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Customer Reviews of Army of Darkness (Boomstick Edition)

Evil Dead meets Xena/Hercules!
Proving you can't keep a good deadite slayer down, Army of Darkness marks the return of Ash in the third film of the highly popular Evil Dead trilogy. Ash (Bruce Campbell) is no longer confined to the isolated cabin in the woods, now that he's been transported to the 14th century (don't ask), apparently somewhere in England. He's seen as an enemy by the local Lord Arthur, but quickly becomes hero and savior to the people when he kills a couple of deadites. Consequently, and in order to return to his time, he's sent on a quest to retrieve the Necronomicon, the Book of the Dead. What should be a simple task results in the creation of the army of darkness, which Ash must battle to keep evil from spreading throughout the land.

Army of Darkness' plot is pure nonsense, sort of a mix of Monty Python and just about every fantasy movie you may have seen. The entire movie's success is based on humor, and it delivers with consistent comic ingenuity. All traces of horror its predecessors had is all but gone here, those expecting to experience terror with their mirth will be sorely disappointed. Army of Darkness is a silly comedy from beginning to end, and it revels in its silliness.

Easily the movie's anchor and probably the only reason I couldn't stop giggling for all 81 minutes is cult fave and comic genius Bruce Campbell. Roles of this kind are perfectly suited for him, and he doesn't disappoint. Whether it's his sharp one-liners, priceless facial reactions, or general good-nature about making a complete fool of himself, Campbell is hilarious as Ash. This is undoubtedly my favorite performance of his, period.

Director Sam Raimi shows off his usual kinetic style, delivering plenty of zooms and swirling camera movements. Most of the action sequences (and there are a LOT of them) are played equally for laughs and thrills, but probably succeed at the former slightly more successfully than the latter. The only movie I can think of that managed to keep its action completely thrilling while consistently mingled with silly physical humor is Stephen Sommers' The Mummy (which obviously gained inspiration from this movie)(Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade also accomplished the task, but boasted better and less silly physical gags).

As much as I enjoyed Army of Darkness, it's not as if though the movie couldn't have been improved. Some jokes fall flat and the concept of Ash fighting his evil twin hardly lives up to its full potential. While the intentionally cheesy and fun special effects and make-up effects are perfectly suited for the film, I would have preferred more sets. Most of the movie is based around one castle (albeit a very large one), without even a small village surrounding it; kind of gives off that low-budget vibe (though it's easily the most expensive of the Evil Dead series).

The director's cut attaches another fifteen minutes to the movie, most of which neither hampers the movie nor enhances its enjoyment. In fact, I would have welcomed this 96-minute cut if not for the alternate ending, which may be more in tone with the trilogy, but doesn't measure up to the hilarious S-Mart finale of the theatrical cut. As far as comparison with its predecessors, it's different enough in tone to not warrant any comparisons, but what the hell, I'll give one, anyway. Army of Darkness is more consistently enjoyable than Evil Dead 2 (which wasn't scary and only sporadically funny), but not up to par with the original The Evil Dead (which remains one of the most frightening films I've ever seen).

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"Well, heeelllooo, Mister Fancy-Pants..."
Ahh-ha-ha-ha, just when you thought it was over, director Sam Raimi, irreplaceable star Bruce Campbell, an' the dreaded Book of the Dead came back one mo' gin for a exciting, hilarious an' "groovy" sword-and-sorcery epic filled with over-the-top action an' hard-to-resist one-liners. I mean, c'mon now, anybody whose seen the essential original 'Evil Dead' an' the far superior 'Evil Dead 2' should know that the third installment would hafta be somethin' bizarre an' really outta this world. Well, trust me, it is all'a those things an' a bag'a chips, an' if you ain't seen it, brace yourself.

