There are precious few if any modern actors who can boast the sort of cult following that Bruce Campbell has enjoyed, particularly given how few and far between his decent roles and great performances have been. We'll happily sing for Evil Dead II, the Justice two-parter in Homicide: Life on the Street and, of course, Bubba Ho-Tep, and his autobiography If Chins Could Talk – Confessions of a B Movie Actor is thoroughly recommended reading for all fans. Now Campbell takes what could be seen a step to far in the self-referencing stakes when he stars as himself in the spoof horror-comedy My Name is Bruce.

Bruce Campbell stars as Bruce Campbell, a womanizing, booze-addled B-movie star, who bears nothing but contempt for his loyal fans and has an unfortunate habit of 'drunk-dialling' his ex-wife Cheryl (played by Ellen Sandweiss, who 'coincidentally' starred as Cheryl in The Evil Dead). When reckless teenager and Bruce-obsessive, Jeff Graham (Taylor Sharpe), accidentally awakens the ancient evil spirit and Chinese protector of the dead (and bean curd!), Guan-di, in the small mining town of Gold Lick, Oregon, he can think of only one man capable of preventing the demon from wiping out the town's entire population. Forced by circumstance to take desperate measures, Jeff takes it upon himself to kidnap his idol and delivers him to the townsfolk of Gold Lick. Believing the whole scenario to be part of birthday prank arranged by his agent (Ted Raimi, in one of three roles), Bruce gamely plays along, not least because he sees it as an opportunity to try out his charms on Jeff's hot mom while consuming plenty of free liquor. The star's willingness to play along soon changes, however, when he finally confronts Guan-di and discovers the demon isn't just some harmless stunt guy in a rubber suit!

Adding to the film's potential cult appeal sees Bruce has surrounded himself with a host of his and Sam Raimi's longtime friends and associates from their Evil Dead days onwards, including stars Ted Raimi (the Spider-Man trilogy; The Grudge; Army Of Darkness), Ellen Sandweiss (The Evil Dead) and Danny Hicks (Spider-Man 2; Darkman; Maniac Cop; Evil Dead II), and composer Joseph LoDuca (the Evil Dead trilogy; Man With The Screaming Brain).

So is this a hilarious send-up of actor and genre or the ultimate vanity project for Campbell. Only time and experience will tell, and you'll be able to find out on 13th February when the film receives a limited UK theatrical release, or on 2nd March when it's let loose on UK DVD and Blu-ray by Anchor Bay at the RRP of £19.99 for each of the discs. No news of extras yet – surely Campbell must be up for a commentary on this one.