Ash from Army of Darkness – By David Hardy
An awesome caricature by David Hardy. After I posted Dave’s last artwork of Daryl from The Walking Dead, Dave asked who I’d like to see next! Who to choose… I went for everyone’s favourite undead slayer Ash from Army of Darkness. Awesome as usual.
Reanimator – The Graphic Novel
Created in 1921 by Lovecraft as a semi-parody of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the Reanimator story follows the creepy doctor Herbert West on his quest to conduct freaky experiments and create terrifying zombies. The character is likely best known from the epic 1985 film version, starring Jeffrey Combs in the title role.
Now the classic H.P. Lovecraft tale of the Reanimator is being re-imagined as a new comic series later this year. The comic will be written by Keith Davidsen with art by Randy Valiente, and published by Dynamite. The new series will see West headed to New Orleans to revamp his experiments, though it sounds like he’ll run afoul of the locals. Cue the epic voodoo battles. Dynamite has dabbled with the Reanimator franchise a few times in recent years via a one-shot issue, an Army of Darkness comic crossover.
Here’s the official synopsis for the run:
In Reanimator, Dr. Herbert West heads to New Orleans to continue his life’s work: the revival of the dead by purely chemical means. To accomplish this task, he recruits Susan Greene, a young and wide-eyed pharmacologist fascinated by his macabre experiments. Initially unfazed by West’s unorthodox practices (including how he funds his research – by selling zombie brain fluid as a narcotic), Susan may regret her scientific curiosity as sinister forces – those aligned with Elder Gods and Haitian Voodoo – begin to align against the Reanimator.
Bruce Campbell
Bruce Lorne Campbell (born June 22, 1958) is an American film and television actor. As a legendary, cult b-movie actor, Campbell starred as Ashley J. “Ash” Williams in Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead series of films and he has starred in many low-budget cult films such as Crimewave, Maniac Cop, Bubba Ho-tep, and Escape From L.A. He would later spoof his B-movie career in My Name is Bruce, in which he starred and directed. He has also made voice appearances in animated films, including Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Cars 2.
Campbell is also known for his television roles in The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess, and Burn Notice.
Bruce Campbell began acting as a teenager and soon began making short Super 8 movies with friends. After meeting Sam Raimi in Wylie E. Groves High School, the two became very good friends and started making movies together. Campbell would go on to attend Western Michigan University while he continued to work on his acting career. Campbell and Raimi collaborated on a 30-minute Super 8 version of the first Evil Dead film, titled Within the Woods, which was initially used to attract investors.
A few years later, Campbell and Raimi got together with family and friends and began work on The Evil Dead. Campbell starred and worked behind the camera, receiving a “co-executive producer” credit. Raimi wrote, directed and edited, while fellow Michigander Rob Tapert was producer. Following an endorsement by horror writer Stephen King, the film slowly began to receive distribution. Four years following its original release, it became the number one movie in the UK. It then received distribution in the U.S., spawning two sequels – Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness. The first two films in the series are considered horror classics and are credited with spawning the “horror comedy” genre.
He has appeared in many of Raimi’s films outside of the Evil Dead series, notably cameo roles in the Spider-Man film series. Bruce Campbell also joined the cast in Raimi’s Crimewave (1985), Darkman (1990) and his western, The Quick and the Dead (1995), though having no actual screen time in the latter film’s theatrical cut. He is also in the cast for Raimi’s forthcoming Oz: The Great and Powerful.
Campbell often takes on quirky roles, such as an old Elvis Presley in the film Bubba Ho-tep (2002), and starred in My Name is Bruce (2007). He is a huge horror icon due mainly to the Evil Dead franchise, Maniac Cop (1988), Intruder and The Dead Next Door (both 1989), Maniac Cop II (1990). Bigger budget Hollywood productions such as the Coen Brothers film The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), the Michael Crichton adaptation Congo (1995), the Jim Carrey drama The Majestic (2001), Escape From L.A. (1996), the sequel to John Carpenter’s Escape From New York.
In addition to acting and occasionally directing, Campbell has become a writer, including authoring an autobiography, If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor. The autobiography was a successful New York Times Best Seller. The paperback version of the book adds a chapter about the reaction of fans at book signings: “Whenever I do mainstream stuff, I think they’re pseudo-interested, but they’re still interested in seeing weirdo, offbeat stuff. And that’s what I’m attracted to.”
If Chins Could Kill… was published in 2002 and follows Campbell’s career to date as an actor in low-budget films and television, providing his insight into “Blue-Collar Hollywood”.
