Spotlight
Spotlight Date: 1-June-03
Book Review: If Chins Could Kill by Bruce Campbell
I attended a book fair two Christmases ago in the hopes of finding a few bargains and maybe hobnobbing with one or two of my city's semifamous native scribes. In scanning the program for the event, I duly made note of the chef with her own PBS show and the acclaimed science fiction writer, but what really caught my eye was the unexpected presence of a handsome Hollywood actor known to me through a short-lived television show from a few years before. "What was he doing here?" I wondered and, more importantly, "Am I really willing to pay $30 just to talk to a good-looking man for a matter of seconds?" The answer to the first question remains unsolved, but the answer to the second was a resounding "Yes," so off I went in search of my prey. I found him in an out-of-the-way booth removed from the main crush of the fair. He looked rather uncomfortable, i.e., ripe for someone of extraordinary personal attractions to sweep him off his feet. After pretending to peruse his book with a critical air, I generously offered to buy one and handed it over for his autograph. With a dazzling display of pearly whites, he wrote my name and a brief note before adding a flourish of illegible signature. But the Miss America simper with which I received the book quickly morphed into the sickly grimace of the dumbfounded; I had no idea how to respond to what he wrote, which was: "Gimme some sugar, baby!" Was I to rejoice at his abrupt proposal, or run away and find Security? Picking up on my confusion, he apologetically explained that the message was a catch phrase from one of his famous cult films. I blushed, probably giggled, nodded thanks, and left, my $30 moment wasted. And that was how I came to own Bruce Campbell's book, If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor.
This little anecdote (mortifying as it is) makes a fitting introduction to a review of Campbell's book, which describes his long, varied, and often bizarre career on the fringes of popular culture's mass consciousness. As he tells it, "this is not a memoir . . . about an actor's 'meteoric' rise, or 'tragic' fall. Rather, this book is dedicated to the players on the second string, the 'B' people, if you will, and I cheerfully include myself in that lot." This summary hits the nail right on the head, for the chief pleasures of If Chins Could Kill are Campbell's seemingly unfabricated personality as a middle-class, good-natured, all-around decent guy, and his lifelong enjoyment of the craft of putting a story on film, in all its facets and independent of the fame and fortune that sometimes come with it. The book starts sluggishly and is rife with misused commas and personal pronouns (the fault for which rests squarely on his editor's shoulders, not his own), but all in all it's a snappy, droll, and enlightening read.
Throughout his career, Campbell has worked with a group of pals who met as teens in the late 1970s and have all made a life in entertainment, most notably director Sam Raimi (now at the top of the Hollywood food chain after the success of "Spider-man"). Putting their individual talents aside, chances are that none of them would have gotten where they are today without the success of their first major film, "Evil Dead," a shlock gore fest starring Campbell that came out in 1982, became a staple at college campuses and late-night theaters, and ended up spawning two sequels over the next decade. It's not surprising, therefore, that several chapters of the book are devoted to the experience of making "Evil Dead," which is a great tale of youthful ignorance, underdog determination, and laughable stupidity --- and, I imagine, is the Holy Bible for legions of horror fans who would immediately understand where "Gimme some sugar, baby" comes from. One can't help but be amused by Campbell's description of the hardships they had to endure in making the film, which included Appalachian rednecks, angry bulls, an unusually harsh Tennessee winter, close living quarters, and the painful but imaginative process of simulating pupil-less zombies, bile, blood, vomit, and dismembered limbs with minds of their own.
Campbell's long-time friendship with Raimi and others gives the book a solid foundation and a continuing theme, but he hasn't built a career upon childhood associations alone. (In addition to the "Evil Dead" movies, he is known for stints on "Hercules," "Xena: Warrior Princess," and other TV shows, as well as a number of supporting movie roles.) Like the few other Hollywood autobiographies I have read, If Chins Could Kill emphasizes just how heavily show business relies on personal relationships. Indeed, Campbell reveals that the success of every project he has attempted as an actor, director, or other member of a film or television crew depended upon his ability to connect with someone: financiers, marketers, producers, casting agents, cameramen, make-up artists, costume designers, co-stars, animal handlers, and, of course, his audience. You get the sense that this is a big part of the attraction for him; from his origins as a rambunctious little brother to his more "mature" incarnation as an inveterate practical joker (he devotes the better part of a chapter to an elaborate gag he pulled even while his first marriage was falling apart), Campbell seems to be a guy who just plain likes being around other people. Which, I imagine, is exactly why he's cheerful to be on the second string of an industry where every day brings together a different crew and a new opportunity for cooperative creativity.
If Chins Could Kill is peppered with old and not-so-old pictures of Campbell and his friends and family, as well as memorabilia from his career, including samples of his fan email and some very amusing drawings of certain "advancements" in technique that Raimi made during the course of the "Evil Dead" films. These help to promote the feeling, also generated by his humorous and straightforward writing style, that the book is Campbell's way of sharing what he views as one heck of a fun ride. The view of Hollywood may be better from the top, but he shows that much can be seen and enjoyed from a lower perspective as well.
If Chins Could Kill is available from St. Martin's Press. According to the official Bruce Campbell website (http://www.bruce-campbell.com), the most recent printing features an additional chapter on "Bruce's odyssey of shameless self-promotion following the release of the hardcover edition."
Copyright © 2003 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.
