2008 Woodie Awards
B-list icon deserves some notice and honor from all
Andy Downs
Issue date: 7/2/07 Section: Opinions
I can hear it now.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the lifetime achievement award goes to...Bruce Campbell!"
Let's face it, the man with the best chin in the biz (Jay Leno doesn't even compare) deserves a little bit of recognition for all the good things he's done in film.
For those of you who don't know or are unfamiliar with this cult-film hero, Bruce Campbell is a legend known for his over-the-top dramatic acting, clever quips and one-liners and badass skills in beating the hell out of the walking dead.
He is best known for his role as the ass-kicking, oblivious, tough guy, Ash Williams in the "Evil Dead" series.
As it goes, "Evil Dead 1" was a pretty good horror film with enough corny blood and gore to make Wes Craven queasy.
But with "Evil Dead 2," the dead-killing Ash shines as more of a witty idiot, giving those dramatic terrified or confused looks with his furrowed eyebrows and jutting chin for the close-up shots that make this horror sequel one of the funniest scary movies ever.
The simple idea of Ash returning to the same cabin he was forced to kill his possessed friends at in the first film, finding the same book and same tape recorder and having to do it all over again is the perfect setting for a good old fashioned bloody laugh fest.
"Evil Dead 2" has the idea of scary, gory horror flick, but it's spiced up with director Sam Raimi's love for slapstick humor in the tradition of the Three Stooges.
Campbell could have quit after "Evil Dead 2" and still been "the man" with his self-attached chainsaw-hand, ripped shirt and shotgun strewn across his back, but no, he had to go and make himself even more legendary with a third film.
"Army of Darkness" took Campbell to the top of cult-film success and cemented the actor as the best-known unknown actor.
If "Evil Dead" was scary, and "Evil Dead 2" was a little scary and a little funny, "Army of Darkness" is all funny, and it's all because of Ash.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the lifetime achievement award goes to...Bruce Campbell!"
Let's face it, the man with the best chin in the biz (Jay Leno doesn't even compare) deserves a little bit of recognition for all the good things he's done in film.
For those of you who don't know or are unfamiliar with this cult-film hero, Bruce Campbell is a legend known for his over-the-top dramatic acting, clever quips and one-liners and badass skills in beating the hell out of the walking dead.
He is best known for his role as the ass-kicking, oblivious, tough guy, Ash Williams in the "Evil Dead" series.
As it goes, "Evil Dead 1" was a pretty good horror film with enough corny blood and gore to make Wes Craven queasy.
But with "Evil Dead 2," the dead-killing Ash shines as more of a witty idiot, giving those dramatic terrified or confused looks with his furrowed eyebrows and jutting chin for the close-up shots that make this horror sequel one of the funniest scary movies ever.
The simple idea of Ash returning to the same cabin he was forced to kill his possessed friends at in the first film, finding the same book and same tape recorder and having to do it all over again is the perfect setting for a good old fashioned bloody laugh fest.
"Evil Dead 2" has the idea of scary, gory horror flick, but it's spiced up with director Sam Raimi's love for slapstick humor in the tradition of the Three Stooges.
Campbell could have quit after "Evil Dead 2" and still been "the man" with his self-attached chainsaw-hand, ripped shirt and shotgun strewn across his back, but no, he had to go and make himself even more legendary with a third film.
"Army of Darkness" took Campbell to the top of cult-film success and cemented the actor as the best-known unknown actor.
If "Evil Dead" was scary, and "Evil Dead 2" was a little scary and a little funny, "Army of Darkness" is all funny, and it's all because of Ash.