Actor Bruce Campbell and his childhood pal director Sam Raimi.
 

Yeah, you know my kids, fortunately, have seen enough of my working life that they know it’s not all blowjobs and limousines.

—actor Bruce Campbell on the reality of being Bruce Campbell

The last week of April was a sad time for fans of Bruce Campbell after the veteran actor (and author) broke the news he was “retiring” from portraying the chainsaw-wielding Ashley Joanna Williams from the trifecta of awesomeness that is the Evil Dead film series. The story of how Ash and The Evil Dead came to be is a pretty sweet one when it comes to Hollywood folklore beginning when director Sam Raimi and Campbell came across each other in high school. When they first met, Campbell thought Raimi was a “creepy weirdo” and he tried hard to avoid him until they found themselves paired together in the same drama class in 1975. Campbell agreed to be Raimi’s assistant for magic shows he had put together for the class and the academic venture would inspire the teenagers to start making movies. According to Campbell, he, Raimi and four other aspiring drama kids joined forces spending as much time as possible making Super-8 films sharing the responsibilities of actor, director, scriptwriter, and camera operator. A short six-years later Raimi would release his first full-length film, The Evil Dead starring his buddy Bruce as Ash Williams—a role Campbell reprised in 2015 for the television version of the film series Ash vs. Evil Dead, 34 years after the wisecracking character came to be in 1981. Before the somewhat surprise cancellation of the show, Campbell said he would pull the plug on Ash himself if cable network Starz yanked the show. Once the ax fell on Ash vs. Evil Dead, Campbell confirmed his days playing Ash were over.

Cambell, aka The Chin, as he is often affectionately referred to, celebrated a birthday this past Friday—his 60th—hanging out in Sacramento, California while the Fandemic Tour dropped in for the weekend. To date, he has at least 125 acting credits to his name and many of Campbell’s fictional alter-egos, such as Ash and his portrayal of an elderly, infirm Elvis Presley in the 2002 cult film, Bubba Ho-Tep have helped to further mythologize Campbell as an actor with the ability to create characters so believable they become one and the same. Much like their days making Super-8 flicks in high school, filming The Evil Dead was a collaborative effort in every sense of the word, Campbell, Hal Delrich/Richard DeManincor (Ash’s pal Scotty in the film) and other actors routinely did their own stunts which regularly sent them off to the emergency room after being injured on set. Bruce Campbell lost a couple of teeth in a freak accident involving a cameraman and actress Betsy Baker (Ash’s girlfriend Linda in The Evil Dead) lost all of her fucking eyelashes after having a prosthetic mask removed from her face. Raimi would elude to this occupational hazard at the film’s premiere by hiring ambulances to park in front of the theater helping to build the hysteria around the blood-drenched flick. After filming principal scenes during conditions so cold it froze cameras and wiring, many actors bailed never to return The remaining crew—thirteen to be precise—took up residence in the cabin in Morristown, Tennessee where the movie was being filmed. There was no running water, no heat and as filming came to a close, the crew took to burning furniture to keep warm. The Evil Dead was a hit as was the follow-up, 1987’s Evil Dead 2, and the final film in the series, Army of Darkness.

So, in honor of Mr. Campbell reaching his seventh decade of being undeniably groovy, I thought it would be fun to take a look at photos taken on the set from all three Evil Dead films. Remember, all of this is possible thanks to a bunch of 20-somethings brave enough to go into the woods with lights, cameras, and a shit-ton of fake blood—hell-bent on creating horror history. Pretty much everything I’ve posted below is NSFW. Bow to the King, baby.
 

Bruce Campbell taking a look at Bad Ash with director Sam Raimi on the set of the 1992 film ‘Army of Darkness.’
 

Campbell in full prosthetics with cameraman James Fitzgerald on the set of ‘Army of Darkness.’
 
Much more after the jump…

 
Sam Raimi would have been no more than 19 years old when he directed Clockwork, but you can definitely see the horror-legend’s talents gestating in the bones of this little Super-8 thriller. Scott Spiegel, the writer, director, producer and actor who would eventually write the screenplay for Evil Dead 2, plays a stalker. His victim is Cheryl Guttridge—who did little in the way of acting, but later served as a “Fake Shemp” (a term associated with Sam Raimi) in The Evil Dead. (Ever notice how much influence the Three Stooges had on these films?)
 

 
What plays out is clearly a predecessor to his goofy gore franchise. It’s a great little short. There’s blood and screams and the sort of pop culture imagery that reminds the viewer—you are not safe, not even in the modern world (though the amenities of say, an S-Mart, can really help a guy out of a jam)! The use of alienating, electronic music builds suspense beautifully, while more traditionally orchestrated sounds add to the unease. There are some artfully executed classic horror shots, with some noir zooms thrown in for suspense. Enjoy the early work of this camp-horror auteur!
 

 
Starring Linda Quiroz and Sam Raimi as the Milkman, Attack of the Helping Hand! is a short film written, produced and directed by Scott Spiegel. Made in 1979, the film centers on a comic idea that would later reappear in Raimi’s film The Evil Dead (which Spiegel co-wrote).

As a plot device, the murderous disembodied hand made an early appearance in the Robert Florey/Curt Siodmak classic The Beast with Five Fingers (1946), which starred Peter Lorre. It would return with a vengeance when Michael Gough’s disembodied hand later blinded Christopher Lee in Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965), before becoming lovable as “Thing” in The Addams Family.

Spiegel (as Raimi did later) opted for a mix of horror and comedy in Attack of the Helping Hand! to enjoyable effect. It was shot by Raimi and actor Bruce Campell.
 

 
The idea behind Banned in the UK was that you can learn more about a country through what it bans rather than by what it permits. Made by the multi-talented producer/director Nicola Black, the series examined the who, what, whys? of bans on front line news coverage during the Falklands War, Derek and Clive, Rave Culture, football hooliganism and sexploitation, plus a host of other surprising no-nos.

This short clip is on the horror films which were either labeled Video Nasties (39 in total), or banned by the British Board of Film Classification (originally Censors until 1984), ranging from The Good: Sam Raimi’s classic The Evil Dead, Abel Ferrara’s Driller Killer,  Tenebrae. The Bad: Night of the Bloody Apes, The Living Dead of Manchester Morgue. And the Bloody Awful: SS Experiment Camp, Snuff. All of these films were considered to be a corrupting and dangerous influence, one which Conservative MP Christopher (not so) Bright claimed would “not only affect young people but I believe they affect dogs as well.”

When The Evil Dead failed to win its opening press screening in London due yo a ban, it relocated to Glasgow, where I was fortunate enough to see it. The film was a blast, and a joy to meet director Sam Raimi and his special effects man Tom Sullivan, who revealed the secrets of filming - the Dead’s hands made from Marigold gloves and glue; their entrails baked beans. Even then, it was more than apparent Raimi was an inspiring and exceptional genius, who had only great things ahead of him.

Here’s the back story of how Video Nasties nearly unhinged Britain’s youth in the 1980s. The horror, the horror…
 

 
Previously on Dangerous Minds

Nicola Black: Mesh Digital Animation

‘Mirrorball’: Chris Cunningham, Spike Jonze, Jonathan Glazer, Michel Gondry and co.