Chisel-profiled B-movie icon Bruce Campbell struck gold not with any particular role (though he deserves hall-of-fame status as Ash in the Evil Dead movies) but by detailing his career ups and downs in a very funny memoir, If Chins Could Kill. It's in this self-depreciating vein that he approaches his second effort as director, My Name IsBruce.
Spoofing horror-hero worship, Campbell plays a seedier, schmuckier version of himself who heeds the call of a teen fan to save the fan's hick town from a vengeful ghoul (who happens to be the Chinese god of bean curd). Bruce, thinking it's a prank, hits on the boy's mom; when the monster appears, he runs "like cheap mascara."
With copious in-joke references ("groovy," "boomstick," "McHale's Navy sucked!"), deliberately tacky gore, and troubadour narration, the movie has moments of cheeseball fun but rarely feels like more than a padded sketch. It's almost worth seeing, though, to watch Ted Raimi ham it up in not just one but three roles.
86 minutes | Kendall Square
