Three out of
Five stars
Running time:
86 mins
Entertaining, if largely trashy, horror comedy that succeeds thanks to Campbell's on-screen persona and some decent gags.
What's it all about?
Receiving a brief theatrical release before its DVD release on March 3rd, My Name Is Bruce is a horror comedy, directed by and starring cult movie actor Bruce Campbell as himself. When the small mining town of Gold Lick, Oregon is terrorised by vengeful demon Guan Li, a movie-obsessed teenager (Taylor Sharpe as Jeff) kidnaps his idol, Bruce Campbell, and asks him to help them defeat the monster, believing Bruce to be like the character he plays in the Evil Dead movies.
Campbell agrees to help Jeff, believing the entire set-up to be an elaborate birthday present set up by his agent (Ted Raimi) and also thinking that he might be in with a chance with Jeff's attractive mother, Kelly (Grace Thorsen). However, when he leads a disastrous charge against Guan Li, Bruce discovers that the demon isn't a man in a rubber suit after all.
The Good
Campbell jumps into the sending up of his screen persona with almost Shatner-esque abandon, whether he's schmoozing his uninterested co-stars, fighting with directors, dismissing his fans, moaning about pretty much everything or even being mean to his dog. There's also decent support from both Sharpe and Thorsen, though this is Campbell's film through and through.
The script has a good balance of witty one-liners and splattery death scenes but there are also some amusingly quirky bits, such as the catchy Guan Li song that's repeated throughout the film.
The Bad
To be fair, several of the gags fall flat (the Chinese stereotype character in particular – what is it with Hollywood and comedy Chinese stereotypes?) and the climax is rushed and unsatisfying (you suspect they ran out of money), but fans of Campbell's work won't be disappointed.
Worth seeing?
In short, while not on the level of, say, Bubba Ho-tep, My Name Is Bruce is still an enjoyably trashy horror comedy that's worth seeing for Campbell's performance.