When cult film legend Bruce Campbell released his directorial debut a few years ago, fanboys and fangirls rejoiced. Man With the Screaming Brain was a film that had existed on the edges of conversations for years, talked about, but always a work in progress. It seemed a perfect match, a tongue-in-cheek B-movie made by the wise-ass king of the modern B-movie. Unfortunately, reality never quite lives up to expectations, and any screaming brains in the house were more likely to belong to those in the audience. Undaunted, Campbell is back in the director's chair for My Name is Bruce, in which Campbell, as the title suggests, plays himself.

Well, sort of. The Bruce Campbell of My Name is Bruce is an abusive alcoholic who drives a beat-up Mazda 323 from his run-down Airstream trailer home to the sets of movies even worse than Man With the Screaming Brain. He's an unrepentant egomaniac who trades on his reputation in lame attempts to bed his costars, and takes out his many frustrations on the geeky fans who mob him when he leaves the studio. One of these fans figures Bruce for just the type of manly hero he plays in the movies, and when an ancient Chinese demon springs up in the woods outside his small town, he kidnaps the star and brings him home to do battle.

Is it an improvement over Screaming Brain? Well, it would sort of have to be. And for the first half hour or so especially, there's a lot of clever spoofing of both Campbell and fanboy culture that elicits genuine laughs. As the film goes on, it tends to fall victim to that most common pitfall of the action-comedy, sacrificing the funny in order to move the plot along and get to the butt-kicking finale. Even so, it's always a pleasure to watch the man work, particularly when he's putting himself out there and mocking himself with such relish.

Bruce Campbell talked to DCist about making his new film, and was surprisingly candid in his opinions of both some of his own past work and of the forthcoming Evil Dead films. He'll appear in person for Q&As after the 7:45 and 10:15 p.m. screenings of My Name is Bruce at E Street Cinema on Saturday.

Bruce Campbell and Ted Raimi in My Name is Bruce

How involved were you during the writing process for My Name is Bruce?

I was very involved. [Screenwriter] Mark [Verheiden] and [Dark Horse Comics founder] Mike Richardson pitched the concept and I jumped all over that, and then we hashed out the tone and the story. And then Mark wrote it, and when it came time to make it, I did a production draft that addressed the needs, the actual reality, of making the movie. And then I did another pass that pretty much served any personal preferences, of either just staging something differently, or tweaking some dialog. It was my chance to just do whatever. So yeah, my fingerprints are all over that, for good or bad.

Man With the Screaming Brain was in progress for quite a few years, and this one seems to have come together relatively quickly. What was the difference this time around?

Well, the financing was pretty easy to get for this. Screaming Brain probably should never have been made. But that's another whole story, in that if it takes that long to get a movie made, probably the movie shouldn't be made. And so I sort of learned that lesson. This just came together quicker, we got to the script right away, there wasn't a big committee, there was no development period, it was just like, "OK, write the script, we'll make the movie." So it was really a good experience. It was only slowed down by mostly good stuff, in that the distribution company decided to put more money into it, because they wanted to go theatrical. This was supposed to be straight to DVD, and we were all fine with that, because there was a reasonable budget, and they were satisfied because they're mostly a DVD company, Image Entertainment. But in this case they wanted to step it up and play the game, and we were like, "Yeah! Where can we help?" So we shot a few extra things, and we brought the effects resolution up to speed, and the whole Dolby certification, which just takes more time and mixing and money. And it's fine, we were happy to do it, so we can show it to humans in a real theater.

Is that a surprise when someone steps up and says, "Hey, we're gonna give you more money!"

Yeah, because normally they're just trying to take it away from you. So yeah, it's always good. They've been very good partners, between Mike Richardson at Dark Horse and Image Entertainment, it's been a way better situation than anything I've had in a while. Getting money and being free to do whatever you want to do. Usually they don't go hand in hand.

In retrospect are you sorry that Screaming Brain ended up coming together at all?

