A fun entry in the series but I prefer the creepy mood of the first flick over this one. – Will
Ash finds himself in 1300 AD battling an army of the undead so he can get the Necronomicon and return to his own time.
Directed by – Sam Raimi
Written by – Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi
Starring – Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert, Ian Abercrombie, Richard Grove, Timothy Patrick Quill, Michael Earl Reid, Bridget Fonda, Patricia Tallman, Ted Raimi, Shiva Gordon, Billy Bryan, Nadine Grycan, Bill Moseley
While I don’t dislike the third entry in the Evil Dead series, the turn from stylish, creepy horror to almost pure comedy never gets me that excited. The second part certainly has its share of funny moment but Army of Darkness seems only concerned with comedy. It’s also apparently a love letter to Ray Harryhausen who Sam Raimi is a big fan of. There’s lots of stop motion puppetry and it’s hard not to think of Harryhausen whenever you see a stop motion skeleton.
My love for the Evil Dead series goes downhill from the first film, which I loved, until we hit rock bottom with the third one. Sure it’s funny and cheesy and has some fun creature effects but what happened to all the evil? At least the second one managed to strike a balance between spurting blood and one liners. I only remember one moment where lots of blood is sprayed in Army of Darkness and that’s right near the beginning. I guess skeletons don’t have a lot of blood though.
Ash makes a friend who doesn't believe in personal space.
On its own I enjoy Army of Darkness. Bruce Campbell is at his snarky best here, which may not be saying much, and he dispatches all manner of evil creature with a smirk and his boomstick. There’s no shortage of demons with flying deadites, a ‘pit bitch’, lots of skeletons and a scene where a bunch of mini-Ash’s attack their full size friend. Some of it looks great and some of it looks very cheesy but it’s nice to know that CG isn’t infecting every moment of the film. And does anyone else think the final demon Ash faces looks a lot like the old lady in Drag Me To Hell?
Boomsticks. Aisle 8. Shop smart, shop S-Mart!
Army of Darkness is fun and cheesy with Campbell becoming the character that he has continued to play to this day. I just wonder what happened to the Evil Dead series. The first one still manages to creep me out to this day but with the second film Raimi seemed to decide to take a totally different path. It may be my least favorite entry but I still enjoy it. I’ll always go back to the first for a truly creepy night of fun.
Under the marquee – Will
What you see, as the series progresses, is Bruce Campbell becoming a star/product. In the first, he’s just one of the actors, and the film is about… the film. With the success of the first, the second one is a bit more ‘fan aware’. In the third, it’s completely catering to the fans.
Same thing happened with the Freddy movies… First one, he’s an almost spectral, dirty old man. From there, he became an icon/product, came out of the shadows, and had as much screen time as possible. Both these film series, as well as many others, go from ‘great concept/passionate filmmaking’ to ‘blatant wink and play-up to the camera/audience’… which, in most cases, kills the film. Goes from guys making a cool film, to guys trying to make money.
I personally like films that are not ‘audience aware’, and don’t try and impress or entertain the audience, but instead just ‘are’, and we watch almost voyeristically.
I don’t know if I’d call Campbell a star! HAHA! I think it says a lot about this movie that it was originally called Bruce Campbell vs the Army of Darkness.
Freddy became a joke after awhile, which is sad, but Campbell just becomes more of the joke maker. It’s not like his character went from twisted to comical, he was always a little funny at least.
Army Of Darkness is my least favourite of the trilogy. It is heavier on the fantasty elements than the horror and it’s more PG than I would like, but I still think it’s a hell of a lot of fun. I’m a big fan of the little mini-Ash’s and chugging that kettle of boiling water to destroy one that got done his throat?? Well, that is just one of films special moments! Plus, Campbell is appealing and I like looking at him.
In the Raimi universe I would take 10 Army of Darknesses instead of just 1 Spider Man 3; the third installment of this series is far more palatable.
This was intended to be fun and so as a departure from the set up of the first film, I can see how fans might be disappointed. Still, I just love it. You’re right, goofy and cheesy sure but fun all the way and it’s HIGHLY quoteable:P
The flick certainly has its appeal, and I’d gladly take it over Spidey 3 anyday as well Marc, but my favorite is still the first one, no matter how many little Ash’s are running around! HAHA!