If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor by Bruce Campbell

368 Pages (Autobiography)

Bruce Campbell is a B movie actor; most famous for his first real movie, Evil Dead. He also had a big part in The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. and in the Hercules and Xena series. The book follows a form similar to what you would find in most autobiographies. It follows his childhood and teenage years. As he nears adulthood it starts to focus on his life in the creation of movies.

A lot of time is spent describing the “behind the scenes” of Evil Dead. (Since this is his main fan base it comes as no surprise.) It does take an interesting look at what it takes to make a movie happen. Coming up with the idea. Making a “rough draft” movie. Pitching it to people and raising money. All that before you can even think about really making the film.

Campbell writing style is strait forward. He is humorous and isn’t afraid to be real and make fun of himself. He pokes fun at the people he works with and admits the failures in his life openly. He doesn’t waste time going into extreme detail with much and that makes for a refreshingly quick read.

This book is pretty much only for someone who is a fan of Bruce Campbell. Although, someone just interested in getting the “behind the scenes” look at movies would be rewarded, most likely you would be better served with something else.

5 Emotional/Intellectual: Intellectually these points are mainly from the movie background things you learn about. Just as with any autobiography its emotional impact is based on your interest in the writer. Since most people reading this book would be a fan I gave this a higher rating.

2 Style/Readability: Nothing special here, but not bad either. Just what you would expect.

1 Long Term: The base popularity of this book is pretty low. Campbell is a B movie actor and most likely won’t ever go beyond that. The popularity of this book relies solely on that.

8 out of 13. Basically this comes down to if you like the Evil Dead series or are a fan of Bruce Campbell you want to read this book. If you aren’t don’t bother. No surprise there.


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