Bruce Campbell is probably regarded as the most legendary B-movie actor of all time, but like all actors, he didn’t start out on top. Before his breakthrough in Sam Raimi’s 1981 classic The Evil Dead, Campbell acted in several short films made by Raimi and eventual Evil Dead 2 screenwriter Scott Spiegel, as the three were high school friends in rural Michigan.
Some of these legendary shorts made by Spiegel and Bill Ward, another member of their crew back in the day, are now being released for the first time on DVD, and perhaps the most exciting of the bunch — 1974’s Curse of the Werewolf — has been released online via Bloody Disgusting. The short is actually a teaser (the planned film was never completed) and features a 16-year-old Campbell as a hunter and first victim of the titular werewolf. Campbell’s only in it for a brief moment, but it’s still quite a kick to see him doing his thing as a high schooler. Also, the music in the video is really something else.
11 shorts are included in the DVD, Before The Evil Dead: The Super 8 Short Films, which is available at Super8Shorts.com, and it includes extras like old photos of the gang. The full list of included shorts is below, though since the site doesn’t mention Raimi, we’re assuming none of the videos he produced are among them.
1. Inspector Clutz Saves the Day (1969)
2. Pies & Guys (1971)
3. Corny Casanovas (1971)
4. For Crymin’ Out Loud (1973)
5. Piece of Mind (1973)
6. A Night in a Sanitarium (1973)
7. Loose Loot (1973)
8. Three Smart Saps (1973)
9. Three Pests in a Mess (1974)
10. Booby Bartenders (1974)
11. Curse of the Werewolf Teaser (1974)
More information on the old Super 8 shorts, of which there are over 70, can be found at bookofthedead.ws.
