Army of Darkness
Year: 1992
Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: Bruce Campbell
Runtime: 88 mins
BBFC: 15
Published: 14/04/23
Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: Bruce Campbell
Runtime: 88 mins
BBFC: 15
Published: 14/04/23
Evil Dead II was not the sequel that Sam Raimi wanted to make to The Evil Dead, instead he wanted to make a medieval fantasy film that happened to star The Evil Dead’s main character, Ash, as its lead. Unwilling to make that film, Evil Dead II became what we know it to be today, a campy horror-comedy with an ending that sees Ash end up in the fourteenth century. I didn’t like Evil Dead II. I could see why some people would as it was for the most part a competently made film, it just didn’t click with me, and I found myself incredibly bored with its nonsense. So, my expectations were low for Army of Darkness, the third Evil Dead film that has basically nothing to do with Evil Dead. Was I right to expect the worst?
After falling out of the sky in the 1300’s, Ash Willliams (Bruce Campbell) discovers that the deadite plague was not an isolated incident, and the book of the dead has begun a demonic crusade in the middle-ages. Armed with his trusty boomstick, Ash must prepare the simpleton soldiers under the command of Lord Arthur (Marcus Gilbert) to do battle against an army of deadite demons.
My biggest point of contention with Evil Dead II was the comedy, as I simply didn’t find it funny. Army of Darkness then makes Evil Dead II look serious in how far down the rabbit hole of absurd it is willing to go. It’s a total farce, and even preparing myself for that couldn’t stop my boredom and disappointment at how dumb the humour was.
I did prefer Army of Darkness to Evil Dead II however, and I think that does come down to appreciating the sheer will and vision of Raimi and Campbell to deliver as outrageous a film as they possible could. It’s just a shame that it has nothing to do with Evil Dead.
After falling out of the sky in the 1300’s, Ash Willliams (Bruce Campbell) discovers that the deadite plague was not an isolated incident, and the book of the dead has begun a demonic crusade in the middle-ages. Armed with his trusty boomstick, Ash must prepare the simpleton soldiers under the command of Lord Arthur (Marcus Gilbert) to do battle against an army of deadite demons.
My biggest point of contention with Evil Dead II was the comedy, as I simply didn’t find it funny. Army of Darkness then makes Evil Dead II look serious in how far down the rabbit hole of absurd it is willing to go. It’s a total farce, and even preparing myself for that couldn’t stop my boredom and disappointment at how dumb the humour was.
I did prefer Army of Darkness to Evil Dead II however, and I think that does come down to appreciating the sheer will and vision of Raimi and Campbell to deliver as outrageous a film as they possible could. It’s just a shame that it has nothing to do with Evil Dead.
Campbell’s performance is quite entertaining I must say. He’s just got so much energy and bravado in every single scene, and you can tell that this was a film made to play to his own personal strengths. This pinpoint focus comes at the cost of the supporting cast who are little more than extras, this is Ash’s show, and there’s no time for anybody else to be taking that limelight from him.
It's spectacularly short too at just eighty-one minutes in length, I’d hardly even call it feature length with that kind of runtime. So, Army of Darkness doesn’t waste any time with getting to business. From the word go Ash is battling demons and it doesn’t let up until the titles roll, I may not have enjoyed the humour, but at least there was always something happening.
The extensive stop-motion work is also worthy of praise. Reminiscent of Jason and the Argonauts, particularly with the likes of a skeleton army, Army of Darkness outshines both previous Evil Dead films in the scale and ambition of the practical and special effects. However, the film strips away almost all of the blood and gore in an attempt to appeal to a wider audience. This is a fantasy film now, rather than a horror film, and so whilst it makes sense for the gore to be toned down, it seems sad to get rid of it entirely considering how good the effects were in the first two films.
Army of Darkness is not a film I’ll ever watch again, and similarly to Evil Dead II, I personally didn’t like it. But I can see why it’s got as feverish of a cult following as it does, because the sheer ambition is unparalleled. I would have taken a traditional cabin in the woods horror film over Army of Darkness any day, but if this is your kind of film then I’m sure you’ll have a blast with Army of Darkness.
It's spectacularly short too at just eighty-one minutes in length, I’d hardly even call it feature length with that kind of runtime. So, Army of Darkness doesn’t waste any time with getting to business. From the word go Ash is battling demons and it doesn’t let up until the titles roll, I may not have enjoyed the humour, but at least there was always something happening.
The extensive stop-motion work is also worthy of praise. Reminiscent of Jason and the Argonauts, particularly with the likes of a skeleton army, Army of Darkness outshines both previous Evil Dead films in the scale and ambition of the practical and special effects. However, the film strips away almost all of the blood and gore in an attempt to appeal to a wider audience. This is a fantasy film now, rather than a horror film, and so whilst it makes sense for the gore to be toned down, it seems sad to get rid of it entirely considering how good the effects were in the first two films.
Army of Darkness is not a film I’ll ever watch again, and similarly to Evil Dead II, I personally didn’t like it. But I can see why it’s got as feverish of a cult following as it does, because the sheer ambition is unparalleled. I would have taken a traditional cabin in the woods horror film over Army of Darkness any day, but if this is your kind of film then I’m sure you’ll have a blast with Army of Darkness.