He is bound by an old school professionalism that dictates he wear a suit and probably a fedora.
His mild-mannered smile gives off the vibe of an unassuming everyman with those storied Midwest values.
Behind that ever reassuring smile is a perversely wicked mind that has improved movie going for us all.
A Born Showman
Sam Raimi did not begin as a master of horror and depravity.
Born as the youngest of five children, Raimi was raised in a Conservative Jewish family.
Growing up in Birmingham, Michigan, Sam had the idyllic suburban childhood in the outskirts of Detroit.
Already a kid magician, filmmaking seemed like the natural next step to Raimi in his mastery of illusion.
Bruce starred in all of them, Sam later explained.
Because he was the only good looking one and still is.
You go in front of the camera.
Girls dont like us?
Well stand behind it.
At even a young age, this illustrated Raimis consistent desire to give audiences what they want.
In many ways, Sam has spent his entire career as a vaudeville showman.
Filmmaking is first and foremost an entertainment, says the director.
The worst thing a filmmaker can do is make a boring picture.
If you make a boring picture, youve not only failed, youve committed a crime.
That early showmanship was expressed in a series ofThree Stooges-inspired Super 8 films.
For Sam, the hyper-reality ofThree Stoogesviolence was the funniest thing in the world.
Perhaps, he really just loved seeing his brother and best buddy beating each other up.
After high school, Raimi attended Michigan State University for three semesters.
There he continued to make comedies with Campbell and brother Ivans fellow Sparty roommate, Robert Tapert.
Ergo, the three went on to form the elegantly named production company, Renaissance Pictures.
The two came to the same conclusion; these movies suck because they dont deliver the goods.
There is nothing remotely scary or horrifying about cheapie slashers with a few seconds of bloodletting.
Just how were they going to pay for it?
Within the Woods(1978) is a 30-minute version of what would become Sams first feature.
Lovecraft), a Book of the Dead with ancient incantations for summoning demonic spirits.
The films biggest technical achievement was its pioneering of The Force camera movement.
Good luck with that.
Eventually, the trio raised $375,000 and they were ready to make a masterpiece.
Production on what eventually became 1981sThe Evil Deadwas a horror story in its own right.
Of course to Sam, all the suffering merely created a comedy of errors.
Because the film was so low-budget, the 13-member crew took to sleeping and living in the cabin.
Actors, including Campbell and Sandweiss, quit showering because it was too cold to get wet.
Sam and his cameraman were even chased by a bull during one day of shooting in a field.
If everyone was in extreme pain and misery, that would translate into horror.
The camera literally shattered real glass all over the actress as it came crashing through the pane.
The little movie magic trick here?
Probably the most telling episode is when Campbell sprained his ankle during shooting.
They were compelled to ensure that Campbell kept his limp genuine for the whole shoot.
It makes me feel like I got my moneys worth.
But like the movies story, there is no denying he takes a strange enjoyment from the pained.
There, they discover a recording in the basement that when played summons demons from theBook of the Dead.
Sure enough, demons come a calling.
However, they do more than just possess and mutilate.
Its a scene Sam later regretted putting in the movie (but is still appearing in the remake).
Not that the violence isnt equally cruel to the movies star who took it all in stride.
Ash is an idiot, Bruce insists of his hero.
The movie itself is darkly amusing.
And despite a local premiere with plenty of fanfare, the movie still didnt have a distributor.
It was too gross, too funny or just too much for all the stiffs.
These words became a promotional selling point that attracted not only once dismissive critics, but also distributors.
The Evil Deadscult success led to Hollywood beckoning Raimi and company to the West Coast.
Shapiro suggested that Renaissance Pictures immediately start work on anEvil Dead II, but Raimi scoffed at the idea.
Now was the time for respectability.
No, no, he was going to make the greatest entertainment of all time…Crimewave!
Crimewave
During post-production ofThe Evil Dead, Raimi befriended one of his Midwest editors, Joel Coen.
Sam discovered that he and Joel had similar tastes in humor and wanted to collaborate with him.
It seems like the entire talent pull of Middle America relocated to a single address.
Oh, in a perfect world, what would a Sam Raimi and Coen Brothers collaboration truly look like?
Unfortunately, this production already seemed too overstuffed from its inception.
Sam wryly said years later, [The studio] made it the picture it is today.
Rob, myself and Bruce thought thats all there was toEvil Dead.
But Bruce was saved…by positive box office response!
Only after finally seeing the massive grosses ofThe Evil Deadin his native Italy did De Laurentiis relent.
But he would only allot $3.6 million for the production, thereby cutting time travel out.
Also, they needed to shoot in North Carolina.
Evil Dead IIwas likely a more enjoyable experience for everyone involved.
It also marked a softer side for Raimi.
There are much more ambitious set pieces this time, but they feel like gags instead of scares.
