by Bruce Campbell (Author)
SIGNED by Bruce Campbell. with inscription: "STAY GROOVY"
COLLECTORS ITEM.
Book Description
If Chins Could Kill is a delightfully irreverent, yet oddly touching epic of ambition and disappointment, fame and anonymity, and lots of fake blood. Told in Bruces wry, sarcastic voice, it is a Hollywood from the bleacher seats look at his experiences in film and TV and at his status as a cult horror and sci-fi movie god. This man with the face of a matinee idol and the heart of a Stooge first attracted what has grown into an enormous cult following as the star of Sam Raimis legendary Evil Dead trilogy of thriller-comedies. With tireless good humor and biting wit, Bruce acted, produced, and directed his way through a bakers dozen of B horror films and space operas before finally enjoying mainstream stardom on prime-time TV. Deeply earnest and fiercely funny, this book tells the story of an unlikely star who continues to lead a unique double life as cult movie icon and regular Joe.
About the Author
Bruce Campbell is the ultimate "B" actor with an ever growing fanbase. His films in the "Evil Dead" series are cult favorites and his TV roles spark the same enthusiasm. He lives in Oregon.
Though it offers few revelations about the details of Campbell's personal life, this entertaining and witty Hollywood memoir combines his life story with how-to guidance on making independent films and becoming a pop culture cult hero. Campbell began working in show business as a teenager, and in high school became friends with future director Sam Raimi, with whom he eventually co-produced the 1982 cult horror hit Evil Dead, in which Campbell starred. Despite his wry, modest sense of humor Campbell recognizes the peculiar place that Evil Dead holds in contemporary culture he sincerely conveys the enormous commitment and work that went into making and marketing the movie. By the time he describes the film's premiere, Campbell's sense of triumph is palpable: we share his excitement when the film makes back its money and by 2000 becomes number three on the all-time video charts after Lady and the Tramp and Titanic. When Campbell isn't starring in new films like Evil Dead II and Moontrap, he is desperately often hilariously looking for investors for his new projects. His subtitle aside, Campbell's career has gone mainstream: he has appeared in Homicide and Ellen, is a regular on Hercules and Xena, and has started directing as well. (June)Forecast: While a boon to film cultists and to Campbell's many fans, this book also has enough insights and smarts to appeal to readers with a serious interest in popular culture. A planned author tour and national print advertising will help it capitalize on Campbell's cult following.
This engaging memoir offers much more than the standard, glamorous "and then I did..." show business autobiography. In an informal and entertaining style, Campbell describes his suburban childhood in 1950s Detroit, his introduction to acting at 13 via a summer stock production of The King and I, his involvement in theatrics and an 8mm movie production in high school, a semester-long foray into higher education, and his adult career as an actor. A large portion of the work is devoted to his friendship and working relationship with director Sam Raimi, who was a high school classmate and whose successful film Evil Dead brought them both to public attention. The book offers insights into the world of independent filmmaking and the life of a "B" actor, but most importantly it succeeds as an evocative memoir that allows the reader to know Campbell.
Campbell, famed and in some quarters beloved star of Sam Raimi's ridiculously scary/scarily ridiculous horror flicks (Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Armies of Darkness) since their high-school days, has a rapier wit that he plies handily against the weird little world in which he toils. He notes, for example, how much thriller-comedies like Raimi's resemble such syndicated-TV sword-sandals-biceps-boobs-'n'-magic fests as Xena and Hercules, in both of which he just happens to have recurring roles. Exceptionally literate yet conversational, wide-ranging but never wandering, and copiously, gleefully illustrated, Campbell's self-life is, as he says, "not about an actor's 'meteoric' rise or 'tragic' fall" but is "dedicated to the players on the second string, the 'B' people," with whom he cheerfully identifies. Light reading it may be, but it contains much important lifestyle information, such as how to deal with a cracked block in a 1976 Opal Isuzu, and the merits of using a brush to paint a car with house paint. The true Hollywood and behind-the-scenes-with-Xena-and-Gaby stuff is just so much whipped cream on the sundae.
About the Author
Bruce Campbell is the ultimate "B" actor with an ever growing fanbase. His films in the "Evil Dead" series are cult favorites and his TV roles spark the same enthusiasm. He lives in Oregon.
Bruce Campbell is the ultimate "B" actor with an ever growing fanbase. His films in the "Evil Dead" series are cult favorites and his TV roles spark the same enthusiasm. He lives in Oregon.
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