Army of Darkness (1992)

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

Director:

Sam Raimi

Writers:

Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi

Stars:

Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert

7 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bruce Campbell	...	Ash
Embeth Davidtz	...	Sheila
Marcus Gilbert	...	Lord Arthur
Ian Abercrombie	...	Wiseman
Richard Grove	...	Duke Henry the Red
Timothy Patrick Quill	...	Blacksmith
Michael Earl Reid	...	Gold Tooth
Bridget Fonda	...	Linda
Patricia Tallman	...	Possessed Witch
Ted Raimi	...	Cowardly Warrior / Second Supportive Villager / S-Mart Clerk (as Theodore Raimi)
Deke Anderson	...	Mini-Ash #2
Bruce Thomas	...	Mini-Ash #3
Sara Shearer	...	Old Woman
Shiva Gordon	...	Pit Deadite #1
Billy Bryan	...	Pit Bitch

Storyline

In this sequel to the Evil Dead films, a discount-store employee ("Name's Ash. Housewares.") is time-warped to a medieval castle beset by monstrous forces. Initially mistaken for an enemy, he is soon revealed as the prophecised savior who can quest for the Necronomicon, a book which can dispel the evil. Unfortunately, he screws up the magic words while collecting the tome, and releases an army of skeletons, led by his own Deadite counterpart. What follows is a thrilling, yet tongue-in-cheek battle between Ash's 20th Century tactics and the minions of darkness.

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Plot Keywords:

battle | necronomicon | car | quest | discount store | 

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Taglines:

Foretold by a mystical book. Forewarned by a wiseman. Fulfilled by a wise guy.

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and horror

Details

Official Sites:

Deadites Online - Official Fan site Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 February 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Army of Darkness: The Ultimate Experience in Medieval Horror

Filming Locations:

Acton, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$11,501,093 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dino De Laurentiis Company, Renaissance Pictures, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min 96 min (director's cut) 86 min 88 min (European)

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

William Lustig:  (director of Maniac (1980), Uncle Sam (1996), Maniac Cop (1988)) makes an appearance as a "fake Shemp".

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Goofs

Length of Ash's hair as he searches the forest for the book.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[opening monologue]
Ash: My name is Ash and I am a slave. Close as I can figure, the year is thirteen hundred A.D and I'm being dragged to my death. It wasn't always like this, I had a real life, once. A job.
Ash: [now Ash is in a flashback] Umm... Hardware aisle twelve, shop smart, shop S-Mart!
Ash: [back to monologue] I had a wonderful girlfriend Linda. Together we drove to a small cabin in the mountains. It seems an archeologist had come to this remote place to translate and study his latest find...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Ash can be heard laughing over the beginning of the credits in the original ending.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Squirm (1999)

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Soundtracks

March Of The Dead
Written by Danny Elfman

User Reviews

Ash returns with a whole lot of boomstick.

Ash is back, literally. Trapped back in the middle ages, the Evil Dead hero must not only do battle once again with the merciless deadites, he must also take on the savage Army of Darkness.

Bruce Campbell returns as Ash, the only surviving member of the first two Evil Dead movies. This story pretty much takes up where the last one left off, with our hero trapped in the dark ages. Only instead of being revered as a hero, Ash is beaten and shackled by an army of men who believe him to be a member of a rival army. Quickly Ash is put to the test by once again doing battle with an evil deadite when the army throws him in to a pit. However, what they didn't expect was for Ash to defeat the deadite, which he does, and thus they render him a salvation. Our hero is then brought back to their town, and asked to journey out in search of the illustrious Necronomicon, so the evil can be destroyed once and for all. Reluctantly he agrees, but just like Ash, instead of finding the book and destroying the evil, he finds the book and not only creates an evil Ash, but an entire army of undead skeletons. Now the real battle begins and it's up to the living to stop the dead.

Army of Darkness stars the excellent Bruce Campbell in the role that was tailor made for him, and once again, he does his job perfectly. Watching the punishment this poor man takes is really a reason to rent this movie in itself. He is really the main focus, and there isn't a lot of screen time for anyone else, except for Ash's maiden love interest played by Embeth Davidtz. But to the fans of these films ,I'm sure that's just the way they like it.

Also returning is Sam Raimi the director/writer who has carved his name in Hollywood with these movies. This is a great re-telling of sorts of the Jason and the Argonauts story, only with a little more schlock, however in some scenes, like the skeletons giving Ash three stooges treatment, there is a little too much schlock. Don't get me wrong though, the film is funny and does have some great one-liners, such as Ash introducing his sawed off shotgun as his "boomstick", and calling some of the men "primitive screw-heads". The effects are great, and the direction is superb, especially scenes of the Army of Darkness riding horseback and attacking the castle.

However, being a huge fan of zombie movies, I was hopping to see a few more deadites and a few less skeletons. Although I know Raimi did this on purpose so he could put a different spin on his story and keep it original. Of special note, on DVD there is the actual original ending that was not shown in theatres. It's a great ending that keeps a little more in tow with the story, and does an interesting job of setting itself up for a sequel.

Raimi, producer Rob Tapert, and co-writer Ivan Raimi, do a good job of putting this film together, and it is a lot of fun to watch. Although not as serious and as gory as the first two, this third installment definitely makes me thirst for another sequel. I do hope, however, that they go back to the style of the original films, cutting out a little of that schlock, and adding in a few more chills. So if you're in the mood for a horror trilogy, check out the first two Evil Dead movies and then get ready to take on the Army of Darkness.

Overall Rating: 8.5 out of 10