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In 1981, Bruce Campbell knocked horror fandom’s socks off as Ash Williams, the iron-jawed demon fighter in “The Evil Dead,” Sam Raimi’s outré and now-beloved film about friends who battle unholy hell at a cabin in the woods. It was, it seems fair to say, a defining role.
Now at 66, after decades of swashbuckling, bone-crunching roles in cult horror films and on TV, Campbell’s life seems a bit more Mayberry. He is a grandfather who still uses AOL Mail. Later this month, he’ll host what he called a “casino-ween” party at an Elks Lodge in Ashland, Ore., the mountain town where he lives with his wife, Ida. His taste in music, he said, is “way more Lawrence Welk than you might imagine.”
In some ways, his role in the Peacock series “Hysteria!,” which debuted on Friday, reflects something of this kinder, gentler new reality. As the aw-shucks police chief Dandridge, his domain is a sleepy Michigan suburb in the 1980s, a place where boring is beautiful. But this is Bruce Campbell, so of course the peace is shattered as local holy rollers blame a high school heavy metal band for inviting Satan to their town and unleashing a series of deathly evil deeds. But the devil rarely needs an invitation.
“Hysteria!” is a supernatural horror-comedy, but it takes its cue from a very real and unfunny chapter in American history: the so-called satanic panic, when a flood of unwarranted accusations about cults committing ritualistic child abuse swept the country. That abuse was abetted, according to many leaders on the religious right, by satanic messaging in popular culture.
But for a series set in the ’80s, “Hysteria!” is in some ways timely. It is the latest of several popular treatments of the satanic panic in recent years — including the documentary “Satan Wants You,” the novel “Rainbow Black” and the most recent season of “Stranger Things” — as culture wars, new technologies and misinformation have helped incite a fresh wave of conspiracy theories and conservative book bans.
In a phone interview from his home last month, Campbell discussed the dark legacy of the ’80s satanic panic, what it means to age in show business and other scary topics. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
What do you think is behind recent interest in the satanic panic?
For the writers of “Hysteria!,” it’s probably a reflection of their childhood, and now they’re the age to write about that stuff. The writing is what got me. I ask myself: What gets the creepy old guy to leave Oregon these days? And it has to be good material. They got me there. I’m in the chief-of-police phase of my career.
Do you think a similar panic is happening now?
We haven’t really changed our behavior as citizens — we haven’t gotten any better since the ’80s; we’ve gotten worse. You used to sit down and have a cup of coffee in the ’80s. At least you could talk to your neighbor. [The show] isn’t pointing fingers, but small town America is very religious — I live in rural America; it is what it is. And in small towns, there’s certain stuff they don’t like. They’ll just try and get rid of it.
Satan was always an existential threat. It’s a weird struggle within organized religion because you go, Well if God is God, and there is no spot where God is not, where does Satan fit in? Is Satan real? Or is Satan some other real-world-dwelling entity that wants to make your life miserable?
“Hysteria!” is a horror comedy, but the two genres don’t always play well together. How do you make it work?
I wouldn’t call “Hysteria!” a hardy-har-har show. But [horror comedy] is a tough sell, and you can’t force it. When we did the first “Evil Dead” movie, people walked out of the theater. A woman was raped by a tree, essentially by vines — it’s a very edgy horror film. There were funny parts but mostly from amateurish excess.
But “Evil Dead 2” was co-written by this guy Scott Spiegel who talked to Larry Fine of the Three Stooges on the phone. He couldn’t help but inject crazy stuff into that story. They coined a phrase after it called Splatstick. We just made a weirdo movie, and it happened to be kind of funny and kind of scary.
Horror fans know you best for “Evil Dead” and the related series “Ash vs. Evil Dead.” How do you feel about being so closely associated with one film?
I have nothing but love for the franchise. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. It got me into the business. I’m more constricted by fans than the industry.
How?
They’re not going to watch “Burn Notice” [the popular USA series in which Campbell starred from 2007-13] because spy shows aren’t their bag. And the guys who watch “Burn Notice,” they’re not necessarily horror fans. You’re going to know me from what you’ve watched me in. I know myself differently because I know what I’ve done. I’m grateful to the industry because I get cast in things that are not horror. A little more relevance to what’s happening today never hurt anybody.
So how do you feel about potentially having a new generation discover you through “Hysteria!”?
That happened with “Burn Notice.” They found that the old guy had done those weird horror movies way back when. I’m OK with that. That means I’ve been around for a while. I’m happy to still be in the game. I can offer guidance to young actors.
Like what?
Show up on time. Know your lines. Let’s shoot the rehearsal. Stuff like that. I try to do it by example. I try to be the first to the set. I tell the assistant director to charge every actor after me $20 for not being first on set. It never works, but it’s the idea of, let’s get this done. TV is not TV, not anymore.
How so?
My first TV job was “Knots Landing.” I played some assistant to some businessman. You do a take, and [the actress] Michele Lee looks to the camera guy and goes, “Benny, good for you?” She doesn’t look to the director. Benny never didn’t give a thumbs up. Then the assistant director, without consulting the director, would move to the next shot.
I had just finished “Evil Dead 2” with Sam Raimi doing 20 takes, but these people could not get out of there fast enough. The makeup guy looked at my face and he goes, “You know if I pluck between your eyebrows you’ll look a lot more intelligent.” I ran. I didn’t do TV for five years after that.
What does it feel like to be the wise older actor on set?
It feels great. To be surrounded by kids full of collagen, it really is amazing. A lot of the cast is doe-eyed, really pasty young kids. They’re kind of fun to watch. You think you’re going to be eternally young — but I’m fine. It hasn’t been a hard transition. I’ve tried to play against type a lot. I was never the TV movie heartthrob. I was never that soap opera kind of guy anyway. I feel fortunate to have dodged a few soap opera bullets.
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