This week’s article could have been a film review of “Our Brand is Crisis,” but with our own election season heating up, I had to wonder if the tale of American political hacks involved in a Bolivian presidential campaign would hold much interest.

On the one hand, a film starring Billy Bob Thornton and Sandra Bullock as rival political advisors seems to be intriguing, but the most interesting thing about Thornton is that his character looks a lot like Bill Clinton campaign operative James Carville.

But why waste your time in a darkened theater with a carton of stale popcorn when the Starz cable channel offers up a big helping of Bruce Campbell reviving his role of the blowhard monster fighter from Sam Raimi’s iconic “Evil Dead” franchise?

The new breed of horror began with Raimi, as writer and director, teamed with producer Rob Tapert and star Bruce Campbell, going back more than three decades to the first “Evil Dead” theatrical release, which was followed by sequels, including the awesome “Army of Darkness.”

To be sure, the “Evil Dead” phenomenon has achieved cult status, and as such, the appeal for the Starz 10-episode, half-hour series “Ash vs. Evil Dead,” which features such an excess of bloody gore that it would never be on network television, may be limited.

For reasons that have to do with his natural charisma and boundless sense of humor, Bruce Campbell’s Ash Williams, a self-centered, aging lothario and lazy stock boy at the Value Stop discount store, is the glue holding this whole thing together.

The last “Evil Dead” movie starring Campbell happened more than two decades ago, and yet the fan base clamored for his return because he’s a seriously flawed hero, who wields a mean chainsaw and delivers a no-holds-barred sense of fun and sheer insanity in fighting zombies.

Starz is so certain that “Ash vs. Evil Dead” is a winner that it announced an early renewal for a second season even before the first episode hit the airwaves. Of course, and this is a good thing, Bruce Campbell has signed on for a second tour of duty.

The first episode finds Ash in a menial dead-end job, living in a squalid trailer park and still driving a 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88, the now classic car that has been used in one form or another in all of the “Evil Dead” films.

The mythology of the “Evil Dead” goes back to the first film in which Ash and some buddies discover an ancient book, “The Necronomicon Ex Mortis,” which unleashes demons to possess the living, becoming creatures known as the Deadites.

Ash may think the zombie-slaying business is behind him, but one night after too many drinks and trying to impress a young girl invited back to his trailer, he reads a passage from the book, and all hell breaks loose.

The friendly old lady next door that helps Ash tidy up his messy trailer turns into a Deadite, as does his annoying boss who figures his indolent box boy is only handy enough to move cartons of light bulbs. 

Selfish and a bit of an idiot, Ash has no appreciable skills or special training, but his prosthetic hand is useful in wielding a chainsaw to lop off the heads of Deadites, the most effective killing tool.

In short order, Ash picks up two unlikely allies in his co-workers, Pablo (Ray Santiago), an illegal immigrant who desperately wants to be an American, and Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo), an impulsive wild child with a biting wit.

Tough, quick-witted and sarcastic, Kelly is the common-sense counterpart to Ash, except that she first has to deal with the mystery of her mother (Mimi Rogers) having disappeared without a trace about six months earlier.

Meanwhile, Ash, even though he acts stupidly at times and exercises cloudy judgment, is idolized by Pablo, who believes in him to lead the battle of good versus evil, even when Ash doubts himself.

Both disenfranchised by family circumstances, Pablo and Kelly wind up as sidekicks for Ash, an improbable de facto father figure who vacillates between acting as a mentor and a tormentor.

There is a parallel story of Michigan State Police detective Amanda Fisher (Jill Marie Jones) finding her career on the line following the grisly murder of her partner by a Deadite.

Amanda is destined to be on a collision course with Ash, who may become a prime suspect. Lucy Lawless pops up as the seductive and reclusive Ruby, who also believes that Ash is the cause of the supernatural massacre that murdered her family over 30 years ago.

“Ash vs Evil Dead” is a horror thrill ride with plenty of action, laughs and buckets of blood. Oh yes, lots and lots of blood are splattered everywhere. Our heroes are literally drenched in blood on several occasions, and that’s just in the first two episodes.

No matter what, the battle against the Deadites is fraught with bloody mayhem and excessive violence. True to the B-movie pedigree of the film series, “Ash vs Evil Dead” is campy fun with its unique blend of comedy, gore and horror.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.