Army of Darkness (aka Evil Dead 3) (1992)

Director: Sam Raimi

Starring: Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert

A sardonic hardware store clerk is accidentally transported to 1300 A.D., where he must retrieve the Necronomicon and battle an army of the dead so he can return home.

So, Sam Raimi had a lot of weird ideas for horror movies and decided to implement them in a horror comedy where substance was not an issue. The result: ‘Army of Darkness’.

I suppose there was a good reason for not calling it ‘Evil Dead 3’. I can’t imagine fans of the first two films being satisfied with this rather atrocious installment in the franchise. Having been transported through a wormhole, Ash (Bruce Campbell) now finds himself in the year 1300. For some reason, this character suddenly is very arrogant. Ash was a likable character in the first two films, but here I couldn’t find myself rooting for him. Apart from being arrogant, he is a hopeless idiot who’s only claim to fame is the fact that he is from the future and therefore holds knowledge the medieval people don’t have. And – off course – his logical reasoning is hampered by a woman. Yawn…

‘Army of Darkness’ is downright silly slapstick humor that seems to go on forever during some scenes, making it almost unwatchable. There’s just way too much silliness for anything to be taken seriously. One can’t even call it an ‘Evil Dead’ spoof because – apart from Ash – it has nothing in common with the other films. Instead, I’d refer to it as a spoof of the living dead and epic battle films. The fighting sequences towards the end are cliched, but with the dead instead of living armies. I couldn’t wait for this to end…

‘Army of Darness’ won several awards including Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Soundtrack, Best Wide-Release Film, Best Horror Film.

Would I watch it again? No.