Search through Yahoo's listings and you'll find at least half a dozen web sites devoted to him. Dig a little deeper and you'll unearth an additional dozen or so sites devoted to the Evil Dead films he starred in. Bruce Campbell is beloved across the world wide web. The versatile actor who established a horror foothold as Ash in Sam Raimi's Evil Dead movies is easily among the hardest working players on the scene today.

B MONSTER: I've heard from readers in Japan who tell me you're known over there as Captain Supermarket. Were you aware of this? Any reaction?

BRUCE CAMPBELL: Yes, I know all about it. It's not uncommon for titles of movies to change when they enter foreign markets. A film we did called Crimewave is called The Two Craziest Killers in the World in Italy and Death on the Grille in France. Go figure.

Q: What's the significance of the Shemp credit that pops up in your collaborations with Sam Raimi?

BRUCE: We were all big fans of The Three Stooges growing up (Sam Raimi, filmmaker friend Scott Spiegel and myself).

In learning more about the Stooges, we found that when they made their films (or "shorts" - 20 minutes in length), they not only made one at a time, but two or three - thereby capitalizing on standing sets from the big, Columbia "A" pictures, currently in production. This allowed them, for example, to use a large castle set (and shoot a pie fight or something) before it was torn down. As a result, they were always shooting pieces of shorts as well as complete ones.

Well, one fateful day, Shemp (the really ugly one with the long, stringy black hair) was incapacitated by a heart attack, and the rest of the Stooges, distraught as they were, had to finish a number of Shorts. So, they brought in a "Fake Shemp." The doubles they used were often the wrong height/weight and lacked in the true Shemp mannerisms. Even in high school (in the mid-70's), distracted by commercials, eating bowls of Captain Crunch, we could tell whenever the obviously fake Shemp made his appearances - which is in about 3 or 4 shorts - and we were amused to no end.

We then began to use the term "Fake Shemp" for a any actor (in our early Super-8 flicks) who didn't have any lines, or was doubling for another actor (which happened a lot when you couldn't pay an actor to stay around), or who was just way in the background doing ridiculous things.

So, in the first Evil Dead film, we decided to designate Fake Shemps as an official credit category. The names listed were people who we shot "parts" of - a hand, a foot, someone under heavy make-up, etc. It seemed to be handy, since films (particularly low-budget ones) are usually pieced together in many different ways over a long period of time.

The term has since expanded in our vocabulary to include a number of fun uses:

"Shempish" - anything that is cheesy or second-rate - "Man, throw that shirt out, it looks really Shempish."

"Shemping" - doing nothing of any great importance - "I have no plans Saturday night, I'm just Shemping..."

"Shemp Alert" - sighting of a Shemp - either being "Shempish," or just "Shemping."

Q: You were slated to write, direct and star in a film called The Man With The Screaming Brain. What's the status of that project and are there other personal films you're working on?

BRUCE: The Man With The Screaming Brain is an on-again, off-again hobby of mine. It's almost been made several times, but for whatever reasons, it fell through. It's sort of a modern-day Frankenstein. I am contracted to direct a film called The Night Man. It's a story about a night janitor at a high school who accidentally kills a student, his descent into madness, and his violent attempts to cover up his crime.

Q: Do you have a list of favorite actors, past or present, whose work inspires you and do you find yourself emulating them in your performances?

BRUCE: Jennifer Jason Leigh, she's professional, smart, and very friendly. I'm also a big fan of Robert Duvall because he makes acting look easy. I don't really emulate anyone.

Q: If someone gave you a zillion bucks to make any movie you want, what would it be?

BRUCE: One with a story about people, based on a factual incident. I find truth much stranger than fiction, as they say . . .

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