Review of Army of Darkness (1992) by Cory T — 08 Oct 2014

First off, this review is based on the unrated director's cut. I had seen the theatrical cut years ago and to say I loathed the finished product is an understatement. With the added value of hindsight and a new, unfiltered version of the film, I can safely reassess the film and declare it to be the same drek as before.

Of course, the 'Evil Dead' trilogy has metamorphosed and retconned from a gruesome splatter flick to a fish-out-of-water farce in this entry. I've never been a huge fan of anachronistic humor and scenes of Bruce Campbell bewitching the humbled medieval citizens with tales of his "boomstick" shotgun don't persuade me in favor of it any further.

Quite honestly, Bruce Campbell's self-deprecating overacting is too overblown and one-dimensional for belief (he is abused by a variety of malevolent spirits and demon hordes). For the majority of the film, Ash is a chauvinistic jerk (Sheila slaps him and a moment later, he arrogantly asks her to "give me some sugar").

In most of Raimi's films, the aesthetics can be stirring, but the shaky-cam she-bitch confrontations are gusty eyesores. Comedy is subjective but the acrobatic Three Stooges slapstick with the Lilliputian Ash clones is tremendously unfunny and it should've been excised entirely.

At one point, the Necronomicon book assaults Ash and it is the umpteenth variation on the Passion of Ash. This is a meretricious parody of what the 'Evil Dead' series has become and even the foul 2013 remake is superior.