Army of Darkness (1992)

               “Army of Darkness” is the third in the Evil Dead series. It was directed, co-written (with his brother), and co-edited by Sam Raimi. In a tonal departure from the previous two films, this one is more of a comedy horror movie. It was a box office disappointment, making only $22 million with a budget of $11 million. It has since gained cult status. Although it got mixed reviews, it did win the Saturn Award for Best Horror Film. It was a weak year for horror films. Raimi’s script drew on a variety of sources for inspiration, like “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court”, “Gulliver’s Travels”, and  “Jason and the Argonauts”.

               Ash (Bruce Campbell) is time portaled back to medieval England. He is immediately captured by the army of Lord Arthur (Marcus Gilbert) and is part of a slave march back to the castle. (The march is to music that reminds of the scene in “Ben Hur” when Judah first meets Jesus.)  Ash is thrown into a death pit that evokes the garbage room in “Star Wars”. We meet the first of the cheesy monsters the movie will unapologetically foist on us. Ash is reunited with his chainsaw. And is united with a love interest in the comely Sheila (Embeth Davidtz who won the role over Tuesday Weld). The resident Wise Man tells Ash that for him to be able to return to his own time, he must get a book called the Necronomicon. It’s not going to be easy as the arrogantly IQ-challenged Ash resurrects an evil version of himself and a skeleton army. (The skeleton’s are the Jason homage.) The army of the dead lay siege to the castle and mayhem ensues. Not caring about upseting the time continuum, Ash introduces the knights to dynamite so the movie can have explosions. This builds to the inevitable duel between Ash and Evil Ash.

               If you expect a scarefest similar to “The Evil Dead”, you will be disappointed with the tongue in cheek vibe of this film. But you will not be disappointed if you are a Bruce Campbell fan or a fan of mock horror films. Campbell is clearly having a great time chewing all the scenery. It looks like fun, but parts of the shoot were hard on him. Specifically, the fight scenes against special effects to be created later. Campbell had to memorize the choreography steps. One sequence took 37 takes with Bruce swearing profusely throughout. His friend Sam Raimi enjoyed torturing him. It does not appear that Campbell was tortured by the hammy dialogue. The film is definitely low brow. At least, in this horror movie, the laughs are intentional.

The special effects are from the Ray Harryhausen school of stop animation.  Unlike Jason’s skeleton foes, the skeleton’s in this movie are a variety and bring smiles rather than scares. The long battle is amusing with the choreography surprisingly good. Unlike many horror movies, there is no reason to fear for the protagonist. At least not in the theatrical release. In the original ending, Ash time travels to post-apocalyptic London. The studio deemed this too jarring for audiences. It was probably right.

Is it a war movie? Well, we have an army and a castle siege. Obviously, it is not a documentary on how to capture or defend a castle. Swords clang and battering rams ram, but dynamite arrows blow up skeletons. There is a melee inside the castle that would fit in many medieval warfare movies. If war movies are characterized by unlimited ammunition, then it qualifies. Ash’s two-barrel shotgun makes mockery of that trope. If you want to watch a movie that makes fun of horror movies and war movies, check it out. You can watch it late at night, alone. With your grandkids.

 

GRADE =  B