Max: Does that weird you out
at all?
Bruce: Nope.
Doesn’t weird me out at all. It’s a natural outgrowth of people
getting enthused. It’s manifested in many ways: some people get a
tattoo, or get a couple photos, or go to a convention and say hi, or
quietly rent things on the side. It takes all shapes.
Max: Do you think that
your work is moving more towards the mainstream?
Bruce: It comes and goes. “Serving Sara”
just fell together last year around this time, um…but it’s not my
normal type of gig. I did a TV movie that is considered mainstream,
because it’s on television, but it’s still a horror film called
“Terminal Invasion.” But I just did this movie called
“Bubba-Ho-Tep,” this Elvis movie, and that’s about as un-mainstream
as you can get. So my pendulum swings all over. “Spiderman” is
incredibly mainstream, so…there’s lots of parts that interest me. I
don’t say, “Oh, that’s too mainstream,” or, “Oh, that’s too
cultish,” I just have to base it on what’s there. You have to judge
everything on it’s own merits.
Max: What’s your role going to be in
“Spiderman 2?”
Bruce: A
guy hit by a bus, I don’t know…just some small little thing.
Max: Can you explain your
views on censorship?
Bruce: There shouldn’t be any censorship.
This is America. There shouldn’t be any of this “freedom of the
press,” ”freedom of expression,” but having said that, I think
what’s important is that people who make movies don’t try to falsely
lure people in to see the movie that don’t want to be there. A kid
should not see “Evil Dead.” And we knew that, so, you know, we had,
“This movie is not rated,” ”The producers recommend that no one
under seventeen be admitted without a parent,” so you have to let
people know what it is. I think with labeling, there’s something to
that, maybe that’s not the answer, but at least as a parent you can
go, “All right, I understand what this contains. It contains graphic
images of this,” and then people can decide for themselves, but in
England and parts of Europe they can fully censor it. There’s
parts…there’s European countries where “Evil Dead” has never played.
It was banned in the Netherlands; it was banned in England, and um,
keeps fighting back and forth for respect.
Max: That’s kind of funny, because I
remember when “Evil Dead 2” came back in England; the only part that
they cut out was when Jake kicks you when you’re on the ground. It’s
okay for people to be dismembered, but you can’t kick a man while
he’s down.
Bruce: Oh sure,
well that’s just the English way, “That’s just not proper! You can’t
kick a man while he’s down! That’s not right!”
Max: But of course you can cut off your
girlfriend’s head with a shovel…
Bruce: Of course. But see, each country is
freakish in that respect. But see, in America, you can shoot a woman
in the breast, but you can’t suck it. It’s the American way.
Personally, I’d rather suck it.
At this point I made some stupid remark about my being engaged, and
saved myself with “moving on…”
Max: I hear you like backpacking. But do
you ever get any time?
Bruce: No, but I walk a lot. We have a lot
of trails near my house, so usually when I get home I just take off.
I’m a day-hike kinda guy…ya gotta do what you can. I wanna write
another book called Walk This Way. I’ve discovered so many freakish
places in cities where you can walk. I was just 10 minutes from
Chicago O’Hare airport and there’s a giant woodland reserve right
outside, and I hung out there with a big buck with a rack like this
(demonstrates) for 15 minutes…you know, giant jets are taking off
overhead, and there was no one there. There are paths everywhere.
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