Review of Army of Darkness (1992) by Josh K — 09 Apr 2013

Army of Darkness loses it's horror atmosphere and becomes more a standalone film than one about the Evil Dead. It also becomes a bit reliant on what it can do with it's budget and the retreading jokes from the first two and with requirements of more dialogue, the script loses it touch.

Because in the first two, dialogue was scarce but when it was present it was clever. There was too much dialogue for the creativity to keep up with here, despite moments of creativity,That being said, I still laughed my ass off at the sight of Bruce Campbell being a 1-man 3-stooge act and basked in the glory of him going 1-man army against the Army of Darkness.

Although not a horror film made great by Bruce Campbell alone, it's an epic fantasy that's like a low-budget Lord of the Rings. It's an excellent conclusion to the trilogy and is hilarious as well as captivating for the great setup, art direction, costumes and laughably cheap but epic special effects ensure it captures a medieval heart.

SPOILER ALERT! Also, like Bruce Campbell I an happy that there are two endings. I like how in one he's back to his own time an an appreciated hero, and in one he's screwed after sleeping through the apocalypse.

I would have loved if there was a third one where he emerges after sleeping for so long with his facial hair and people think he's Jesus, since he has been written of by ancient people. Whatever, either way that means the Evil Dead trilogy can end either way you want it to, with a Heroic victory or a laughable mistake.

In the end, Army if Darkness blends a perfect amount of slapstick humor with medieval adventure themes. Sam Raimi has blessed us with an epic trilogy that will forever be remembered.