great Hollywood book from a non-Hollywood guy

books:


	• If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor Bruce Campbell L.A. Weekly Books, 2002 - 368 pages average customer review:based on 206 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

great Hollywood book from a non-Hollywood guy

I would never have stumbled on this book were it not for the sometimes useful, sometimes annoying Amazon "other people who bought this book also bought..." section. I don't like horror movies, don't have much interest in Hollywood, and had never heard of Bruce Campbell, so I doubt I'd have stumbled on this on my own. I'm glad I did. He reminds me a bit of Mike Nelson, of MST3K fame, not as funny but funny enough, and a fairly normal everyman kind of midwestern (in fact, very midwestern) guy. It is interesting to follow the Campbell career as he and his friends (one of whom winds up directing a Spiderman movie or two) mortgage their hides to scrape together enough money to make a horror movie that (who would have guessed?) becomes a cult classic. This is the best part of the book, and the descriptions of filming on a farm in the dead of winter in How-did-we-wind-up-here, Tennessee. The passion of youth and dreams and even dreams scaled back comes through in every page, and as I hope I have made plain by now, does not require one to be a horror buff or even a film buff to appreciate.

The book goes on to follow his career, and even a bit of his family life, although he is more than a little private there. He acted on some other well known shows, including Xena and some others- again shows I had never seen but was at least aware of. Again, very interesting to get a behind the scenes look from someone who was high enough up to be in the know, without being so high up that one couldn't relate to him. I can't promise that it will change your life or that you can't put it down, but I can pretty much guarantee that if you have heard of Bruce Campbell or are an Evil Dead aficionado you'll totally love it. And you may be like me and just like it because it broadens your horizons a bit.

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Finally - someone real in Hollywood

Well, after reading Bruce's book, I realize that there are some real people in Hollywood after all. Bruce, who get works by working hard - no being the child of someone famous (or dating someone famous) - has worked to get to where he is at.

Bruce also realized that even though he's not the #1 (heck not even #1000 in Hollywood), but he still has an exciting life. Anyone who ever wanted to be an actor should read this!

Acting is one thing, being a star is a totally different thing. Bruce is an Actor who has been fortunate to gain cult status for some great, fun movies. Who will ever forget Army of Darkness - "This is my boomstick!"

The book flows well giving us a good overview of his childhood - college (or atleast the few weeks in college he spent) to where is at the time of pub.

After reading this book, I realized Bruce is the kinda guy you'd love to have over for a few beers and BS about anything that comes to mind.

Thanks Bruce for letting us see that some people in the "business" are real - not just out there to sell us something!

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You didn't let us down, Brrrruce!

He's hammy, un-glamorous and yet handsome in a quirky sort of way; he's done most of his own stunts, had no formal acting education, yet somehow remains employed in film and television for over 25 years; he's one of those admirable, hard-working stiffs that you never hear about in Hollywood; "real" stars the likes of Charlton Heston can't remember him from one week to the next ...he's Bruce Campbell, and for my money, he's the greatest thing to happen to B movies since Lon Cheney.

If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor is the great BC's autobiography. He is very upfront about his intent to show the "blue-collar Hollywood" here. What he also reveals is that he was once just a typical kid growing up in Michigan, with perhaps an atypical talent for plotting, campaigning, jerri-rigging and otherwise pulling off one kind of mischief or another. He also seems to have had a lot of friends who shared his creative spirit and interest in making Super 8 movies (yes, that includes Spiderman's director Sam Raimi). Combine all these factors with a self-admitted intention to goof off for a living, and you have the makings of the only kind of film crew capable of making the likes of Evil Dead: offbeat, and forced by a shoestring budget to improvise and innovate. It also helped that there wasn't some kind of filmmaking bigshot hanging around to point out why what they were attempting was impossible.

Mr. Campbell takes us through his life to date with a clear, unselfconscious writing style that has a conversational tone. He doesn't seem to be keen on hamming it up in his book or embellishing it with the flair he puts in his films. Writing per se is apparently not his first passion, but there is a sense of honesty and a self-deprecating humor that shines through. The behind-the-scenes look at the moviemaking process and the world of working actors was a treat for me, though, and since Bruce so obviously enjoyed telling it, I enjoyed reading it.

It could be said that Bruce has become an icon of sorts in our household; and after finishing this book, I have greater understanding about why he has always represented the ultimate sassy underdog to me. Love ya Bruce - and don't you dare retire for at least another 25 years!
-Andrea, aka Merribelle

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What a fun read

I am almost through Shake Hands With The Devil, about the genocide in Rwanda, and decided I needed a break. After hearing Bruce Campbell on local radio, I bought his 2 books the next day. I may be one of his only fans who has never seen an Evil Dead movie, but I am a huge fan of those that take their craft very seriously, but themslves less so. It appears that Mr. Campbell does this in front of the camera, behind the camera, and at his typewriter. An engaging writer and storyteller, he is very pleasant exception to the rule about never letting an actor speak without a writer giving him the lines. All and all, Bruce seems like a guy you'd like to hang out with. If you can't do that, do the next best thing and pick up this book.

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Funny Funny Funny

Never read a truly funny 'all about me' book before, but then it's not entirely about the great Bruce Campbell. I just kept laughing all the way through. Even if you have a rotten sense of humor you'll still laugh. I always liked the guy's movies, but now I admire him as well--which is really rare, because I can count the number of actors I admire on one hand. Go Bruce!

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, page 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

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