Army of Darkness (1992)

Army of Darkness (1992) Movie Review
Written by: ML
Edited by: Grave Reviews Staff

Film Information

Director: Sam Raimi
Producers: Robert Tapert
Writers: Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi
Date Released: October 9, 1992

Cast:
Bruce Campbell as Ashley “Ash” J. Williams and Evil Ash
Embeth Davidtz as Sheila
Marcus Gilbert as Lord Arthur
Ian Abercrombie as Wise Man
Richard Grove as Duke Henry the Red
Timothy Patrick Quill as Blacksmith
Michael Earl Reid as Gold Tooth
Bridget Fonda as Linda
Bill Moseley as Deadite captain
Patricia Tallman as Possessed witch

Rating = 3/5 Graves

***May contain some spoilers***

Synopsis

The story is about Ash Williams who, after the events of Evil Dead 2, was teleported to the medieval times where there was apparently an existing pit of deadites. In order to get back to his own time, he must retrieve the Necronomicon at a graveyard. In his quest to get the book, he encountered his evil counterpart which directly came from his body. Ash also accidentally unleashed the army of skeletons by chanting the wrong incantation. He must then prove to the people that he was The Chosen One by saving them from the army of deadites before going home to his own time.

Gore Factor

Apart from the scary zombies and the exploding blood from the deadite pit, the most notable scene was when there was a rolling eyeball on Ash’s shoulders that grew into the evil Ash. There were also a few jump scares when a deadite appeared on the stone wall, the servant became a witch deadite, and the customer who became a deadite towards the end.

The Grave Review

This was a very different Evil Dead movie due to the inclusion of time travel. There were still deadites and the Necronomicon involved.

Compared to the first 2 movies, this one was more fun to watch because of the premise that was leaning more towards fantasy adventure. It was good that they included a recap at the start so anyone can watch this separately.

Of course, Bruce Campbell showcased his action-packed comedic acting once again. Other best parts of the movie include the camerawork during the chase to the windmill, the tiny evil versions of himself that came from the shards of mirror, and the explosive weapons he made for the castle soldiers.

There were also a lot of laugh-out-loud hilarious scenes especially the part where Ash must choose from 3 books. The attack of the skeleton army was epic and the arrival of Duke Henry’s soldiers made it seem like a real medieval war battlefield. Not to mention the props and set including the weaponized car.

The only problem was it was too funny to be horrifying. There were very few scary scenes that were reminiscent of the previous 2 movies. In fact, the skeleton army were not that scary and the movie lacked the blood and gore the franchise was known for.

Overall, this movie is recommended for those who are into the Evil Dead franchise and horror comedies.

For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives Army of Darkness (1992) three graves out of five graves.

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You may also like our review of the film, The Video Dead.