Army of Darkness (1992) Review

Army of Darkness (1992) Review

Army of Darkness picks up right where Evil Dead II left off, with Ash Williams in the middle ages. He encounters Lord Arthur—as in the legendary King Arthur—and is captured. His chainsaw and shotgun are confiscated, and he’s thrown in a pit with a deadite. Once again, things kick off in exciting fashion. Later, the people cower in his shadow, terrified by the power of his shotgun, as he holds up the gun and declares, “This…is my boomstick!” It’s an amazing line, and just one of many quotable pieces of dialogue.  

Ash wants to get back to his own time, but he has to retrieve the Necronomicon from a spooky forest, and he has to say three words before doing so, “Klaatu barada nikto” or else the dead will rise again. Sure enough, Ash forgets the last word, so he just mumbles it, but that’s not good enough. The army of darkness arises, along with an evil clone of Ash, and attacks Arthur’s castle, but the real Ash is fully equipped to lead the battle against them. 

I saw Army of Darkness before I saw Evil Dead II. I wish I hadn’t. I definitely recommend watching this series in order of release. To make the jump from the first Evil Dead to Army of Darkness was a bit jarring, because by this point, the focus is not on horror, but comedy. I didn’t love it the first time, but have since grown much fonder of it upon revisiting. The title initially threw me off. Why not Evil Dead 3? Or The Medieval Dead? Apparently, the original title was Evil Dead III: Army of Darkness, but because it was co-produced by Universal, the studio wanted it to have a wider appeal, so went with just Army of Darkness, which I think was a minor mistake. 

To say Army of Darkness is the worst of the Evil Dead films is a huge disservice to the movie. The effects somehow manage to retain the low-budget look of the previous two, while also looking far better. They are so elaborate, with more deadites than ever, and many other really well-executed practical makeup effects, that it’s entertaining to watch just in those regards. But, the humour is also very well done, though some of the jokes are extremely slapstick, and don’t always land that well. The other reason to watch, is for Bruce Campbell. He’s perfected his physical comedy skills in this one, and once again carries the movie from beginning to end. 

Having said that, does Army of Darkness live up to the previous movies? I say yes, but it doesn’t surpass Evil Dead II, for me. It’s hard to compare it to the original Evil Dead, because they’re quite different, but not so different as to totally alienate fans of one or the other. I just find the pacing isn’t as good, and I miss the horror aspect. At least they didn’t try to be scary and fail, they just don’t really go for as many scares this time. At times, Ash’s incompetence feels a little overbearing, instead of funny. In the end, though, you just have to laugh. 

The best moments are, of course, funny moments, like when the skeleton army first attacks Ash from underground, and when Ash clashes with himself. In addition, the set designs are quite good, and the visual effects have that undeniable charm. It’s strange to think such elaborate stop-motion effects were still being used at the same time Jurassic Park came out, which revolutionized Hollywood with its ground-breaking computer generated effects and made stop motion a thing of the past. It may be an outdated technique now, but stop motion will always be entertaining to watch, and I’ll always appreciate all the work that goes into it. 

For being the third film in a horror series that was already ambitious and excellent twice over, Army of Darkness accomplishes what few threequels can, in being even bigger, more-refined, and funnier than the previous installment. It’s great, but not quite on the same level of classic as The Evil Dead and Evil Dead II.