 Hello, and welcome to Release Date Rewind. My name is Marc J. Parker, and I am a film lover, filmmaker, film celebrator. And normally this is an audio podcast, wherever you get your podcasts on your favorite apps. But thanks to Portland Media Center, you are about to watch the video component of this show where I celebrate movie anniversaries with my friends. Each month I usually talk about two different movies that I love with different friends, and we talk about the making of the movies, Trivia, any fun memories associated with them. So I hope you enjoy, because now it's time to Rewind. Yeah, and they were so young. So young. 20, 20, 20. I know. I know the same. So Bruce Campbell had to be older than 20. He was 21. He was so cute. You could see him now. Yeah, because I did the math. He's a little baby face. 40 years ago, like this time, he was 24. So yeah, once the, you know, the movie came out really in 81, and then making it, so yeah, he was only like around 21. And it's funny because he seems older, but I say that about everyone, like, see these old movies. Well, the moccasins. And he was kind of dressed like old man-like. Right. And also, everyone just carried themselves differently. In the 80s. Like old times. Yeah. He carries himself in general, Bruce Campbell carries himself like a much older movie star. Yes. Because those are the people that he idolized. He's more like kind of like a Jimmy Stewart or, you know, like very old-timey in his just general demeanor, I think. Great. That's another great point. Yeah, because you're right. We, where we really came of age, like youth was like so important. We had these casts of, you know, the WB, we had these movies, Titanic, like Kitty and I talked about. I mean, like the stars were like early 20s. So that's so interesting. When he was younger, the stars were like older people, right? Yeah, they were these, these like macho men and these, these like famous women, these movie star adults, whereas we got more, the teen craze was like so popular for us. So yeah, that's interesting. Wow. This is like therapy. I think I just unlocked something. Okay. Good to know. Anyway, okay. So now let me tell you a little bit more about them. So obviously, yeah, they had been friends. They were making shorts, lots of shorts together. I looked on their IMDb, Sam Raimi made a few shorts, but Bruce Campbell was making a ton of little shorts and student films and all this stuff. So how perfect they find each other. They make this movie. Producer Robert G. Tappert also made this film with them. They had all produced the short film Within the Woods in 1978. Have you guys seen it? Is it online? No. I wonder if you could find it. I don't know. I didn't have time to look. Cause I thought I kept reading about it and I was like, oh, I'd like to see it cause Bruce Campbell and what's up, Cheryl. Alexander was. Yeah. She's in it too. Yeah. He glades like the monster, the dead eye. There's a whole chapter and if Chynns could kill about it. And so that's, I'm like, oh my God, I have to find this. So probably after we wrap, I'm going to look and see if I can find it somewhere. Yes. I wonder if Archive has it. Cause Archive has it. Yeah. Archive.org. Right. They are a great site. They have so much. Yes. But Jackie, since obviously people who are listening can't see it, but people who are watching. Why don't you hold up your book? Tell us about the Chynns book. What is it called? If these. Chynns could kill. I am a Bruce Campbell fan girl. I met him at a convention and he signed my book. I love it. Can you show us his signature? His autograph? Where is it? Was he cool? Was he so nice? Oh my God. He called me sweetheart. I like. I'm so jealous. I was like, you bitch. Oh, that's an autograph, baby. And he was like, he's like, all right sweetheart, it was great to meet you. And then he talks to Chris and then he's like, all right, get out of here, you son of a bitch. Wow. Wow. He's like. Chris was like, I made it. I made it. That's. Where did you know? Which convention did you go to? To see him? NYCC. So he was there. He had a panel and he's just so. I think that, you know, people really there's a misconception between the characters that he plays and the person that he is because yeah, you know, he's not the himbo that he usually portrays. He's actually very intelligent, very, very good at crowd work. And so it was like listening to his experiences. It just sounded like he had so much fun. Yeah. Even through all the torture that. Yeah. I don't know how making this film was a lot of fun, but it's a great story. He had more fun doing Xena to be fairer than doing like. That's what I fell in love with him. Oh my God. I forgot he was in Xena. I had an action figure of him for a while. Did you really? I had all the Xena action figures, including him. We talked about this. Yeah. I love that. I was like, this is my talk. So that's, that's how you met him. That's your, your in to Bruce Campbell was through Xena, right? Xena. