Best movie of this year hands down!

A Major Disappointment

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

'Evil Dead.' The original 'video nasty.' 'Evil Dead II.' The half sequel, half remake, three quarters reboot of the original 'video nasty.' 'Army of Darkness.' The sequel to one ending of the remake of 'Evil Dead' which sort of follows on, but also kind of creates a new continuity which then gets erased depending on which version you watch and then how you interpret what follows in 'Ash vs The Evil Dead.' Confused yet? It doesn't matter. Basically, if you're a fan of cheesy horror-comedies (or just love Bruce Campbell as much as I do) then you'll have a blast with 'Army of Darkness.' Despite 'The Evil Dead' franchise's 'liberal' attitude to continuity, no one seems to care. That's probably because its fan-base is just so damn loyal that they forgive these frequent lapses in story-telling and simply enjoy the films (and now TV show) for what they are - dumb, silly - and very, very gory - fun.'Army of Darkness' carries on this tradition. Yes, you probably should have watched at least 'Evil Dead II,' but this (sort of) third instalment will hardly punish you for not knowing its entire back story. Basically, a man gets trapped in medieval times and has to fight his way back to the present. However, it just so happens that the man in question has just so happened to have a lot of experience in slaying disgusting monsters and manages to do it without the use of a hand and an array of dry quips (and a shotgun - that comes in pretty handy, too). Yes, it's none other than 'Ash,' played effortlessly by Bruce Campbell.If you've never heard of Ash/Bruce Campbell, it's actually quite hard to tell where one ends and the other begins (assuming they're different people to begin with). He's certainly not your average hero. He's definitely not politically correct and fits perfectly with the whole 'Evil Dead' feel of gore and gags. It never takes itself seriously and delights in spraying more unnecessary pints of blood all over the screen for as long as possible (most of which ends up on Bruce one way or another!).I suppose if you're completely used to 'modern horror' and like your films 'dark, gritty and realistic' then you may hate 'Army of Darkness' (and the whole 'Evil Dead' vibe). The special effects are pretty cheap-looking (not much computer-generated effects here, mainly blue screen and practical effects). It's hardly scary, choosing self-knowingness over true horror. But it certainly is disgusting. And great fun. There's a reason why the 'Evil Dead' films have stood the test of time (and why its dark and gritty remake of 2013 is barely worth talking about). 'Army of Darkness' is a shining example of a great film that can be made without the need for a massive budget (although, compared to the original 'Evil Dead's' budget, I guess 'Army of Darkness' was 'expensive!'Hail to the king of B-movies and the whole 'Evil Dead' franchise.

The third entry in the series is certainly the strangest, with a medieval setting and completely comic tone - think a three stooges skit mixed with a whacky cartoon with Bruce Campbell right in the centre. 'Army Of Darkness (1992)' does have its lion's share of memorable moments and quotable one-liners, but it just isn't 'Evil Dead.' Its possible to divorce the experience from the franchise and have fun with it, silly and irreverent fun with a Saturday morning cartoon feel to it. Campbell is suitably ostentatious as his new, one-liner spewing self and the physical comedy on display is enjoyably impressive, as well. In its series context, though, it loses all the grit of the prior titles and, as such, the mix between horror and humour is incredibly imbalanced. A disappointing third-entry, especially for those who favoured the genuine gore and scares of the prior titles, but a decent slapstick comedy. 6/10

Watching Army of Darkness is basically a requirement for all geeks everywhere, on the same level as being able to quote Monty Python by my estimation. It's a film that is entirely enjoyable on the surface level as a low budget, easy to quote, fun film that's quick and painless. But from the filmmakers perspective, it's a lovable piece that wears its cheapness on its chest. That's a wire, there's a green screen, that's a voice over on a plaster skeleton standing in place. It's so endearing.The cheapness isn't what makes this movie fun for me, it's how much fun the actors are having. Bruce Campbell is a joy to watch, spouting one liners and having plaster skeletons thrown at him from off-camera. The extras waving their swords haphazardly are having a blast, the director is, the stars are, and it translates to a big dumb smile on you, the viewers, face.I don't have to explain this movie to you. Most likely, you've already seen it. If you haven't, you're missing one of the best B-movies of all time, a spoof of the sword and sorcery genre disguised as a silly horror movie disguised as an homage to the Three Stooges.

Following my viewing of Evil Dead II, I was so pumped to watch the final installment of the Evil Dead franchise and sure enough, it didn't let me down. From start to it's ending, Army of Darkness is a non-stop fun ride, packed with great humor, a haunting score, solid directing and Bruce Campbell.Picking up where the end of the second movie left off, Ash Williams is sucked though a portal and finds himself in medieval England where he is enslaved by a local lord and is led to a castle where he is tossed into a pit and kills a Deadite and begins to form a relationship with one of maidens at the castle, but still wants to return to his own time. With the assistance of the castle's wise man, Ash learns that only the Book of the Dead has the power to spend him back, so Ash gallops off to retrieve the book, only to unleash the evil upon the people when he doesn't utter the correct worlds. Now, Ash and the remaining castle defenders must stop the Evil Dead before it destroys them.When the first Evil Dead movie came out in 1981, it changed the horror genre forever and six years later, Sam gave us a sequel that was even better than the first one, now with Army of Darkness, Raimi has given us the ultimate cult horror movie and while some trilogies fail with producing a great third movie, such is not the case here as Army of Darkness is able to be a fine sequel without having to throw the quality of the first two movies out the window.As with the first two, the budget is quite small at around 11 million and yet the movie still is able to build a frightening and exciting fantasy domain with impressive sets like the castle, an old windmill and a graveyard which do look fantastic as do the visual effects, showing the same level of effort and passion Sam and the crew put into the other movies and they still hold up wonderfully to this day with a mix of prosthetics, make-up, masks, and blue-screen which help make the world come alive as does the make-up on Evil Ash which is also impressively done, but when it comes to the effects in the film, nothing beats the stop-motion skeleton army which seem to have been lifted straight out of a Ray Harryhausen movie. With the budget being 10 million easily being viewed on the screen, Sam and the crew clearly had to be more imaginative and the results look incredibly real and intimidating and are able to produce a creepy and valid ambiance that is rarely seen in today's horror films.The directing here in again top-notch. Sam Raimi continues to use his trademark peppy and unconventional style when filming Army of Darkness and it works a treat. One of the reasons I admire his films so much is because of Sam's unbridled ability and readiness to put the viewer's amusement center stage, not to mention his camera work here is nothing short of perfection here, making great use of fast-moving cuts and shots, while the score by Joseph Loduca and Danny Elfman is creepy and unsettling and compliments the movie nicely and Bill Pope's cinematography is simply beautiful to behold.While Evil Dead 2 managed to balance the horror and comedy beautifully, Army of Darkness does add a lot more humor to the mix and while that will turn some people away from it, I feel that it works in the movie's favor. The scene of Ash forgetting which words he needs to recite when retrieving the Necromoicon and alternately hiccups on the last word and the outcome is him being eye-poked by a bunch of skeletons is truly hilarious or when he attempts to take a false version of the Book of the Dead only to be almost engulfed by a vortex or when Evil Ash has a shotgun pointed up his nose but the scene that had me laughing my head off the most during the course of the movie is where after the evil has chased Ash into an abandoned windmill then is attacked by numerous tiny villainous clones of himself that come out of a shattered mirror and they proceed to attack him by ramming a fork into his back and one jumps down his throat, truly one of the best scenes in the whole trilogy that'll have you in stitches the whole time.As with Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2, all the cast in Army of Darkness play their parts well. Marcus Gilbert is incredibly straight laced as Lord Arthur, providing a candid contrast to Ash's tomfoolery while Ian Abercrombie brings a certain charm to the role of Arthur's wise man as does Embeth Davidtz as Shelia, the women who catches Ash's eye. Richard Grove rounds out the cast perfectly as Lord Henry and even Bridget Fonda and Sam's brother Ted Raimi have some memorable moments, but as with the last two films, Bruce Campbell is the reason to watch this movie. I can't say it enough how Bruce is and will always be Ash Williams, no questions asked. From starting out as a frightened pansy in the first film to being a demon slaying bad-ass, his character has matured as the movies were made and here, he is in his element as your ordinary American Joe with his shotgun, cocky attitude and one-liners, but still manages to maintain the same level of swagger and charisma that he had in the first two movies as well as continuing to give us tons of awesome physical comedy as well as showing us insensitive weakness, over-the-top scene chewing, and irregular bravery.Go watch Army of Darkness if you haven't seen it already, I can't recommend it enough.