Celebrating Bruce Campbell At BruceFest 2022
“Remember the one thing you said I couldn’t do at BruceFest?” he asked as he got down on one knee to propose.
And thus ended BruceFest 2022, the film festival-cum-fan convention dedicated to Bruce Campbell. This event was the second annual BruceFest and, like the year before, it featured a wide array of horror, drama, action and, yes, even a little romance.
The event took place at The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. Horror fans may know The Stanley as the hotel that inspired Stephen King to write The Shining. Jack Torrance was nowhere to be seen, however, as he probably knew that his axe was no match for Ash Williams’ chainsaw.
Also Read: The Top Horror Franchise Films of 2022, Ranked
Bruce Campbell was there, however, and he spent three days interacting with hundreds of fans; telling stories, making jokes, and even presiding over proposals.
BruceFest was produced by Black Ink Presents, who partnered with the APA Agency, Steady LLC, Saber Interactive, and The Stanley Hotel to create a three-day interactive, immersive fan experience for fans of the one and only Bruce Campbell.
“This was the brilliant brainchild of Selena Moshell and Danny Sax, our booker,” said Molly Wallace, the Director of Marketing for Black Ink Presents. “They just had this brilliant idea to have a festival all about Bruce. And what better place to have it than at The Stanley Hotel?”
What better place indeed. Moshell and Black Ink Presents have worked previously at The Stanley, so it was a no-brainer to come back.
“Bruce’s incredible agent, Craig Newman at APA, is one of our longtime collaborators,” said Selena Moshell, the Creative Director for BruceFest. “We do a lot of work with him and he approached our company, Black Ink Presents, based out of LA, to create a festival around one of his top clients, Bruce Campbell. I grew up watching The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. and all of those kinds of things, so I jumped on it! I was like, “Absolutely, this is easy, low-hanging fruit. We can make this a huge fest because he’s got the best fan base – the nicest people, the most loyal, everything.”
Also Read: ‘Dead End’ is a Mind-Bending Holiday Horror Treat [Watch]
There were film screenings, cocktail parties, game shows, after-hours dances, and so much more. Campbell was joined by none other than Ted Raimi (brother of director Sam) and, together, the two treated the entire weekend as a two-man show, offering wisecracks and anecdotes to fans who probably thought they knew everything about Campbell’s career and the Evil Dead movies.
They didn’t.
Campbell and Raimi offered a running commentary during screenings of both Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness, providing quips and cracks throughout both films.
“So, making Evil Dead II, we couldn’t get the rights to our own movie, so we thought ‘Let’s just cut our own little recap,’” Campbell told the audience. “And people thought Ash was stupid enough to go back to the cabin for another night with new friends. The same problem happens with Army of Darkness. All of a sudden Bridget Fonda is Linda? That’s fucked up.”
Campbell then gave some good, albeit probably illegal advice to any budding film editors in the audience.
Also Read: The 10 Best Horror Kills of 2022
“Here’s what you do, all you internet illegal downloadians” he started. “When Evil Dead 1 ends, the evil entity comes up to his face. You can cut right to Evil Dead II when he’s caught in the mousetrap. He lands, the story plays, it makes perfect sense. Then Evil Dead II ends. He lands in 1300 A.D. You go right [to the point] where he lands, and that’s Army of Darkness. Everything would make perfect sense. Perfect sense. But having to do these fake recaps for two movies, people were like ‘What’s happening?’ Lawyers. That’s what’s happening.”
In addition to Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness, Campbell also gave commentary over Don Coscarelli’s cult film, Bubba Ho-Tep. This film, of course, sees Campbell as an aging (but still alive) Elvis Presley who teams with (also alive…and black) John F. Kennedy to take down an evil, ancient Egyptian mummy.
“Don Coscarelli is a great filmmaker,” Campbell said. “He’s a contemporary of ours. He made Phantasm roughly around the same time Evil Dead was made. He contacted me about being in this movie. I read the script and it was easily the weirdest script I’ve ever read. Easily. And I asked him one question. I said, ‘Don, okay you want me in this movie? Here’s my one question: Do you see it? Do you see the penis cancer?”
Oh yeah, we forgot to mention. Elvis also has cancer of the penis (which probably isn’t all that different from Elvis’ true-to-life ailments, if rumors are to be believed).
Also Read: Dewey’s Death in ‘Scream’ Was 2022’s Most Tragic Horror Moment
“Because, if his answer is yes, he’s making a John Waters movie,” Campbell continued. “And you can’t get that back. And he goes, ‘No.’ So I went, ‘Okay, let’s keep talking.’ My second question was, ‘How long are you going to take to shoot this movie? Most low-budget movies are about 15 days. If anyone knows anything about filmmaking, that sucks rock hard ass. He goes, ‘Six weeks.’ I go, ‘You’re not a hack, I’m in.’”
And thus, cinema history was created.
In addition to film commentaries, Campbell also hosted one of his trademark ‘Last Fan Standing’ game shows. He and Raimi served cocktails at the ‘S-Mart Holiday Party.’ Campbell even had to channel his inner Ash to take on an ancient Kandarian Demon who possessed the CEO of S-Mart, Bradley Smart. This served as the conclusion to the weekend-long immersive story being told, in which Smart was possessed by demons while a man named Chester Eckles was trying to save him. It was a continuation of last year’s story and it ended with Campbell saving Smart’s life, and his soul, while fans looked on.
