Army of Darkness is hard for me to review. I really love it, but I fail to see the horror in it at all. Bruce Campbell is amazing. That's a given. The comedy is great. It's quotable, ti's memorable, it's funny, it's the second sequel to the Evil Dead! The first in the franchise was such a heavyweight. It carried a different tone obviously. It was, and still is scary. The second played around in the comedy element, but I always took it as a product of madness. However, this third installment is completely in the comedy element. It has shades of horror and gore, but it's a comedy. That's not a knock on this film at all, again I love Army of Darkness. It's just not on the same terror level as the other two.
Directly, or indirectly (depending on how you look at it), following the events of the second film, Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn. Ash has been sucked back in time, along with his car, chainsaw, and boom-stick. They land in medieval times. Obviously Ash becomes the hero of a Kingdom plagued by Deadites. However, upon trying to get back to his own time. Ash is split in two. Good ash and Bad ash. Now Bad Ash is leading the Deadites against the Kingdom and Good Ash is the only one that can help.
The effects in this movie are nothing to shake a stick at. They are creative, but they don't really look pretty. It's not much of an issue though. Not with this. You get lost in the campy nature of the movie and it all looks pretty commonplace. The skeleton armies and mini Ash's are just a few of the many shaky looking effects. You get some gore. A decapitation. Ash faces a pretty nasty looking witch thing in a pit. She's a bit scary. Nothing to lose sleep over. This isn't that type of picture.
Sam Raimi has created this world with the Evil Dead through to the Army of Darkness. Fede Alverez directed the "remake/sequel/re-visioning" Evil Dead in 2013. All are amazing in their own way. Apparently these are all connected too. There is an upcoming Ash vs. The Evil Dead series coming soon. Also a movie tying both Evil Dead '13 and Sam Raimi's universe, is upcoming. Both sound amazing.
This is a solid flick. It may be low-budget, but if your familiar with Sam Raimi then you should be used to it. He doesn't let a small checkbook stop him from being creative and entertaining. Everything is over-the-top but fittingly so. It's funny to see Mr. Pitt running around as a wise-man.
If you haven't seen it or the series then you are doing yourself a serious disservice. It may not be the scariest of the franchise, but it has some great story and it's just really fun. Bruce Campbell is hilarious, not that I had to tell anyone. It's a great movie for parties. It always seems to be a favorite.
Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Ian Abercrombie, and Richard Grove
Country: USA
Studio: Universal
Did ya know...
All 3 films can be seamlessly cut together (which has been done by fans)(though losing some introductory footage in the sequels)
During the filming of Army Of Darkness the Delta 88 car falling out of the sky was shot two times. During the first attempt, the 25 ton crane lifting the Oldsmobile failed due to mechanical problems and toppled over the edge of a cliff at the quarry location where filming was taking place. Fortunately no injuries occurred as the crane operator dropped from the cab before the crane went over the edge. Days later a larger 80 ton crane was brought in to remove the damaged crane and re-shoot the car drop. In the final edit, elements of the re-shoot as well as footage from the end of Evil Dead 2 were used.
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