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And Hercules as well. Oh yeah. God, I love those shows. They were right. They don't make them like they used to. No. Rob Tapper is married to Lucy Lawless, which is ironic. Lucy Lawless thought Evil Dead was appalling. Like she hated it. She's like, these are horrible people that made this movie. And then she ends up marrying one of the producers. Oh my God. That's perfect. And isn't Evil Dead the ass versus Evil Dead? She's in the show. Yes. Right. I do know that. Yeah. And she's phenomenal. I love her. Oh, I didn't realize. Oh my God. I didn't realize that connection. That's so awesome. Look at this great little funky, small world of fantasy horror. I love it. Okay. I know. But they used the same movie they used in the film with in the woods and they use that as their proof of concept, right, which is the thing many indie filmmakers still do today. And that bill slowly built interest from investors and they secured some money and then more money and like we said, then they finally get the money to make the evil dead a few years later, right. Stephen King absolutely helped this movie get some attention. That then got Fangoria magazine attention. So they started writing about it. And then that's what then helped New Line Cinema look at it seriously. And I thought this was interesting. Did you guys see that it's funny cuz they do this every once in a while nowadays, but it's like the film industry Like kind of hates it new line did something totally new totally rare back then they released the movie in theaters and on VHS I thought that was interesting They did that in UK as well and in Germany. They did it in a couple different countries Yeah, they did the release to video and theaters at the same time and then it got banned in like UK and Germany and Germany Definitely, yeah, we just got it back 2016. They're like, wow. Yeah, I still Wow You would think Germans could handle it. I mean like what's you know, like a lot of nerve Right I'll start with you Katie. When did you first see this movie? Do you remember like how old you were? Where were you? It's weird. So I Saw army of darkness first. I remember seeing army of darkness first because my parents really liked it And I remember watching at my mom like this is really weird When he like splits into like my mom's like what the fuck are we watching and then like and then it went on She's like, oh, this is actually pretty great. Like she realized, you know But yeah, so I didn't see the first two For years and it's been a long time since I'd seen upon this rewatch I was like, oh, I forgot a lot about you know, it's been years and years I don't remember. I think it might have been like on TV or something because they always They usually played army of darkness on TV. Like yes, they're good I find that to sometimes evil did the first one very rare So I may be only seen evil dad the first one maybe once or twice max evil That's what I'd seen a couple times and army of darkness a bunch. Yeah, how funny yeah, okay Cuz I remember army of darkness was a thing that came out. I want to say in 92. I think yeah, that just had its 30 93 Yeah, yeah, there you go, but I remember that was on TV a lot. You're right Katie and I remember being intrigued I know that's kind of them. Would you say that cuz I saw them saying it would you say that's like the funniest of the three? Yeah, it's my favorite. Yeah, it gets the most zany It fully hits the stride that they were going for and I it's funny because people that watch army of darkness and ash versus evil Dead if you watch the first one are shocked by how serious it is Serious horror movie. There's no comedy. There's no right. Ash is not groovy. Like he's not there. Yeah, yeah Right, he's not exactly He does have that chainsaw moment. Yeah, which they at least hinted at like maybe what was to come if they ever were lucky enough They had no plans for sequels They did not plan to make a sequel they sold the rights To that's why they had to kind of redo the beginning Because I was watching the second I was like Remember again have been years and I read I'm like that makes sense. They sold the rights They could not use scenes from the first to do the second so they had to redo that's been a constant throughout the entire series Even throughout army of darkness different action company the rights are tied up Yeah, they couldn't have access to army of darkness for ash versus evil dead So they could only reference the first two movies for the first season. So it's The third season just had scenes from army of darkness. Yes No, it had once they got to season 2 they were able to incorporate it and so that's why we got the story lines that we did but Yeah, it's just it's so weird with it. It's so interesting to see how that was a constant theme But they had no plans for a sequel So I love that they went back to the chainsaw because you would see all the chainsaw. They're building up They were like, oh, just put the chainsaw. It's pretty cool. It's funny. It's sort of accidental. Yeah So that's interesting because yeah, I did see online that new line of course So they released the first one, but then I saw they didn't release another one until I guess this new film Evil Dead Rise is new line. I guess I guess other studios Yeah, so that would explain again like how rights were jumping around and yeah, that gets so complicated for a franchise Geez that's like the Halloween franchise the how it bounced around and you couldn't reference certain things and yeah Interesting. Okay So, yeah, I remember it was on TV a lot But then I remember learning at a young age like oh, this is a sequel. Oh, well, I think right I'll have to watch it in order because I was never really to this day I'm not really one to watch things out of order, you know, but I love that Katie You just were like, I'm just gonna start with army of darkness. I mean, I feel like army of darkness You could watch on its own. Yeah, it totally Yeah, yeah, even Evil Dead 