That's a yes and no kind of thing. Sociologically it was fascinating to work in Bulgaria, but it was also a ridiculous place to make that movie. And as a result the movie had a weirder persona than intended, just from the mere fact that we were there. It got an extra dose of weirdness for no good reason. So maybe, in years to come, people will look at it as a social allegory and find the true genius within it. But other than that, it was kind of a stinker, and it bombed. And that's OK. As a filmmaker, you definitely learn from that stuff, and you learn how to entertain people better. Also, if I knew now, I wouldn't have made it. If I knew the circumstances of how we would have had to actually cobble the thing together in order to do it, I would've gone, "I don't think this is a good marriage." It's great to have good partners now, and I'm just more wary. Because it's all about creativity: What are you able to do? What are they going to allow you to do? Am I allowed to be a big boy and actually look at the budget, and move numbers around if I want to?

What were the lessons that you took away from that that you brought to this production?

Don't get involved unless I can directly have my finger on the budget. And I can sit with the accountant and go, "Hey, I've got to rob from Peter to pay Paul." Because in your head you know what you need and what you don't need. When somebody else does a budget, they're not thinking like you're thinking, of what to care about. I care about photography and stuff like that. And on this budget I was able to go, "No, I want a cinematographer who can make this movie not look like shit. I want it to sound good. I want to spend time on this, this, or this, and this other crap I don't need, get rid of this." I was able to do that on this one much more completely, and it was much more fulfilling, creatively.

Your character in My Name is Bruce is obviously (at least I hope) a caricature of the real Bruce Campbell. How did you approach playing a role that was you, but wasn't really you?

By not thinking about me. In my head, I wasn't thinking that I was playing Bruce Campbell. Because I'm going to sound like Bruce Campbell anyway, and I'm going to look like Bruce Campbell anyway, but I don't have to act like Bruce Campbell. So it was just a matter of creating a character were you have room to improve. He's a jackass at the beginning, and hopefully he's not quite the jerk at the end. But to me, jerks are funny. Jerks being tortured are funny. That's what I like: when a guy's an asshole, I want to see him be punished. So the movie will, I hope, give a sense of justice to some degree. That some assholes are punished.

You seem to take a lot of joy in lampooning your own image, with the books, and the Old Spice commercials, and now with this movie; why do you like making fun of yourself so much?

Because I can, I guess. Because my job is make-believe. And I think there are some actors who take themselves way too seriously, I think there are some fans who take this shit way too seriously. And that's OK. I take my job seriously. I don't try to make a movie that sucks. It just happens naturally sometimes, you know? But I never go in thinking that—I always try . So, I don't know, I just feel that it's part of the fun. I like having fun with it, just going, "Hey guys, you know, this is just a movie. It's OK. We're not going to solve any problems here. We're here to distract the masses from their daily misery."

As far as those fans go, the super-fans can be easy targets; on the other hand, their devotion is part of the reason you have a career; is it hard to tread that line between poking fun and ridiculing?

I can poke fun because I actually interact with fans. If I was sitting in Hollywood and never got out, and I only worked on big movies, and lived a very secretive life, and then made fun of fans, then I'd be kind of an asshole. But I deal with these people all the time. So I know their questions, and I know what they look like, I know how they act, I know (sort of) what they're thinking. As a result, it's just part of the fun. I'm basically including them in the process. I've never made a movie where I've directly included fans in the process. And this is the first time where I've included verbatim dialog of things that we've talked about, things that have actually happened. It's a really weird movie if you think about it. And not everyone's going to take to it. But I think some people will appreciate, from a fan's point of view, being dragged into it. Even though I'm kicking them in the face at the same time. I'm taking no prisoners. Nobody gets off easy!

So making sure that the joke goes over with them, it helps that you're making fun of yourself just as mercilessly.