When a demonic force possesses Ashs hand, it makes audible squeaks which sound more cutesy than terrifying.
But isEvil Dead IIreally a horror movie at this point like Cravens work?
However, given the pictures full in-movie title of Bruce Campbell vs.
The Army of Darkness, we can safely say all pretense of horror is gone.
I got news for you pal, you aint leading but two things right now: Jack and shit.
Yet, the MPAA still hated on the film, giving it an R rating.
Its all groovy, baby.
That was enough to catch Sharon Stones eye.
She even threatened TriStar that shed only do the project if Raimi was attached.
The Quick And The Dead(1995) is a classic vanity project for a rising movie star.
Crowe described the director as sort of like the fourth Stooge.
Raimi blamed himself for the projects failings.
I was very confused after I made that movie.
For a number of years I thought, Im like a dinosaur.
I couldnt change with the material.
Ted Raimi acted in both series and producer Robert Tapert married Xena star Lucy Lawless.
Still, Raimi himself wanted more.
However, it is also his most restrained work to date (and some would argue his best).
Raimi finished out the 1990s working on two more character studies.
One was the most forgettable of Kevin Costners baseball trilogy,For Love of the Game(1999).
Raimi approached the project as a bromance between baseball players Costner and John C. Reilly.
Two men who have had each others backs their whole careers?
Might as well have just made a movie about himself, Tapert and Campbell.
Unfortunately, the movie gets bogged down in far too earnest sentimentality between Costner and love interest Kelly Preston.
Raimi followed it up withThe Gift(2000).
The mystery broke even at the box office, but that didnt matter for Sam anymore.
He was about to swing to new, dizzying heights.
Spins A Web Any Size
Sam Raimi finally got his chance to direct a superhero in 2001.
The studio spoke with Roland Emmerich, Tim Burton, Chris Columbus and even David Fincher.
Indeed, it came down ultimately between quirky small scale Raimi and Fincher.
Raimi opted to go big or go home.
It was going to be red and blue!
He also jettisoned the idea of having two villains (the other was Doc Ock).
Green Goblin would be more than enough of a dramatic foil to the webslinger.
And yes, he would be green.
Spider-Man(2002) is a big, bold studio film.
The plot is a faithful retelling of the origin with all the Capmbellian beats that implies.
The movie snaps at a zippy, economical pace.
Every story beat is hit with the bizarre off-center cheekiness that Raimi brings to all his work.
However, unlike his earlier films, he never loses his center in the 2002 effort.
He and Maguire create a truly sympathetic character who won over audiences en masse that year.
He already had signed on forSpider-Man 2, but he certainly had more options.
However, Raimi has always been a genre entertainer at heart.
He started by making slapstick comedy on Super 8 before graduating to King of B splatterfests.
He already was in his element.
Spider-Man 2brought back Doctor Octopus and in most ways is a vast improvement over the first film.
Embracing the soapy origins of the character made for a movie that flowed more organically than its predecessor.
Surely after Peter Parker ran away from his responsibilities for the entire middle section of the film.
It also allowed Raimi to physically torture Tobey in the ways he once punished Bruce Campbell.
By the timeSpider-Man 3rolled around, Raimi may have been webbed out.
He also wanted to see childhood fave Sandman on the big screen.
Chances are that no matter how hard they tried, the movie would feel bloated and overstuffed.
Yet things were not helped when the studio insisted that Vulture be replaced with fan favorite baddie, Venom.
Oh and throw Gwen Stacy in there while youre at it.
The bloated circus ends on a downbeat note with Harrys death and Peter and Mary Janes bittersweet reconciliation.
Still…couldnt we redeem THIS?
Raimi attempted to do so with aSpider-Man 4slated for 2011.
The man needed a break to clear all the cobwebs and pumpkin bombs out of his head.
She only wanted to impress her boss and prove shes tough!
The movie is a shockingly entertaining return to form.
Raimi hasnt been this mean-spirited or sadistic sinceThe Evil Dead.
Even with the films PG-13 rating, Raimi packs in more gross-out scares than the twoEvil Deadsequels combined.
He just chooses to use black bile as opposed to blood for his fluid of choice.
There is no gross object that doesnt seem to go in her mouth at some point in that film.
Black bile, red bile, fingers, eyeballs, mud…you get the idea.
Like his actors, his favorite reactions are when audiences are agonizing from a sucker punch.
And this guy madeSpider-Man?!
Somehow, this mild mannered looking gentleman in a suit can create both huge laughs and huge revulsions.
Sometimes in the same scene.
His need to entertain goes hand in hand with his need to punish everyone.
Actors, characters, audiences, they all should pay for being in a horror movie.
But he also places the same value on emotional sentiment in his big budget soap operas.
Sounds like Sams still got it.
Hail to the King, baby.
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