Anyone who is a fan/stalker of Bruce probably knows that he's been trying to make this film for about 20 years or something, and now that he's finally managed to birth his own movie baby the question is this: Is it good? I've had to import the copy I watched from America for my misssusususus birthday, so I dunno where people in the UK are gonna get their copy. I'm not entirely sure of the full story of the making of this film, but the cover has the artwork taken straight from the comic books of the same story (dunno what came first like), so from the outset it looks like Bruce is aiming for a kind of kooky b-movie niche type movie.
good? I'm getting to that bit...
William Cole (Bruce Campbell, from the last 20 seconds of Darkman and Moontrap) and his wife Jennifer are two overfed, rich American upper middle class corporate types who head to Bulgaria to spread democracy and create and wee tax break. They don't like each other much either, because he's a loudmouth moron and she's a spoilt bitch. However, after meeting taxi driver Igere (I think) and mental murderous gypsy Tatanya, their lives are changed forever or something.
BASICALLY Bruce ends up getting killed, and so does Igere. Luckily Stacy Keach (Long Riders) and Ted Raimi (from Seaquest DSV) are two scientists who have just almost perfected a method of getting cells to live with each other, and Bruce becomes their new subject.
So that's the set up: Murderous gypsy baddie, Bruce with two brains, and Ted Raimi being Ted (which is good) - Just when I thought that the film was awfully draggy and uneventful, it turned out that Bruce was deliberately acting subdued so that when he did start fighting himself and screaming it worked all the better. You get what you'd expect from Bruce here, rather than the sublime performance we got in the admittedly better Bubba Ho-Tep. But f*ck it - I want to see Bruce punching himself in the face! And Ted doing the slapstick bit! This is a film for Bruce fans, mainly. Ted's in there too, so you're basically getting two for the price of one. For a directional debut (save for episodes of Xena) Bruce does okay, although the lack of budget stands out a mile (not a really a problem that though). There's maybe a slight lack of originality to what he does here, but it's an entertaining 90 mins nonetheless.
The DVD has a good few extras on it too, and unlike other DVD extras, I'm always willing to watch Bruce Campbell blabbing on about this and that. He's just a likable fellow, which is why we love him.
See it now if your a Bruce fan or a fan of kooky low-budget films. Those expecting otherwise may be disappointed.
good? I'm getting to that bit...
William Cole (Bruce Campbell, from the last 20 seconds of Darkman and Moontrap) and his wife Jennifer are two overfed, rich American upper middle class corporate types who head to Bulgaria to spread democracy and create and wee tax break. They don't like each other much either, because he's a loudmouth moron and she's a spoilt bitch. However, after meeting taxi driver Igere (I think) and mental murderous gypsy Tatanya, their lives are changed forever or something.
BASICALLY Bruce ends up getting killed, and so does Igere. Luckily Stacy Keach (Long Riders) and Ted Raimi (from Seaquest DSV) are two scientists who have just almost perfected a method of getting cells to live with each other, and Bruce becomes their new subject.
So that's the set up: Murderous gypsy baddie, Bruce with two brains, and Ted Raimi being Ted (which is good) - Just when I thought that the film was awfully draggy and uneventful, it turned out that Bruce was deliberately acting subdued so that when he did start fighting himself and screaming it worked all the better. You get what you'd expect from Bruce here, rather than the sublime performance we got in the admittedly better Bubba Ho-Tep. But f*ck it - I want to see Bruce punching himself in the face! And Ted doing the slapstick bit! This is a film for Bruce fans, mainly. Ted's in there too, so you're basically getting two for the price of one. For a directional debut (save for episodes of Xena) Bruce does okay, although the lack of budget stands out a mile (not a really a problem that though). There's maybe a slight lack of originality to what he does here, but it's an entertaining 90 mins nonetheless.
The DVD has a good few extras on it too, and unlike other DVD extras, I'm always willing to watch Bruce Campbell blabbing on about this and that. He's just a likable fellow, which is why we love him.
See it now if your a Bruce fan or a fan of kooky low-budget films. Those expecting otherwise may be disappointed.