Watch: Bruce Campbell Stars in Fake Trailer For BLOOD SIMPLE, Which The Coen Brothers Used to Kickstart Their Career
Before the Coen Brothers became the legendary Hollywood figures they are today, they were scrappy, upstart filmmakers with a dream looking for a way to raise money for their first feature film. And way before the days of Kickstarter, they took some advice from their roommate — Evil Dead director Sam Raimi — and made a short trailer as a way to pitch the project to potential investors. From Vanity Fair:
"Sam taught us that if you call on the phone and ask people to invest in a movie they’ll tell you to go hell," Joel Coen explains in an interview that will be featured on the upcoming Criterion Collection DVD and Blu-ray release of Blood Simple, which will be available in September. "But if you tell them ‘I have a piece of film to show you,’ then some of the would let you come into their living room and set up your little projector and show it to them."
VF also has the fake trailer itself, which has never been seen online before. It stars Bruce Campbell in the role of Julian Marty, which would eventually go to Dan Hedaya in the real version of the 1984 movie. Looks like Raimi helped out with that connection, too (these guys were all buds back in the day, and Joel Coen was the assistant editor on The Evil Dead). Take a look at it below, and keep your eyes peeled for the 4k digital restoration of Blood Simple from Criterion Collection coming back to limited theaters on July 1: