“Army of Darkness” Movie Review

    After watching the ending of “Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn” and seeing the movie ended on a cliffhanger, I was excited to how the franchise was going to wrap up.  The third “Evil Dead” movie, now titled “Army of Darkness”, did not disappoint.

    As shown at the end of the previous film, “Army of Darkness” picks up with Ash now stuck in the Middle Ages.  He spends most of the movie fighting deadites (naturally) and looking for a way back to the future.  This third film in the franchise is famous for taking a more light hearted, self aware, look at itself.  There is slapstick humor in the vain of “The Three Stooges” and the movie just has fun.  It works extremely well.

    Much of the charm of these films is the performance given by Bruce Campbell.  In this movie, he is given even more to work with as he takes on two roles.  Campbell plays both the main protagonist and antagonist of the film.  Evil Ash is so delightfully over the top, you sort of begin to root for him.

    “Army of Darkness” was given an R rating by it honestly plays more like a PG-13 movie.  While the first “Evil Dead” movie earned it’s NC-17 rating, I feel like this movie was unfairly given an R rating because of it’s pedigree.  The MPAA does that sometimes.

    Lastly the film is famous for having two vastly different endings.  The theatrical edition (and official) ending showcased Ash back home in Michigan and working at a S Mart (“Shop smart, shop S Mart”) while still showing his heroics as he saves the day once again from a deadite attack.  The other ending I was exposed to when I bought “Bruce Campbell vs. the Army of Darkness Bootleg Edition” DVD.  It features Ash waking up from his hibernation only to find out he overshot his own time and woke up after the end of the world.  It was dark and twisted and felt like it was meant to lead somewhere else.

    I really liked what Sam Raimi and company did with “Army of Darkness”.  I like the shift in tone and risks they took.  “Army of Darkness” to this day is one of the most famous cult hits ever.  I know it’s a personal favorite of mine and the highlight of the series in my opinion.

Grade: B+

”Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn” Movie Review

    After my first time watching “The Evil Dead”, I really wanted to see what was next in the Evil Dead universe so that brought me to “Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn”.  The sequel remains many people’s favorite film in the franchise and I can definitely see why.
    “Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn” is an interesting film because it acts as a remake and a sequel.  I imagine this was done partly to showcase the increased budget (which was still extremely low).  I can’t really think of too many other films ambitious enough to attempt that even to this day.  It worked pretty well for this movie since it (along with the first film) had a rather simplistic plot.
    The sequel is also interesting because it had a different tone than the first film.  While the original film was straight up horror (with some unintentional comedic elements), the sequel has a lighter more comedic tone.  At times acting as a parody of horror films while never totally lampooning the genre, “Evil Dead 2” succeeds in delivering something different.
    The cast is once again led by survivor Ash, played  again by the legendary Bruce Campbell.  Campbell seemed more comfortable this time around.  This film also allowed Bruce Campbell to showcase his impressive slap stick comedic abilities.  The rest of the cast was an improvement over the first film but no other real standouts.
    Sam Raimi took great advantage of the fact he had an increased budget.  His style was really taking shape by this film.  His camera work really helped enhance the film and tell the story.  Raimi remains one of my favorite filmmakers to date.  Plus, Raimi is from Michigan and set this film here so once again, he gets extra credit in my book.
    “Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn” certainly isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.  You definitely have to be in the mood for an over the top horror film.  When you have that craving though, “Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn” certainly hits the spot.

Grade: B+