Army of Darkness

Army of Darkness
by Sam Raimi

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Category: DVD
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DVD Reviews of Army of Darkness

DVD Review: Army of Darkness
Summary: 4 Stars

Ash {Bruce Campbell} returns in this part three film of the Evil Dead series. But where the first two films focused primarily on insanity, which is entertaining or disturbing, depending upon who is viewing the presentation, part three lapses into much more of a comedic vein, likened very much the Hercules / Xena brand of humor, which may have actually derived from these films.

3 immediately resumes where 2 left off, transporting Ahe through the portal from the present into the past, circa mideival Ireland, complete with car, rifle, & the chainsaw which replaces the hand he amputated to be rid of the "evil" possessing it, which in itself made for quite a hilarious scene.

He is made a prisoner of war when he virtually "falls from the sky", & despite the recognition of the resident wiseman as the one prophesied as the deliverer / savior of their people, is instead identified as being a member of the opposing army's memvership, & is placed in chains & shackels along with a leader of the enemy, to meet their fate in "The Pit", an abyss containing several monsters who mutilate & kill whomever is thrown down into it - a veritable sacrificial pit. So poor Ash is forced to do his first battle with a couple of ghouls, until the wiseman, who resembles Merlin, toses in the chainsaw. Ash makes quick work ofthem, decapitating one, blasting another with his "boom stick", as he explained to the bloodthirsty peasants. And finally, he is acknowledged as the prophesied deliverer of the people.

He must acquire The Necronomicon from a cemetary, but is admonished to speak the afore-mentioned binding words of spell, but unfortunately, at the last moment, forgets the last word, eventuallcausing the dead, an army of darkness, to arise to do battle with mortals, but not before he must divulge the correct book from the three set upon an altar in the graveyard, experiencing the plights that each false one presents.

Subsequently, Ash has run-ins with impish clones of himself, a demon who flies off with a sweet damsel, who becomes possessed by the nefarious gloom besetting the land, but she is eventually released of the influence of the King of The Dead, who multiplied himself himself from the flesh of Ash during that scene with the miniature imp-clones which became reminiscient of Gulliver's Travels.

Ash teaches the mortal army a few new tricks, & prepares for the arrival of the excarnate nemesis in skeletal form. The remainder of the movie consists of Xena-esque battles until the book is preserved, victory is hailed, & Ash is returned to the present, where he rgails the apathetic S-Mart co-workers with tales of his explits. But again, he did not utter the words of Spell completely, & the results are made evident when a she-demon in the form of a hideous hag attacks his girlfriend {*There is another scene earler in the movie when another hag appeared to kill anyone who woild deem to possess the book*}, to which the warrior Ash surfaces once more, to battle another denizen of the dark.

Overall, Army of Dakness is a comedy, not really something that would give you a fright, but will tickle your funny "bone'. Personally, I prefer the first two over this version, for the more occultic references, focusing on the mythology of Necronomicon lore, & some of the more horriffic scenes.

The FX are remarkable however; well-hewn demonic creatures, the skeletal army is superbly done, & the environments are crafted quite appropriately, especially the cemetary. A classic Horror-Comedy.

Description of Army of Darkness