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Groovy Party Isn’t It? Bruce Campbell Invites You to BruceFest 2022 at the Stanley Hotel
From December 1st to 3rd, a legion of horror hounds will descend upon the Stanley Hotel for BruceFest, a three-day extravaganza that allows fans to properly hail to their king—the one and only Bruce Campbell.
As Campbell points out, the venue alone already has some pretty legendary horror bona fides.
“The Stanley inspired Stephen King to write The Shining when he stayed there,” he tells us. “I love the fact that it’s supposed to be haunted. I’m not a ghost guy, but I like to play along.” Fans can get to know the hotel better (and maybe spot a rotting corpse or two in the bathtub) during a Bruce-centric scavenger hunt.
While BruceFest won’t feature any King adaptations (the closest the two have gotten to working together was King convincing Dino De Laurentiis to produce Evil Dead 2), it will showcase some of the finest films in the Campbell canon. He and longtime collaborator Ted Raimi will be hosting a watch-along of Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness for fans, who will get to be in the same room as the two genre legends as they offer up their insights in real-time.
“I still do commentary, even highlighting ‘wince’ moments,” Campbell says. “It’s part of the routine show.” He even gives us a little bit of film analysis ahead of the screenings. When asked about the different tones between the first two Evil Dead films, he calls the first one “a failed melodrama. The original Evil Dead was never supposed to be funny. Evil Dead 2 is a different story.”
Fans also get to watch Bubba Ho-Tep with Campbell (ask him about his favorite Elvis karaoke song, “Can’t Help Falling In Love With You”), plus they’ll see him all over the hotel grounds throughout the weekend at photo-ops, signings, cosplay competitions, and a trivia contest that he’ll be hosting. They’ll also get the chance to take on Ted Raimi one-on-one in some of his favorite tabletop games.
But the highlight of the festival might be several immersive experiences involving S-Mart, the infamous department store that plays a pivotal role in the Evil Dead series and its hit television sequel, Ash vs Evil Dead. On Friday, there’s a holiday party at the store, complete with Bruce-themed cocktails and appetizers from celebrity chef Chris Binotto.
The second S-Mart event is more mysterious. All weekend long, fans can participate in an alternate reality game involving an ominous expansion of the department store. Everyone’s encouraged to solve the mystery (you can start doing so online now), then physically venture to the store on Saturday, where they’ll be able to shop, enjoy game rooms, a photo booth, and an exhibit of Sam Raimi’s prop extensive prop collection. Campbell also promises that there will be “a special treat in store for folks,” regarding the S-Mart ARG.
Tickets are currently on sale at the BruceFest website, with two-for-one passes available while supplies last. Just place two individual tickets in your cart and use the promo code GROOVY at checkout to access the discount.
With Evil Dead Rise on the horizon, we can’t think of a better way to celebrate than BruceFest. Get your tickets today, and prepare to hail to the king, baby!
A luxury team-building trip descends into a bloody fight for survival against a vengeful retreat leader in Corporate Retreat, out today in theaters. It’s the latest entry in a cathartic subgenre of workplace horror that examines every harrowing aspect of job employment.
No job is safe from horror, either, from babysitting to even the most white-collar gigs. But if you work an overnight shift? All bets are off. Vengeful co-workers and bosses aside, the night shift is likely to come armed with witches, creatures, demons, and all manner of things that go bump in the night. Even deadly outbreaks.
Corporate Retreat, along with these five horror movies centered around some of the worst night shifts, will make you glad the weekend has finally arrived.
The Autopsy of Jane Doe
Passenger director André Øvredal goes full throttle for the scares in this quiet little chiller that sees a father and son coroner team stumped over the bizarre mysteries contained within the body of an unidentified young woman during an unexpected night shift. Well-executed scares, clever twists, and earnest performances by Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch give this supernatural haunter serious heft. While the narrative bides its time unveiling the truth behind Jane Doe’s battered body, it’s heavily steeped in witchcraft. In other words, The Autopsy of Jane Doe presents a new take on the subgenre. More importantly, it’s seriously scary.
Cold Storage
COLD STORAGE, StudioCanal 2023
A lethal, mutated fungus breaks free from confinement deep within the bowels of a storage facility. At the frontlines of the madness are Teacake (Stranger Things’ Joe Keery) and Naomi (Barbarian‘s Georgina Campbell), two employees thrust into the middle of the chaos when they investigate an alarm beeping somewhere deep within the building. Director Jonny Campbell (Netflix’s Dracula), working from a script by David Koepp based on his novel, helms the goopy madness with workman efficiency. This lighthearted, goopy horror comedy romp makes the deadly night shift a bit more bearable.
Graveyard Shift
Graveyard Shift follows new hire Hall (David Andrews) tasked by his mean boss Warwick (Stephen Macht) to assist with the insane rat infestation beneath their mill. They find something much most monstrous as the cause. Though the film was panned, it’s a fun creature feature with an always welcome appearance by Brad Dourif as the intensely eccentric exterminator. The film also opts for a happier ending, whereas (spoiler), the story sees both Hall and Warwick getting devoured by the mutated rats, the crew in the upstairs mill none the wiser.
Last Shift
‘Last Shift’
Rookie Officer Jessica Loren (Juliana Harkavy) has been assigned to watch over a closing precinct on its final night of operation…alone. With nearly everything already moved over to the new station, including rerouted 911 calls, it should be a pretty quiet night as she waits for a Hazmat team to arrive to remove biohazardous waste. Instead, it becomes a waking nightmare as she’s forced to deal with unsettling visitors. Last Shift, co-written by Scott Poiley and director Anthony DiBlasi, brings the scares.
Intruder
The overnight stock crew of a local grocery store finds themselves falling victim to an unseen killer in this highly infectious late ‘80s slasher. The deaths are delightfully gruesome and inventive; look for this killer to make excellent use of grocery store items as weapons. Frequent Raimi collaborator Scott Spiegel directed this bloody slasher, which means a lot of overlap with the Evil Dead II. That means putting Sam Raimi in front of the camera for a change, along with Ted Raimi and Evil Dead II’s Dan Hicks. Look for a cameo by Bruce Campbell as well!
Corporate Retreat releases in theaters today; get tickets now.
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