2 you can because they do explain the beginning right right. How about you Jackie? When did you first see Evil Dead? How did you find it? Tell me so it was similar to Katie I watched army of darkness and Mark Howard's basement. I'm pretty sure he Yeah, no, we I think reddit it from the Suncoast on Main Street and I loved yes, that was such a great video. I loved so much in there their cardboard cutouts I was like they had the best selection. They had like I just movies that you typically wouldn't get in like a blockbuster Yeah, no, that was like love that movie but Between that and then cemetery man with Rupert Everett. I love cemetery man Was very attractive like I remember like seeing that younger me like whoa the guy from my best friend's wedding is like Again, it was a like all of that really kind of like schlocky comedic Yeah, I feel like that's what he was into. So, you know, anytime we don't get together You know, that's what we'd be watching. So I watched army of darkness first. I completely fell in love with it Oh Well, I mean too, like that's the one where Bruce is the hottest. Let's let's be okay. Yeah, like peak hot I was in high school. Yeah, like he had the long hair, you know, it's just yeah So, I mean it was the perfect storm. So I saw that and then in college. I Rob Zombie had a show on Turner classic movies. Oh, yeah, it was like the movie movies and I loved it I saw for the first time. Oh, wow in college. Oh, yeah uncut so like Again, I dipped my toe into the horror waters like so much later like you started with scream Oh, and then it was like baby steps baby steps final destination. Oh, mommy mommy Jackie and the mummy You This actually this movie has so much in common this series has so much in common with the mummy I'm not surprised I got into it because if you think about it book of the dead you open the book you're not supposed to read the book and You know ancient Egyptian mythology Middle Eastern mythology, it's just different flavors of the same thing You got a himbo with a gun. That's true. You know, it's just different flavors of the dumb white guy Return the ball. Yeah Yeah, so Rob zombie had that show and that's where I saw evil dead that he would show things like good cult films I'm a faster pussycat kill kill Culture guys was on there and that's how I saw evil dead for the first time Wow, and I had already been into like I'd already seen evil dead, too I'd already seen our darkness and so it did kind of to I agree with what you said Katie It took me by surprise where I was like, oh, wow, this is so serious But you like I feel like it's a foundation. Yeah, it's a foundation to the entire series You're doing yourself a disservice if you don't watch it. It's a foundation for all the mythology Wow Interesting and you know think about it. So The first one is the most serious of course It's schlocky and there's a couple little funny moments, but yeah, like you guys are saying it's serious But then think of where horror was so at that time Yeah, with Friday the 13th with Halloween the horror was pretty serious for the most part at that era But then as you because I believe evil dead 2 came out in 87 That was already now Freddie was king and like he was kind of funny, right? And I'm time bitch, right? Absolutely that was 87 was was nightmare 3 and that's when he really became I mean, I love nightmare 3 We were just talking about that in my life easily It's my favorite Warriors, I love dream warriors. I love 1 3 and 7 new nightmare. Those are my Nightmare gets slack and you know, I always loved it. Oh, yeah, I remember watching that in Florida at your house Katie I remember watching new nightmare and the cell we like we're watching like old old scary movies at that time But yeah, I love those three. But yeah, you're right new nightmare. I'm sorry nightmare 3 87 evil dead 2 87 Chucky was an 88 So like horror that was kind of like entering peak level of like Still total gross horror, but like comedy. It was super fun So that would make sense and then by you know early 90s when army of darkness came out, you know Then we have yeah the cemetery man's we have like brain dead We have some carpenter stuff. We're like, yeah Horror comedy was kind of like and like funky horror comedy Like not like horror comedy nowadays where it's like jokes and then murder. It was like weird horror comedy You know Like the Beetlejuice kind of like mentality and everything, right? You needed to have a physicality about you to carry off what you were trying to put on screen I feel like a lot of these particularly with like something like evil dead 2 or army of darkness or any like Even like the child's play movies There has to be a certain level of physicality that you have to be able to carry it off or it doesn't work That's a good point. Yeah, well said. I love that You know cuz army of darkness came out right around the time leprechaun, which I've talked about Goofy which leprechaun is absolutely inspired by this movie with the low running angles, you know and touch angle baby And then leprechaun's fingers get you know slammed in the door like actually leprechaun I forgot is so inspired by this movie totally I'll tell you real quick about how I Started discovering this movie. So I would always heard about it. I feel like but I didn't know I didn't even really understand what it was until sort of Donnie Darko because One of my all-time faves that I've covered on the show in Donnie Darko Jake Gyllenhaal and Jenna Malone are at the movie