying on the part of his enormous legion of fans and owners, who have gotten him into numerous video games, comic books (including fighting zombies in Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness), a musical and serious talks about an appearance in a second Freddy vs. Jason flick. People see and identify with Bruce because he’s an everyman actor, a geek who isn’t afraid of looking silly, stupid or chiseled to entertain his cult audience. Between the incessant Evil Dead 4 chatter and his slavish fan base, you can see how something like My Name Is Bruce could come to be.

A love letter to his fans, first and foremost, My Name Is Bruce is not only the closest thing to ED4 we might ever see, but it’s also a cheeky salute to those who have saturated their lives with Campbell’s so-bad-they’re-good B-movies. Bruce Campbell plays a slimier, jerkier version of himself — an Ash without a spine — and seems to delight in both making himself appear as repulsive as possible while cheerfully lambasting crappy filmmaking everywhere. As his career is tanking into oblivion (even though he appears on TV right as he turns the set on), Bruce is given one last shot at redemption — to kill an ancient Chinese demon that is terrorizing (and decapitating) the residents of Gold Lick, Oregon. Kidnapped at first and then hoodwinked into treating the effort as another Hollywood ripoff, Bruce deals with his Number One Fan as well as a threat that’s so very, very real.

Two things about My Name Is Bruce. The first is that this, like most Campbell films, is not a good movie in the traditional sense. If you sat down with friends and relatives who had no clue who this guy was, you’d probably be sitting alone by the time the third act rolled around. The acting is campy, effects silly and plot predictable. Because it’s aimed at those saturated in Campbell oeuvre, outsiders will most definitely not get the inside jokes or numerous references to past acts of Bruce.

The second is that this is an undeniably funny and well-made bad movie, and worthy of those looking for the cherry on the top of a Bruce movie marathon. The references fly fast and frequent, Bruce gets tons of great lines, and it actually got me laughing more than once. And the Chin looks good here, quite good for a man who’s probably old enough to be the father of most of his fans. He has a great time playing a knuckleheaded version of himself, relishing more in scenes that make him look more bad than good. If you were dying to see a film where Ash drinks hooch out of a dog bowl, then really, you’ve reached your destination.

Hail to the king and all that!

Intermission!

• There are many mentions and references to Bruce Campbell’s other films. Examples are phrases ’sugar baby’, ‘groovy’ and ‘boomstick’ along with name checking of people like Sam Raimi
• All of Bruce’s bad movies referenced time and again
• The movie references Bruce Campbell’s fake-memoir novel ‘Make Love (The Bruce Campbell Way)’ several times.
• Bruce fake-talking by mumbling in the gun store
• Ellen Sandweiss, Dan Hicks and Tim Quill all worked with Bruce Campbell in the Evil Dead Trilogy: Sandweiss played Cheryl in The Evil Dead, Hicks played Jake in Evil Dead II and Quill played the Blacksmith in Army of Darkness.
• Bruce Campbell is The Stoogitive!
• Shemp Liquor
• Just a warning: that “Guandi Is His Name” song WILL get stuck in your head, and that’s not a good thing, considering how awful it is.
• Most of the Bruce Campbell memorabilia in Jeff’s room was made up especially for the movie.
• The exteriors for the town of “Gold Lick” were actually shot on Bruce Campbell’s property where a back lot was built with the exteriors of all of the buildings. The interior shots were all done on a sound stage.

Groovy Quotes

Jeff: If you don’t like Bruce… YOU WALK!

Bruce Campbell: Sleep with the scorpions, bitch!

Bruce Campbell: I’m not one of those shallow, sex machines like all those other Hollywood types.
Kasey: [behind him] Hey mister, you still owe me 100 bucks! And we still have to have sex!

Bruce Campbell: I gotta make a phone call. I’ll be right back, don’t do anything quaint until I return.

Bruce Campbell: You don’t know fear, kid. You’ve never worked with Sam Raimi.

Clayton: I kinda liked Bubba Ho-Tep.
Jeff: *Everyone* liked Bubba Ho-Tep.

Dirt Farmer: You know, they go to all the trouble to kidnap somebody, I’d have kidnapped that Jake character from Evil Dead 2.
Frank: My money’d have been on that blacksmith from Army of Darkness. Now that’s one stud.
Dirt Farmer: Damn straight.
Frank: I wish I could quit you.

Bruce Campbell: You know Jeff, I’ve gotten a lot of use out of chainsaws over the years. Killed a lot a zombies, saved a lot of lives, but at the end of the day when push comes to shove… they’re just too damn heavy.

If You Liked This Movie, Try These:

• Bubba Ho-Tep
• Evil Dead 2
• Moontrap