“Evil Dead Rise”: You Surely Didn’t Discover “Tanz der Teufel” Star Bruce Campbell’s Cameo!

He is the face of the “Dance of the Devils” series: B-movie legend Bruce Campbell. The actor with the prominent chin was already allowed to fight the undead and is an absolute cult icon for many fans of the series. An entry in the Evil Dead franchise without Bruce? Hard to imagine actually…

Also in Fede Alvarez’s 2013 “Evil Dead” reboot, there was a lot of gore and a distinctly dark tone, at least one post-credits scene where Ash (Bruce Campbell) performed his iconic “Groovy.” We already know that there is no mid-credit or post-credit scene in Evil Dead Rise. And Bruce Campbell is also nowhere to be seen. And yet there is a cameo appearance from the franchise legend, but you have to be very attentive for that.

Bruce Campbell is not seen in “Evil Dead Rise”, but he can be heard speaking to the priest about the ancient records, who presents his research results on the Necronomicon and then recites from the cursed book. Much to the chagrin of Danny (Morgan Davies), who listens to these records through loudspeakers and unleashes an ominous force that promptly haunts him and his family.

Another secret apparition

But this isn’t the only place in the film where viewers can hear the B-movie legend. In an interview with Evil Dead Rise director Lee Cronin revealed that Campbell also helped record some of the sound effects used in the film:

“There is also another Bruce moment in the movie. He also made some sound recordings for me. There’s a scene around an eye where there’s something to chew, and Bruce made that sound by angrily eating me an apple.”

Anyone who has seen the film now knows which passage is meant. It’s nice that we can now link this scene to Bruce Campbell furiously biting an apple.

“Evil Dead Rise” currently (as of May 2, 2023) has grossed over $88 million worldwide and could be the highest-grossing box office entry in the series this weekend. The reboot by Fede Alvarez, which grossed 97.5 million at the box office, has managed to secure this title so far. Perhaps we can look forward to more sounds and sound effects from franchise veteran Bruce Campbell in another installment in the series.