“Well, as you know, with S-Mart, our flagship store is in Detroit,” Smart said. “We’re a Michigan chain and, of course, the boys are from Detroit. So when the Black Ink folks approached us about sponsoring the Fest, it was a real natural fit.”
That interview, much like many other things that occurred throughout the weekend, blurred the lines between fiction and reality but one thing remained true: the fans of Bruce Campbell experienced a weekend that they would never forget.
Also Read: The 10 Best ‘Murder, She Wrote’ Episodes For Horror Fans
“My favorite thing about this festival is the fans,” Smart stated. “I didn’t expect it. I’m not much of a horror fan myself. Heck, last year I was saying the name wrong. The whole time, I was calling it Evil Death! And nobody corrected me. But coming here and meeting the fans; they’re just so wonderful and I feel like I’ve made real friendships, just bobbing around over the weekend. That’s really the best part.”
Most people would agree. Horror fans are unlike any other. Many of them (us) are socially awkward and anxious. They (we) prefer to stay indoors, immersing themselves in fictional worlds so as to avoid the real one.
That’s what Nina did for a long time. Nina is a fairly new fan of Bruce Campbell and his work but, she said, his movies have inspired her to take back control of her own life.
“I literally just watched his movies about six months ago,” Nina said. “But I have ADHD and so I’ve fixated and now I’m an expert.”
As an expert, Nina was asked what she would say to Bruce Campbell, if she could tell him just one thing.
Also Read: Why ‘The Square’ Is The Best Horror Film About Art
“I would just say ‘Thank you for being so grounded and humble and being an advocate for the types of movies he’s in,’” she stated. “I feel like people in Hollywood usually say ‘B Movies’ as a derogatory term. And I just love how passionate he is about what he does and the types of movies he’s in. He’s not airheaded or egotistical about it. He’s just very grounded. And it’s very inspiring.”
Nina said that, lately, she’s needed some inspiration. And she found it in the Evil Dead films.
“These past six months have been pretty lonely,” she said. “But I got my first job around the same time that I started watching Evil Dead. And so, I’ve almost learned to be able to talk to people through my job, and I’ve also learned how to connect with people and make new friends through this festival, and that’s really amazing and fun. I feel like watching these movies is a rite of passage. And there’s so much comedy in them. I study comedy like it’s a science. And I think it’s fascinating how it affects people’s mental health and how people are able to connect with each other through it. It’s like an entirely different language and an entirely different culture in and of itself. And so, I just think the mental health aspect of laughter can be very rejuvenating for some.”
There was certainly a lot of laughter throughout this weekend. There were a lot of smiles. And there were even some tears.
Also Read: ‘Daughters of Darkness’ And Discovering Sexual Freedom
These were tears of joy, however. They came at the end of BruceFest and pretty much left every single one of these hardcore horror movie fans wiping their eyes. One of the other events that took place that weekend was a cosplay contest. The contest featured all the usual characters: Ash, The Dark Man, The Man with the Screaming Brain, and more. But it was a man who dressed up as Ash, and his boyfriend, who dressed up like Cheryl, that absolutely stole the show. Their names were Zach and Mason and it was truly a tale of Beauty and the Beast.
Zach and Mason won the contest and, as Selena Moshell guided Mason in his acting abilities, Zach took a knee, and pulled out a ring.
“Remember the one thing you told me I couldn’t do at BruceFest?” Zach asked. “I’ve been carrying this ring around for three months, waiting for the right moment to do it.”
“Not in his butt,” Ted Raimi interjected, because why wouldn’t he?
“You’re the only man that will put up with my ‘90s action movies, that will pretend with me that I know how to cook, and that will tolerate my incessant need to completely clean the house five times a week,” Zach continued. “I couldn’t think of anybody else that I would rather go to BruceFest with, and I couldn’t think of anyone else that I’d rather start a family with.”
Also Read: ‘Wind Chill’ is a Forgotten, and Terrifying, Christmas Gem
Mason said yes.
Then, they kissed.
“And just to say this,” Bruce Campbell closed, “I’ve enjoyed all of my marriages.”
There couldn’t have been a better ending to BruceFest; a proposal, a kiss, and a wisecrack from the King himself.
BruceFest 2022 was a lot of things for a lot of people. For some, it was an escape. To others, it was a vacation. To others, still, it was a chance to meet an idol – somebody that showed them not to cower in the face of fear or back down from the things that go bump in the night. But for all of the attendees, it was a chance to be fully, wholly, themselves.
That’s what BruceFest was, more than anything else. It was a judgment-free zone, a safe place. It was a chance for the losers, the outcasts, the midnight marauders to bust out their dancing shoes, rev up their chainsaws, and be fully immersed in a world where good triumphs over evil. This was a place where, at the end of the movie, the guy gets the girl (or the other guy). It was a place for fans of Bruce Campbell to come together and make new friends; to remind each other that they’re not alone in this world; to shake hands, or high five, or to fall in love. It was a place to feel like a hero, if only for a weekend.
Whether it happens in the Rocky Mountains of Estes Park or somewhere else entirely, BruceFest will remain a destination for horror fans of all shapes, sizes, ages, and backgrounds. Because that’s what Bruce Campbell represents. He’s an everyman who proved that with enough hard work, determination, and maybe a few jokes, you can conquer the world, three times over.
Categorized:News