For one thing you got Bruce Campbell, who reprises his role as Ash, the shotgun-toting, chainsaw-armed department store clerk from S-Mart's housewares division. Having been time-warped to medieval England, he is believed by King Arthur an' the men an' women of the villages to be the chosen one, sent from the sky to help rid them of the hideous "deadites". When he screws up the initial (an' much safer) plan to legitimately remove the Necronomicon from the cemetary deep in the woods, he ends up unleashing an army of skeletons, all resurrected from their tombs an' led by "Evil Ash", his polar opposite, who makes a triumphant return after making a brief appearance in 'Evil Dead 2' as his reflection in the mirror. Yeah, alright, I know it sounds weird, but, damn, get into it a lil' bit, will 'ya?

If there's one series of films that wouldn't be anything without its main star it's the 'Evil Dead' movies. By the third time around, Bruce Campbell should know he's become entrenched in the role of Ash, and all his cheesy macho heroism too. Nobody, but NOBODY could deliver these lines with such gall an' such bad-a$$ appeal like he does. I mean, alright, check this out. I'm 'bout to give you an example of jus' how damn cool this movie really is, so pay attention.

When "Evil Ash" first appears, after completely splitting off from Ash's body, they come face-to-face in the woods. "Evil Ash" begins mocking his counterpart, calling him "Goody-little two shoes, goody-little two shoes..." an' slapping him around like a punk. Ash stands there putting up with it for a few seconds, an' you're probably thinkin', I know he ain't gon' let this fool do him like 'at, right? Then outta nowhere he holds up the double-barrelled sawed-off shotgun an' presses it into "Evil Ash"'s face which in an instance turns pale, then blows him to kingdom come. As smoke curls outta the gun barrel, Ash looks at the corpse an' says "Good... bad... I'm the guy with the gun."

Good God Almighty, that is the BEST an' most knowingly CHEESY line EVER written in the history of cinema! An' I love it! In fact, one complaint I have about the Bootleg Version is that line has been changed to sumpin' much less cool. Speaking of which, my reccomendation to anyone who is a fan'a this movie is to buy the single-disc Anchor Bay edition as well as the Bootleg Director's Cut on DVD, so you can get the full breadth of both visions. The picture quality on the Bootleg Version is not as good, but, hey, thas' why is' called "bootleg", you primitive screwheads! From an artistic standpoint, I think the director's cut is far superior, as the final battle scene is more broken down into tactical maneauvers from both sides, an' you get to see more of the puppetry with the legions of skeletal warriors. In the theatrical version, the battle scene is jus' kinda splayed at you all at once, an' you can hardly even tell whats' goin' on, an' whose winning. Also, I agree with Bruce Campbell that the original ending is far more appropriate an' was a nice lead-in for the fourth installment if there is to ever be one.

Well, to conclude this unholy mess of a review, 'Army of Darkness' is one'a my all-time favorite movies, an' I hope to God that Bruce an' Sam get together to continue Ash's zombie-killing legacy. Originally, the prospects of making a fourth one looked pretty bleak, since 'Army of Darkness' flopped at the box-office, an' the studios refused to greenlight another 'Evil Dead' movie. But, with all the fanfare an' love, not to mention HUGE box-office receipts, Sam Raimi is getting with the 'Spider-Man' movies, an' especially considering the millions of loyal fans the 'Evil Dead' films have gained since '93, he may have the final say. An' the talk that I'm hearin', is that after he completes the next 'Spider-Man' movie, they may begin work on another 'Evil Dead'. Let's hope so. But now I'm wonderin' with two completely different endings to 'Army of Darkness' planted in people's minds, which one would they follow up on? I guess we'll hafta wait an' see if it happens.

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A Bad and Tasteless Film
This by far is the worst film I have ever seen. Sure, I've had my fair share of bad films, but this one tops them off. The acting stunk in a very big way. I expected this film to scare the socks off of me, but, instead I was shaking my head in full on disgust at the Comedy Relief Film instead of being a true horror flick. Don't waste a second of your time on this film and don't waste your money on it either.