The Unseen Force : The Films of Sam Raimi [Paperback]

John Kenneth Muir (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2004

Following his highly successful An Askew View: The Films of Kevin Smith (Applause), John Kenneth Muir now turns to the life and work of legendary cult-film director Sam Raimi. Raimi exploded on the movie scene in 1982, when he was 23 years old, with the audacious, independently produced horror film The Evil Dead. Re-igniting the horror genre to such a degree that Wes Craven credited Raimi on-screen in A Nightmare on Elm Street, Raimi went on to direct two Evil Dead sequels, his own comic-book superhero, Darkman, and an over-the-top, post-modern western, The Quick and the Dead. Raimi's influence on other filmmakers continues to be enormous - from the "shaky cam" shots of the Coen brothers to the early oeuvre of Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, both of whom have been termed the "direct progeny" of Raimi's works.In 2002, Raimi's Spider-Man had the biggest opening weekend in history, earning more than $114 million at the box office. The Unseen Force also features a sneak peek at the much anticipated Spider-Man 2. Included are 30 first-person accounts and interviews from a number of eclectic sources - from the cinematographers who shot Raimi's early films to the producers, screenwriters, actors, special effects magicians and composers who collaborated to make his films the stuff of legend, earn mainstream success, and still be the focus of obsessive cult followings.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Muir, author of Horror Films of the 1970s, admires and enjoys Raimi's highly praised work. Examining Raimi's oeuvre, from the cult classic low-budget horror film The Evil Dead (1981) through the mega-hit Spider-Man (2002), he offers lively, behind-the-scenes accounts via interviews with many of Raimi's collaborators. For example, he divulges the trade secrets of Tom Sullivan, the man responsible for the special effects in The Evil Dead, which illustrate the resourcefulness Raimi inspires in his colleagues. Although famous for violent and unnerving films like 1990's Darkman, the director exudes a calm presence, noted for dressing in a suit and tie to indicate his respect for the craft of filmmaking. Even while exploring new terrain, such as the neo-Western The Quick and the Dead (1995) or 1999's baseball/romance film For Love of the Game, Raimi maintains a strong visual and emotional landscape. In Spider-Man, Muir says, he found the perfect vehicle to marry his love of comic books, his visual talents and his sensitivity, producing the most successful film of the genre. Muir shows how signature flourishes (e.g., his "Point of View subjective shot") pop up in Raimi's fledgling works yet still thrill when used in Spider-Man. If there is a downside to the nonconformist director, Muir has yet to find it. B&w photos.
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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Applause Books; 1st ed edition (May 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557836078
• ISBN-13: 978-1557836076
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #856,089 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Kenneth Muir is the award-winning author of over 20 books in the fields of film & television, with an accent on horror & sci-fi. John has been described as one of the horror genre's "most widely read critics" by Rue Morgue Magazine, and as an "accomplished film journalist" by Comic Buyer's Guide. His director books include profiles of John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Christopher Guest, Tobe Hooper, Mira Nair, Sam Raimi, and Kevin Smith. John has twice won a Booklist Editor's Choice citation (for Horror Films of the 1970s and Terror Television). John is also the creator of the award-nominated web series, The House Between, and in 2009 John's blog, Reflections on Film/TV was named one of the "top 1000" film study blogs on the Net. In 2010, John appears in the documentary Nightmares in Red, White and Blue.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Unseen Force, June 28, 2004

By 

Eric A. Walters (Solvang, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Unseen Force : The Films of Sam Raimi (Paperback)

This book is a must have for fans of Sam Raimi. It provides in-depth coverage of all of his movies with information from interviews with members of the cast and crew on each of the films.

The author gives his own commentary on each movie and discusses Mr. Raimi's development as a director. I was already a fan of Sam Raimi because of the Evil Dead films and Spider-Man. After reading this book I am interested in checking out some of his other movies as well.
This is the fifth book I have bought by John Kenneth Muir(Horror Films of the 1970's,Eaten Alive at a Chainsaw Massacre,Films of John Carpenter and Wes Craven:the Art of Horror) and I would recommend each of them to horror movie fans and movie fans in general.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than thirty firsthand accounts and interviews, July 16, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Unseen Force : The Films of Sam Raimi (Paperback)

The Unseen Force: The Films Of Sam Raimi provide a behind-the-scenes, movie-by-movie survey of the career and work of innovative film director Sam Raimi. He made his debut in 1982 at the age of 23 with the independent horror film "The Evil Dead" which was so successful Raimi went on to direct two sequels. Included by film expert John Muir are more than thirty firsthand accounts and interviews with filmmakers that have worked with Raimi, from the cinematographers who shot the early films, to the producers, screenwriters, actors, special effects technicians, and music score composers who collaborated to make his films the stuff of box office legend and the focus of a devoted following of dedicated fans. The Unseen Force is a welcome and greatly appreciated contribution to the annals of filmmaking and filmmaker histories.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book for Raimi fans covering his entire career..., June 11, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Unseen Force : The Films of Sam Raimi (Paperback)

Having read Bill Warren's "Evil Dead Companion", Bruce Campbell's "If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-Movie Actor" and Josh Becker's "Evil Dead Journal" (available online at beckerfilms.com) the story of the production of Sam Raimi's classic 1981 film "The Evil Dead" is becoming somewhat tedious. That said, I still managed to learn some new "Evil Dead" info in Muir's book. The main draw of this book is that it gives all of Raimi's films equal coverage, rather than focusing on his two franchises. The aforementioned books by Warren and Campbell are probably better choices if you're simply an "Evil Dead" trilogy fan and Mark Cotta Vaz's books on the production of "Spider-Man" and "Spider-Man 2" (which has a pretty skimpy chapter in "The Unseen Force", but to be fair, the author couldn't have seen it in time for publication) focus mostly on the conceptual stage and offer little insight into Raimi as a director. It's nice to see "Crimewave", "Darkman", "The Quick and the Dead", "A Simple Plan" (Raimi's best film, as far as I'm concerned), "For Love of the Game" and "The Gift" getting some attention rather than used as context for the cinematic adventures of Ash and Peter Parker. The writing is scholarly but enjoyable, and Muir's interviews with Ian Abercrombie, Betsy Baker, Douglas Beswick, Brent Briscoe, Gary Cole, Kevin Conway, Willem Dafoe, Peter Deming, Chris Doyle, Phil Gillis, Daniel Goldin, Richard Grove, Lance Henricksen, Joe LoDuca, William Mesa, Simon Moore, Verne Nobles, Tim Philo, Robert Primes A.S.C., Thell Reed, Cliff Robertson, Amy Robinson, Chelcie Ross, Ellen Sandweiss, Randy Ser, Thomas Smith, Dana Stevens, Tom Sullivan, Theresa Tilly, Sherree J. Wilson and Christopher Young offer a more diversified portrait of Raimi as a filmmaker than previous books (although this is the first to focus primarily on Raimi himself). If there is one area where the book lacks, it is in the actual biographical details. The death of Raimi's older brother Sander, a tragic and defining moment in his childhood, is glossed over, and a few childhood stories in the tradition of Campbell's book would have been nice (nobody from the Raimi family was interviewed for the book, nor was Campbell) but as a look at Raimi's cinematic accomplishments, "The Unseen Force" doesn't disappoint.