In the first article of this series, I called Evil Dead director, Sam Raimi, a madman. I can think of nothing better to back up that claim than the mere existence of Army of Darkness.
This messy (the continuity makes the X-Men movies look as tightly connected as seasons of Breaking Bad) yet extraordinary trilogy showcases Raimi’s skills as a filmmaker in unexpected ways. While these films are regarded as horror, it could be argued that only The Evil Dead is an out and out example. Evil Dead 2 is approached by Raimi as more of a Looney Tunes/Three Stooges style of comedy (with Bruce Campbell playing seemingly every role at once) featuring various bodily fluids. Army of Darkness goes even further afield than the previous films as Raimi sticks Ash, equipped with chainsaw and BOOMSTICK, the Book of the Dead, and the Deadites into an action adventure story – featuring various bodily fluids.
Army of Darkness is an action movie with horror trappings. Instead of sharing the same shelf space as The Hills Have Eyes, this instalment finds better company with The Mummy or the first Pirates of the Caribbean. These are action movies that, like the grandaddy of the all of them, Raiders of the Lost Ark, spice up the stakes with some genuine scares that these types of movies don’t feature in the modern movie landscape.
Unlike these examples, Army of Darkness is made just before the predominance of CGI that Jurassic Park would bring. Through the use of miniatures, matte paintings, forced perspective, and a shit load of puppets, Army of Darkness has a quality that is both charming and visceral. The bigger budget isn’t wasted (okay, maybe there are a little too many shots of exploding skeletons. We get the point, Sam) ,allowing Raimi to back up his ambition and put Ash (and, really, Bruce Campbell) into some really ridiculous situations.
That’s not to say that Army of Darkness sets out to alienate fans of the previous films. The opening setpiece, with Ash taking on deadites in Arthur’s pit, feels like The Evil Dead on steroids – complete with the brilliantly nicknamed Pit Bitch and a giant geyser of blood that probably stopped the movie from being released to a wider audience. Fans of Evil Dead 2 will find a lot to love in the sequence featuring Ash’s quest for the Necronomicon which includes the birth of Bad Ash, various little Ashes, and a fight with a book that had me considering throwing out my bookcase and making the switch to podcasts.
What truly separates Army of Darkness from its horror forbearers is Ash himself. