10 Greatest Over-Acted Performances In Movie History
7. Bruce Campbell - Evil Dead II (1987)
Sequels are rarely as good as the originals, in particular in the horror genre. The Evil Dead may be the blueprint for cabin in the woods horrors, but its sequel took the concept and took it beyond the event horizon.
Evil Dead II does not (initially) present us with a group of characters destined to die one by one. In fact, so much of the film is Ash (Bruce Campbell) alone in the possessed cabin, giving a tour de force solo performance as he battles his demonic environs.
The fight with his own possessed hand is a sequence of slapstick genius. Talk about chewing the scenery - Campbell is a one man wrecking ball. He smashes plates over his head, throws himself into cupboards, and literally somersaults about.
Then there’s the wonderful highlight of the movie where Ash believes that all the objects in the cabin, from deer heads to drawers, are laughing at him. Ash begins to laugh madly along with them, giving us a fantastic wide-eyed, filth covered close-up of his manic face. And I haven’t even mentioned the moments when Ash himself becomes possessed!
It’s a mightily impressive performance all round from Campbell that far exceeds the expectations of a horror-comedy.