Bruce Campbell, the large-chinned B-movie king, hates Hollywood and he's not afraid Tinseltown will find out.
"They don't read," he said. "They only read a script begrudgingly."
So his new book Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way, a satirical and imaginary struggle to break into the A-list rung of the Hollywood caste system (printed double-spaced in a sans-serif font and littered with Photoshopped picture gags), should slip under the radar.
"It's good news that I'm not desperate to be in an A-list movie," Campbell said in a phone interview during his whirlwind book tour. His most recent film appearances include a minor role as a snooty usher in Spider-Man 2. "I hope they'll take the book in the spirit it was created."
He's scheduled to appear for a book signing at Indigo's Bay and Bloor location on Monday. "The concept for the book is that it's another excuse to make fun of Hollywood. The movies out now are lousy and they take themselves way too seriously."
Campbell, whose notorious role in The Evil Dead catapulted him into cult-classic quasi-fame, said that the movie-making industry is suffering from a lack of originality.
Unlike The Evil Dead, a low-budget independent horror film made in 1981 about demonic possession, evil incantations and the gratuitous use of chainsaws, most of Hollywood's glossy films are either watered down or remakes or both, Campbell said.
Pointing out current box office recyclables like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Longest Yard, he said "there's a new generation out there who don't know they're being ripped off.
"Hollywood spends a lot of time remaking their movies."
Although, he said, there is talk of remaking The Evil Dead so that a new generation could enjoy the classic with the added benefits of modern special effects.
"It's gone from being a banned movie to being in K-Mart," he said, adding that The Evil Dead evolved from opening with poor reviews to becoming a cult classic.
Campbell said he's been working on a number of projects since the release of his second book, the most pressing of which is to sell it, an endeavour that will take him across North America throughout the summer.
"This is a three-part process. There's the creating, the writing and the selling. That's where it is now."
Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way has hit No. 20 on The New York Times bestseller list. His first book, If Chins Could Kill, hit the bestseller lists in 2001.
He is also working with Dark Horse Comics on an as-of-yet untitled film in which Campbell plays himself while rescuing a small town from a monster.
"My films are alternative. They're not for the mainstream, which is a good goal," he said, adding that once a film is forced to appeal to a wide audience it becomes "very generic.
"I'm somewhat under the Hollywood radar. The movies I make aren't major releases." But he's well-known enough to gain financing for the types of movies he wants to create, he said.
"I'm in a sub-Hollywood category. I'm not what they call a player."
Campbell posits that most people don't know who he is. It's pseudo-celebrity that suits him well, he said. "Most of the people who come to my book signings are 25-year-old guys in black T-shirts who want to hang out and go for a beer."
Campbell, a staple of the classic horror genre, is not quite sure how to characterize the humour that pulls such fans in.
"I can't comment on [what makes me funny]" he said. "Who the hell knows?"
He pulls his inspiration from the classic humorists like Bob Hope and says he doesn't keep up with what's funny today.
"Humour has some form of pacing," he said. "I think maybe [I'm funny]because I talk fast."
Bruce Campbell reads from and signs copies of Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way starting at 6 p.m. on July 25. Indigo, 55 Bloor St. W., 416-925-3536.