Campbell has also written a book titled Make Love! The Bruce Campbell Way, a comical novel featuring himself as the main character struggling to make it into the world of A-List movies. He later recorded an audio play adaptation of Make Love with fellow Michigan actors including long time collaborator Ted Raimi. This radio drama styled interpretation of the novel was released through independent label Rykodisc and spans 6 discs with a 6 hour running time.
In addition to his novels, Campbell also wrote comic book adaptations of his Man With The Screaming Brain and most recently he wrote the introduction to Josh Becker’s The Complete Guide To Low Budget Feature Film Making.
Campbell also maintains a blog on his official website and is active on Twitter, where he posts mainly about politics and the film industry.
On July 13, 2011, Campbell announced that he would be producing the remake of The Evil Dead along with Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert. Campbell will not act in the movie as Ash, but may still make some sort of appearance in the film. He had previously stated in a January 2010 interview that his new film project is called Bruce vs. Frankenstein. The film is directed and produced by his friend Mike Richardson.
Sam Raimi
Samuel Marshall “Sam” Raimi (October 23, 1959) is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing cult horror films like the ‘Evil Dead series’, Darkman’ and ‘Drag Me to Hell’, as well as the blockbuster ‘Spider-Man’ films and the producer of the successful TV series ‘Hercules: The Legendary Journeys’, Xena: Warrior Princess’, ‘Legend of the Seeker’ and ‘Spartacus: Blood and Sand’.
Raimi became fascinated with making films when his father brought a movie camera home one day and he began to make Super 8 movies with childhood friend Bruce Campbell. In college, he teamed up with his brother’s roommate Robert Tapert and Campbell to shoot ‘Within the Woods’ (1978), a 32-minute horror film which raised $375,000, as well as the short comedic film ‘It’s Murder!’. Through family, friends, and a network of investors Raimi was able to finance production of the highly successful horror film ‘The Evil Dead’ (1981) which became a cult hit and effectively launched Raimi’s career. He began work on his second film ‘Crimewave’ (1985), intended as a live-action comic-book, the film was not successful, due in part to unwanted studio intervention.
Raimi returned to the horror genre with the seminal ‘Evil Dead II’ (which added slapstick humor to the over the top horror, showcasing his love of the Three Stooges). With his brother Ivan Raimi (and crediting himself as Celia Abrams), Sam Raimi also wrote ‘Easy Wheels’ (1989), a parody of the Outlaw biker film genre. A long-time comic book buff, he then attempted to adapt “The Shadow” into a movie, but was unable to secure the rights, so he created his own super-hero, ‘Darkman’ (1990). The film was his first major studio picture, and was only moderately successful, but he was still able to secure funding for Evil Dead III which was retitled ‘Army of Darkness’, which turned away almost totally from horror, with the exception of a few memorable scenes, in favor of fantasy and comedy elements. Army of Darkness was a box office flop, yet on video became a cult classic, Army of Darkness was the final movie in the Evil Dead trilogy.
In the 1990s Raimi moved into other genres, directing such films as the western ‘The Quick and the Dead’ (1995) starring Sharon Stone and Gene Hackman, the critically acclaimed crime thriller ‘A Simple Plan’ (1998) starring Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton, the romantic drama ‘For the Love of the Game’ (1999) starring Kevin Costner and the suspense thriller ‘The Gift’ (2000) with Kate Blanchett. Raimi then achieved great critical and commercial success with the blockbuster ‘Spider-Man’ (2002), which was adapted from the comic book series. The movie has grossed over $800 million worldwide, spawning two sequels: ‘Spider-Man 2’ (2004) and ‘Spider-Man 3’ (2007), both directed by Raimi and both grossing roughly $800 million each.
Raimi returned to the horror genre with Drag Me to Hell is a 2009 American horror film, directed by Raimi, with a screenplay by Sam and Ivan Raimi. The plot focuses on loan officer Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), who tries to impress her boss by refusing to extend a loan to a gypsy woman by the name of Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver). In retaliation, Ganush places a curse on Christine that, after three days of escalating torment, will plunge her into the depths of Hell to burn for eternity. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and was released to wide critical acclaim. It was also a box office success, making $90.8 million worldwide on a $30 million budget. Drag Me to Hell also won the award for Best Horror Film at the 2009 Scream Awards and the 2010 Saturn Awards.
Raimi is currently directing ‘Oz The Great and Powerful’, a prequel to ‘The Wizard of Oz’, which will be released in 2013 by Walt Disney Pictures.
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