Bruce Campbell discusses how WITHIN THE WOODS launched THE EVIL DEAD

Aug 3, 2026 4:16 AM

sonic900

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On May 6, 1983, the PBS late-night talk show LateNight (often PBS Late Night), hosted by Dennis Wholey, featured a notable interview with a 24-year-old Bruce Campbell. Campbell discussed the production of his debut film, The Evil Dead, and in this segment taken from the interview, Campbell discusses how Raimi's short "Within the Woods" worked as a prototype to sell investors on the iconic THE EVIL DEAD.

Boy, that's a good-looking guy.

3 weeks ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

ALWAYS upvote Bruce.

3 weeks ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Goddamit man I wasn’t selling films to investors and bootstrapping a whole ass career at the age of 24.

3 weeks ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 2

https://archive.org/details/within-the-woods quality is reasonably good considering the source medium and age

3 weeks ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

link to OG full interview? LOVE bruce but Bruce Almighty was a pretty crap film
oh oh and his book If Chins Could Kill was amaziing

3 weeks ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Is this the proto-definition of "jump scare"? He doesn't say it in that order, but it's there

3 weeks ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

3 weeks ago | Likes 56 Dislikes 2

Interviewer drinks loudly...

3 weeks ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

It’s time for a Jack of All Trades reboot!

3 weeks ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

I need my glasses, I read that TOTALLY wrong.

3 weeks ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

I can't believe I never saw that when it was out or the adventures of Brisco County Jr

3 weeks ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

$1600 in 1983 dollars is roughly $5400 now

3 weeks ago | Likes 13 Dislikes 0

Point of order: This interview is from '83. Within the Woods was filmed in '78 or '79 and that's when the $1,600 figure is from. W/o more detail it's somewhere between $7,500 and $8,500. Call it $8k now.

3 weeks ago | Likes 7 Dislikes 0

So... it's a downpayment on a McDonald's meal... Assuming you have cheese on the burgers.

3 weeks ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

I recommend his autobiography, If chins could kill.

3 weeks ago | Likes 46 Dislikes 1

Does it discuss how he remained black and white on color tv?

3 weeks ago | Likes 6 Dislikes 0

I recommend it even if chins can't kill.

3 weeks ago | Likes 17 Dislikes 0

I recommend Burn Notice. It's MacGyver meets James Bond meets Miami Vice with Bruce Campbell in the supporting role and it's just *chefs kiss*

3 weeks ago | Likes 29 Dislikes 0

Seconding this. Chuck Finley is forever.

3 weeks ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

Especially the first few seasons

3 weeks ago | Likes 7 Dislikes 0

Core Memory Event Unlocked. I remember this. PBS was one of the 4 channels I had up on the mountain that didnt need 'fox viewing positions' (someone holding onto the rabbit ear)

3 weeks ago | Likes 19 Dislikes 0

Mountain? Fox viewing positions? Rabbit ear? I must know more!

3 weeks ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

Not op, but survived the same time period. Let me see if I can boil it down. 1/

3 weeks ago | Likes 8 Dislikes 0

Back in the day, most folks got their television via broadcasts similar to radio (for a long period things like cable and personal satellite weren't options, and when introduced were expensive luxuries), with a limited number of local stations using large antennas to transmit and small antennas attached to individual TVs to receive the signal. These transmissions would have many of the same issues as radio, with the broadcast becoming borderline illegible if too far away and suffering 2/

3 weeks ago | Likes 7 Dislikes 0

from interference from things like hills and other landscape features. One of the later personal antenna designs was nicknamed the "rabbit ear" antenna for having a pair of extendable/adjustable antennas attached to a base, and a common experience for users was fiddling with the "ears" trying to get a viewable picture out of a weak broadcast, including things like having someone physically hold the antennas or attaching conductive metal to them. This was especially common for 3/

3 weeks ago | Likes 7 Dislikes 0

folks out in rural areas, as such areas were generally underserved (limited population = limited advertising revenue = little incentive to try and establish a station if anyone is already there), forcing viewers to get creative to get a decent viewing experience from further out stations, doubly so in places like Appalachia and the Rocky Mountains where the terrain also interferes. 4/4

3 weeks ago | Likes 6 Dislikes 0