theater watching Evil Dead With the porch swing the porch swing and I remember thinking it wasn't until later when I realized what I knew it from yes Because I remember in the movie totally forgot about that. Yeah, it's they're showing it at the theater They walk into the theater and it even the camera pans up and it says the evil den. I was like, oh, yeah that movie I don't know it, but I heard it's great And then yeah, we see the car coming up that porch swing Which is like that like just rhythmic banging, right? And I remember watching Donnie Darko be like what that is this evil dead? What the hell is this movie? It's just this porch banging and then the porch swing banging and then they even show a shot of Cheryl Like looking and that's at the moment when she's drawing and the clock, you know So it's so funny now to have seen the movie a few times and no like cuz back during Donnie Darko I had never seen it so I'm like that movie looks weird and I remember in Donnie Darko I think the screen there's like the portal thing with the rabbit, you know And so I'm like well wait, is that what the evil dead looks like or is that now Donnie Darko's effects? Like I couldn't tell where evil dead was ending and now where Donnie Darko is you know continuing But so that's when I first kind of started seeing clips And then I actually think I didn't really see the movie in full until ten years ago So even later after you guys probably ten years ago to get excited for the evil dead remake 2013 So that's when I jumped into the first evil dead although Let me tell you going back to Kate Sheehan She and her friend Matt and I Sophomore year of college when I was living in New York I just moved to New York the evil dead musical was playing off Broadway I am going this year. I am going this year. Is it good? Oh, oh my god I loved it and again, I didn't really know a lot of it I just knew like oh, yeah, I've seen clips like I know it and evil dead The musical is basically act one is all of evil dead act two is all of evil dead two So then it gets really silly and the chainsaw hand and I was not in the splatter zone. No, I we were we took the cheap seats way in the back But oh my god, and I'm so I'm actually so excited It's happening an hour away from me in Nashua, New Hampshire this summer So I got I was almost honestly guys. I was like wait, can I like can I be in it? Like let me look up the like audition stuff. I'm like, but it's an hour away That's gonna be a drive back and forth for rehearsal. So I won't be in it I'm not gonna audition, but I am totally gonna go. Yeah, it's a fun musical I'm very excited to check it out again because that was years ago. I I can't remember everything, but it's fun There's an animatronic. I don't want to spoil it for Jackie. It's like a moose There's a moose the head and like it's singing and it's a music Yeah, I I loved it I saw it at the New World stages On 50th Street, and I feel like Katie I might have taken you there to block heads maybe one time Mexican place. Yeah, we went to block heads. It was not far from the theater We saw Sweeney Todd in the Ziegfeld so it was in the 50s, but what are some scenes or moments or shots or lines? What do you love? I Well, first of all, I love the demon point of view where it's going through the Forest and with the sound effect. Oh, it gets it's so jarring. Um, I love Um, I love that I just think it's so cool and creepy And I love that we don't really see it ever in any of the movies like you're just this disembodied entity And you're like, is it a thing? Is it there? Is it like, you know, what is it? It's like the myth like it's always scariest. The unseen is always scariest, you know, you don't see the monster You're just like see the point of view. I love that. I love the camera angles And I love I love Cheryl in the cellar like I love that whole and I love her point of view with a Like her sounds just like watching her breath like and they're just like why are her eyes like that? I'm just like I just she's yes, I wrote that line down Katie I love when Shelly goes but why are her eyes like that and we just see her hand, you know, and the chains. Yes I that's all the POV shots work really well, but Cheryl's POV under that door is like extra great And it's just like it's a low budget movie But they make the most of like everything with like the camera angles and like of course the acting and the special effects and you know They make the most of like, you know There's a when they go in the cabin and it's like kind of smoky like when they first enter That was one of the producers like smoking a cigarette. They didn't have a fog machine that day So I just do that like they just really made it work that it works like they Really like I love that like you don't need a million dollars like they made it work But yeah, I love I love that whole scene with Cheryl I'm like talking Linda when she's like sitting in Indian Chris Cross can't say anything about it. Chris Cross applesauce just staring I'm like that is scarier than any like going out with she's just like watching And then the two and then Cheryl Yes, right because they're not doing anything. It's scary when they're not doing anything. Yes, they're just waiting Yes, Jinx and what's the song she sings because I know they sing it in the 2013 one We're gonna get you Don't make a pee. Yeah, don't make a peep go to sleep They just have this look like they're just having a lot of fun, too I mean, I know they weren't but they seem like