This is, overall, and excellent book by noted film author John Kenneth Muir. It takes us behind-the-scenes of every Sam Raimi movie from Evil Dead up to the newly released Spider-man 2 and is, for the most part, a riveting read and an excellent bed fellow for Bill Warren's Evil Dead Companion. The most interesting thing about the study is the depth of detail to which Muir goes using information provided by key principal's (where possible) to provide a neat analysis of each movie. The strengths are the Evil Dead trilogy. As this makes up such an important part of Raimi's career this is no surprise but the amount of info revealed is fascinating and goes beyond Warren's book. Interviews and accounts from Tom Sullivan, Ellen Sandweiss, Phil Gillis and Theresa Tilly (Sarah York) make the book a must for lovers of Evil Dead with Sullivan often going so far as toeven correct errors made in the Companion! He also provides a series of exclusive on-set photos and some from his private collection to help paint a picture of Raimi. For this alone I say 'read it!'.

The rest of the book is typically analytical of style and content in an attempt to get behind Raimi as a film-maker. It's important to remember that this is not a biography but a study of hoe he has grown and developed over his last twenty professional years. Nice trivia is revealed concerning Raimi's lost feature, Evil Dead follow up 'Crimewave' and special focus is given to Raimi's middle movies, A Simple Plan, For the Love of the Game and The Gift respectively.

Author Muir comes from a film studies background so his approach is very academic. His introduction is friendly and makes the book approachable but at times he seems to reach beyond the subtext, especially in the section examining Raimi's seminal western The Quick and the Dead which could weigh heavy on the casual reader.

Would I recommend this book? Yes. Great for Raimi fans and Evil Dead fans alike with a strong analytical approach to keep prospective film students happy. This plus Bill Warren's book need to be on any desent Evil Dead fans shelf so I urge you to buy but be warned as Muir's approach can be heavy.