Following an abrupt leap through time and space at the climax of Evil Dead II, harassed horror hero Ash Williams finds himself stranded in the Middle Ages. There, sword-wielding knights admire his shotgun, unkempt villagers ogle his Oldsmobile and learned village elders are dazzled by the science textbooks stuffed in his trunk. Pulled into a conflict between neighboring kingdoms, Ash unmasks their common enemy (an evil zombie horde), proves he’s adept at the art of decapitation and agrees to stem the flow of marching dead at its source: a lost magical text dubbed Necronomicon.
Despite the differences in setting and scale, that’s a pretty similar premise to the first two films. Fight wicked dead things, discover cursed book bound in flesh, recite demonic incantations and smash the big boss. This shouldn’t be surprising, as the second film was already little more than a polished re-telling of the first with a few extra nods, winks and evil, disembodied hands. And besides, no one really watches a Sam Raimi zombie movie for the plot, do they? This particular variety of cult-friendly jam is all about the insanely wacky scenarios, goopy creature effects and egregiously bad dialogue, as wrangled and amplified by its granite-jawed leading man, Bruce Campbell.
In this third installment, Campbell again dominates the screen, one-upping his solo performance with the prop hand by playing both hero and villain, not to mention a dozen itty-bitty munchkin versions of himself in the loony funhouse scene that anchors the second act. He’s the lifeblood of the film, striking badass pinup poses, glistening through all the action scenes, delivering a fiery speech or two and spitting enough hilariously awful catchphrases to be borderline unhealthy. Seriously, how did he keep a straight face through all of this?
As a no-holds-barred playground for one specific actor (and/or one specific type of fan), Army of Darkness hits the mark. It may not be quite as much fun as its predecessor - the medieval setting makes for an awkward fit amidst all the schlocky horror themes - but that certainly doesn’t mean it’s no fun at all. A proud example of loose, silly, uncensored pulp that knows better than to overstay its welcome.
"Yo, she-bitch. Let's go!"
Soldiers, decrepid old witches, miniature people, doppelgangers, undead skeletons, a corny overconfident villain... Army of Darkness is something else entirely compared to it's predecessors! Our favorite ex-department store clerk faces the undead once more, his army vs. the Deadites' in a fight to return home. Evil Dead II was a perfect blend of comedy and horror, Army of Darkness does the same mix but it feels more comical and absurd. It was still hella entertaining and you need to embrace the campyness to appreciate this.
Once again, the magic happens when Ash is alone in the movie he creates the best physical comedy. Some really intense camera movements in the beginning. The change of scenery feels good but man does the low budget show in the set pieces and the effects in the "Ash interacting with himself" scenes you can see the picture behind him. Watching this I felt like the thrid act was going to determine if this was a success or a failure because I was so mixed prior to it: third act was a success, so much fun! The stop-motion skeletons were such a treat and they managed to create an epic battle despite the low budget.
Groovy.
Review by DAVY XVIP EP 4BlockedParent2022-03-22T11:42:20Z— updated 2023-07-24T00:34:49Z
4/10
And that's being generous because of my unending love for number 1 and of course Bruce.
That being said this is a load of Garbage and never ever will be a perfect way to end this trilogy.
This is absolutely and completely ruined and made a mockery of everything that's come before and nobody in their right minds would ever think this everrrrr belongs anywhere near the
Evil Dead franchise.
This was entertaining
WHEN I WAS 14yrs old
But even than I said this just doesn't fit with what's come before. It's like trying to push a square block through a circle hole, it's never going to fit,
and no matter how much you
Polish a Turd, it's never going
to shine.
This joke of a movie that's not even funny should have never been made to be fair
and I am so glad that the
Evil Dead 4 never came to pass and the script is sat on a shelf somewhere never ever to see the light of day, because how shit Army of Darkness is I would dread to think what kind of Abomination
TED4 would be.
X FINAL THOUGHT:
This is stupid and silly and not in a good way,
no gore, no mess
No nudity, no bad language, no horror
and a bull-crap production and the vfx are piss-poor.
This is a complete spit in the face to anybody that respects and Loves 1 and 2 and the horror genre.
What a boring waste of time, what the Hella went wrong,
"I know" it's been snowflaked and neutered and
Completely castrated.
What a shame that this once leading iconic
franchise in the horror genre
has come down to this
naddy panddy pile of poo.
The Army of Darkness is not part of the evil dead the true number 3 is the 2013 Evil Dead remake/retelling, that movie is frickin awesome (10/10)
and really it should just be
The Evil Dead uncut/unrated
The Evil Dead uncut extended cut 2013
in the franchise
then straight into
Ash vs The Evil Dead
series that is just phenomenal
that I like to class as the true
Evil Dead 4 movie just broken into
parts.
anything else is just 2 fingers to the true
and pure fans of horror
and the Evil Dead franchise
and Bruce's iconic Legacy.