Absolutely. If I was just strutting around trying to make myself look like Joe Cool, and kicking fans in wheelchairs in front of a bus, that's not going to fly. So, if I kick a fan in a wheelchair, and then I get into my shitty car and drive off...the whole thing is just to get laughs. I'm not trying to make a statement. I'm just trying to get a reaction out of them. And I figure if I kill several of them onscreen, that'll get their attention.

Rumor has it there's already a sequel being thought of, My Name is Still Bruce? Is that correct?

Well, we've joked about it. We have a basic premise ready. But we won't do it unless this makes a little bit of noise. If it lays an egg, we're not going to do another one.

And it sounds like you were pretty happy with being a director this time around, so that's something you want to keep doing?

I'll keep doing it as long as people give me money to do it. Because I really enjoy it.

There's a great line in the movie where one of the fans is talking about Bubba Ho-Tep, and one character says, "Well, everyone liked Bubba Ho-Tep." And it's true. Was the popularity of that movie a surprise to you? Or do you know when you get a script like that that you're getting something that's completely different from, say, a Terminal Invasion?

Oh, I knew that one was completely different. I mean, that was the weirdest script I'd ever read. But there was something that I liked about it, and here's what I think succeeds in that movie: it's not really a horror movie. It's two old guys ruminating about their wasted lives, and they get a chance to actually be heroic at the very end. There was a sweetness to it that I really liked, but it was incredibly weird and potentially offensive, but really had a strangeness to it. And [director] Don Coscarelli was a good match for that material. And so I wasn't necessarily surprised, but I was really glad, really pleased, that people really went for that movie. That was one movie I did that I can say was unquestionably a successful venture. Creatively and financially. Don made money. I got my paycheck. I'm really glad for Don, it did really well for him. And rightfully so, it's a well done, hand made, weirdo little movie.

Considering how rough the last year has been for the independent film industry, how do you see that impacting the type of films that you tend to make? Do you worry that filmmakers with the kind of talent that Sam Raimi had back when he started might not get the opportunity to make their own Evil Dead?

No, you know what? Anyone who's willing to get off their ass can get money to make their movie. Show me a guy that didn't get money to make the movie, I'll show you a slacker. We raised $150,000 in 1979 when it didn't seem possible. The economy was in the shitter then! We did it, we made it happen. It just depends on whether today's filmmakers are willing to devote a minimum of four to five years making your first movie. But I think most importantly, filmmakers today should just learn their craft before they run out and make a feature film. Just figure out where to put the freakin' camera! Figure out how to talk to actors. Figure out how to act! Evil Dead was a very crude movie, but even at that point we had made 50 super-8 movies before that. We really tried to figure out how to do this before made our first movie. So I hope filmmakers will learn that more than anything. But it's really just, you've got to work your ass off, and you can find the money.

Speaking of Evil Dead, what's going on with the remake?

Between the remake and the sequel, we're interested in doing either, both, neither. It's just about whenever we get around to it. I've got a five year obligation to a TV show, Sam's doing a few more Spider-Man films, I mean, we'll be 70 when we have time to do it. We have no ill will towards the series, we want to do it, but we're grown men now with families, and we have other stuff to do. And those movies are hard to make. It's not like we look at each other and go, "Yeah, let's dive right back in!" These were long, bloody battles making these movies.

Is there one you'd prefer to do, between a remake or a sequel?

Neither, personally. Look, how much are you going to beat a horse? Remakes are a big drag, I think. I'm not real excited about that. I'd be excited if they did it again in 16mm with an unknown cast. Then I'd get excited. And sequels are only so exciting, because then you've got to make shit up that doesn't make any sense. There's diminishing returns with each one.

So you'd align yourself with the fans who look skeptically on remakes of classic films, then.

Absolutely. And they should look skeptically. They should look very skeptically. And that's why, perhaps, these have not flown onto the screen. There's sort of a reason for everything.

My Name is Bruce opens tomorrow at E Street Cinema, and Bruce Campbell will be attending the 7:45 and 10:15 p.m. screenings on Saturday for Q&A.