L'armata delle tenebre

Most people would say you can check your brain at the door before you watch this film, but I beg to differ. This is genuinely intelligent stuff here folks. The director, Sam Raimi, reminds us in this film what it is like to have fun. From the film itself, as well as the DVD featurettes, it is apparent that Mr. Raimi is having a blast doing what he does best. It shows too. Granted, there is not much in the line of plot or theme, but these would be totally gratuitous in this escapist piece. Instead, we are given a fantastic adventure, appropriately tongue-in-cheek special effects, and an ode to The Three Stooges. The facial expressions of Bruce Campbell alone make this film well worth its 80 minutes. I don't want to give away a single joke, because the experience is just too much fun. So, do yourself a favor. Watch this film without being so hard on yourself. Yes, you are allowed to laugh. There can be non-sardonic humor in modern day America. Sam Raimi proves it.

The evil dead films go from horror with some black comedy to a horror and comedy mix to this rather innocent adventure comedy. Army of Darkness has more in common with Hercules and Xena than the first two evil dead movies. This does not take away from the fact that this is a faithful sequel. Bruce Campbell has all the fun as he performs Three Stooges routines, goes a little Gulliver, romances a babe, and kills his evil self twice. The battle of Oldsmobile is the highlight as Ash takes on an army mixed of Ray Harryhausen skeletons and KNB zombies. The voices, the sliding dagger skeletons, and the hi ho hi ya make the battle super cool. The silliness is sometimes stupid(shoe laces?) but mostly hits the mark, mostly.

*Evil Ash: I am bad Ash, you're good Ash. Your little goody two shoes! Little goody two shoes! Little goody two shoes!*

Sam Raimi is probably my favorite horror filmmaker. The excitement and over-the-top humor he brings to his horror films is just so wickedly entertaining. Army of Darkness was funnier than the first two Evil Dead films, and had a lot more comedy. It was a slam bang from the opening scene, and a perfect ending to this amazing trilogy. Bruce Campbell shows that he is the man and now on the list of my favorite movie heroes. Sam Raimi knows how to make the perfect horror/comedy and he does not fail to deliver yet again a horror film that is perhaps funnier than most comedies out there. All in all, another spectacular entry into this trilogy, and I think even better than Evil Dead 2 and on par with the first for different reasons.

Picking up where "Evil Dead II" left off in a somewhat altered opening, Bruce Campbell, now a full blown Han Solo smart ass, is trapped in the dark ages and is eventually found to be the one fated to the Deadites after he retrieves the Book of the Dead, which can also help send him back to his own time. But Bruce, being as stupid as he is, screws up the magic words that are meant to keep the Army of Darkness away and he ends up unleashing an army of undead skeletons by accident who are led by his evil alter ego. Now he must use his 20th century know how to save the day or else evil will forever rule the Earth.

Bruce is back and funnier than ever. No real horror here, more of a parody of a big budget fantasy adventure film. Sadly, a number of great gags were left on the cutting room floor that are generally only seen on extended DVD's and TV showings.

Hail to the King, baby.

I remember when this film just came out in the theater, I didn't know anything about the Evil Dead films and in fact hadn't even heard of them. From the previews I had ZERO desire to see this film. The years went by and in late 2000 or maybe 2001 I finally decided to watch it, cause I'd heard so much about it and just couldn't take it anymore, I had to see what the fuss was about. I was NOT disappointed! This is probably one of the funniest movies I've ever seen!!!

This movie is definitely not for everyone though. The comedy in this film is VERY odd, so I could understand if someone didn't find it funny at first. First thing you need to keep in mind is that this movie IS NOT trying to be serious, and most definitely doesn't take itself seriously. The movie is just plain weird, but that's what makes it so great. You really can't explain this movie to someone that hasn't seen it, you just need to see it for yourself.

Also, if you didn't already know this, this is the 3rd installment to a series. Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 are the first two installments, then Army Of Darkness. You don't even need to see the first two to understand what's going on or anything like that. In fact, to this day I still haven't seen Evil Dead. When I watched Army of Darkness, I hadn't seen either Evil Dead or Evil Dead 2. Since then, I have seen Evil Dead 2, but neither film is a prerequisite for this film.

Also this film has an enormous amount of quotable lines. Bruce Campbell is THE MAN! The way he says stuff is just great!

Well, I truly hope that you'll watch this movie. But watch it with an open mind and remember that this IS a STUPID movie, but it's supposed to be. Thanks for reading,

-Chris