Army of Darkness

Sam Raimi is probably my favorite horror filmmaker. The excitement and over-the-top humor he brings to his horror films is just so wickedly entertaining. Army of Darkness was funnier than the first two Evil Dead films, and had a lot more comedy. It was a slam bang from the opening scene, and a perfect ending to this amazing trilogy. Bruce Campbell shows that he is the man and now on the list of my favorite movie heroes. Sam Raimi knows how to make the perfect horror/comedy and he does not fail to deliver yet again a horror film that is perhaps funnier than most comedies out there. All in all, another spectacular entry into this trilogy, and I think even better than Evil Dead 2 and on par with the first for different reasons.

At the end of Evil Dead 2 Ash is sucked back in time through a time warp. He returns to medieval times where he is mistaken for the prophesied saviour. He is sent to recover the lost Necronomicon to save the people but also return him to his own time. Typically he makes a mistake when reading the book and he reserectes the army of the undead onto the land. Ash must fight to defeat yet more undead fiends!

The third in the series sees the gore drop off and the comedy step up even more. The previous two were both darkly funny but this is just plain hilarious. The sheer raft of one liners and silly/horror set ups keeps you laughing all the way. The horror is not scary as before – mainly because the gore is gone, however I prefer this as the stop motion stuff gives it an old fashioned feel that adds to the value of it – it's hard to explain but I really enjoy this because it feels like an old Harryhausen film.

Campbell is brilliant – I bet he can't believe hi s luck, the rest of his career he's struggled but Rami seem to love him. And rightly so, he is like Jim Carrey but has so much more talent and is a classic B-movie leading man type. The rest of the cast are so-so but really this is an one man show and he does it really well.

Overall this is a great little film. Fans of the series will love it, fans of comedy should love it and fans of B-movie cheese should enjoy it. And the less gore means fun for all the family (almost).

Oh, come on, you just gotta love this. Whether a girl or a snotty old man, this movie is funny. Bruce Campbell overdoes himself into this goofy comedy, transforming scene after scene into a laughing contest. One just has to see this.

Seeing the first two movies as well, I think I realize how this one came to be. I think that most of the times artists allow themselves to have fun at their own work, jewels of comedy emerge. I would just love a fourth movie in the Evil Dead series.

Funny thing, though, as this is the most successful of the movies, I have seen it quite a few times, on video, TV or my computer. I can vaguely remember that one of the movies had an ending when the guy found himself in a far post-apocalyptic future after getting the potion, while in others he was in a supermarket, attacked by a demon. Were there two endings to this movie?

=== yup, searched it up in the trivia, it had two endings :)

The evil dead films go from horror with some black comedy to a horror and comedy mix to this rather innocent adventure comedy. Army of Darkness has more in common with Hercules and Xena than the first two evil dead movies. This does not take away from the fact that this is a faithful sequel. Bruce Campbell has all the fun as he performs Three Stooges routines, goes a little Gulliver, romances a babe, and kills his evil self twice. The battle of Oldsmobile is the highlight as Ash takes on an army mixed of Ray Harryhausen skeletons and KNB zombies. The voices, the sliding dagger skeletons, and the hi ho hi ya make the battle super cool. The silliness is sometimes stupid(shoe laces?) but mostly hits the mark, mostly.

*Evil Ash: I am bad Ash, you're good Ash. Your little goody two shoes! Little goody two shoes! Little goody two shoes!*

Picking up where "Evil Dead II" left off in a somewhat altered opening, Bruce Campbell, now a full blown Han Solo smart ass, is trapped in the dark ages and is eventually found to be the one fated to the Deadites after he retrieves the Book of the Dead, which can also help send him back to his own time. But Bruce, being as stupid as he is, screws up the magic words that are meant to keep the Army of Darkness away and he ends up unleashing an army of undead skeletons by accident who are led by his evil alter ego. Now he must use his 20th century know how to save the day or else evil will forever rule the Earth.

Bruce is back and funnier than ever. No real horror here, more of a parody of a big budget fantasy adventure film. Sadly, a number of great gags were left on the cutting room floor that are generally only seen on extended DVD's and TV showings.

Hail to the King, baby.