they were because it was a little sheep But I did read that those contacts were rough. I read you guys probably saw this too They could only put them in for 15 minutes at a time because it was just like ruin their eyes Take like 10 minutes to put in and then they had to stop like four or five times Yeah, I think Bruce Campbell described it as like Tupperware over. Yes, I saw that too So, you know, Matt Crofts to them for dealing with that nonsense, but it looked great. It was really cool But that's what I that's what I love about the movie I just think it's something to and like kind of everything we talked about before of being different with like There's not like the sex drugs and alcohol thing they could have gone. It's like just yeah Yeah, they're like a more elevated group of college friends for sure Yeah, yeah, and of course Bruce Campbell. Hello. Oh, I know He is so great and I do appreciate it's hard because we especially you guys seeing the sequels first You already knew that he survived this one, right? But I do appreciate how there's kind of like no lead for the beginning You actually kind of think Cheryl is sort of the lead, you know, because she's she's seeing things first and Yeah Version of expectations Girls final guy, but even ash was supposed to die at the end. Oh was he okay? Yeah, I do love the ending I love that last year. Yes. Yeah, such a good shot. Oh, yeah If there were no sequels, I would assume oh ash gets it too. No one makes it out a lot You know, yeah, I love and I love how yeah, like you you bring up like final boy scream guy and That again great POV shot and it goes through the house, you know through the back door through the front door He turns around and he and he has the last scream much like typically a girl would kind of have that last scream You know so that I I really do love that ending. What about you Jackie? What are some fun line scenes shots? Tell me what else you love about this one? Well, I really I'm somebody that enjoys special effects, especially practical effects So I thought that they did such a good job with what little they had Although if I saw more milk, I was like, I'm done Yeah, I don't do I don't do dairy Yeah, now look and creamed corn. I'm like I already just watched all my cakes. I'm done I'm done with the cream corn. All right, and it's funny. You bring up a good You just made me remember that an alien in 79 iconic, right? a lot of like spewing of the white like liquid all of that was rancid milk around Ian home and then Lance Henriksen had to do it again Yeah aliens Oh, yeah, so gross. It's so gross, but it looks so good. It does it it works, you know And in this case it just looks like Demon bile or whatever shooting out of mouths and eyes and out of like a stump I think it's I think it's Shelly's stump once they cut off her hand. It's just like spewing There's a couple stumps. Oh, yeah, there's a lot of stumps Well, you know and they use the milk and I know I thought the same big Jackie It was like it was so for the time having all those twitching body parts when they I mean that was Basically unheard of you didn't do that in a movie, you know You get like, you know Kevin Bacon got the arrow to the throat and then there was a blood geyser and that was it This was like a prolonged like I love that body parts are twitching Yeah, it was really really well done And the actress had to go through the floor and like just put her head through the floor for the million and Rami's known for it like doing a ton of shots and setting that up imagine having the eight hours a day You're just like, oh my god And each set up you're just like, yep, I'm just gonna have to stand here with my head Oh my god. Yeah But yeah, no the special effects really really do it for me And there was that scene where he's dragging Linda out and she's like laughing like like a munchkin Like the munchkins doing the Wizard of Oz and I'm like, this is Terrified. Oh, yeah, this is like, okay, cuz a lot of it you can kind of write off, you know We've but we talked about saw to you know like we've seen Grocer scarier, but that really still has staying power. Like that was genuinely eerie I'm so glad you bring that up because I wrote that down on my notes the way she is still so committed as like leaves or probably going up Her butt. Yeah, he's dragging her but she is looking maniacal and she's laughing Really really awesome job. I love that whole bit. Yes. Well, and I hate I hate the scene But we're gonna have to bring it up anyway. Oh, yeah, which I know. Yes. Yeah, it latched on to her I really I hate that scene. Yeah, tell me so tell me why Remy regrets that he oh original script was her to get attacked and then Yeah, I kind of like you should go further it should like we should really make it visceral and really make it You know, so Remy actually regrets it going that far. I kind of thought it happened. So I kind of like 10 stuff And I'm like, I hate this part. Oh, I know she is for what it is What I like about it is that Ellen sand always is so Good she is such a good actress and really really sells the you know, the trauma of it and Just how you know when she finally gets inside and they try to leave and the bridges collapse like she's hysterical like, you know, I really I was like, you know what you're doing an amazing job. Keep it up. Yeah Thanks so much for watching next time there's gonna be a new movie that we'll talk about so stay tuned and please follow release date rewind on Instagram for updates. Bye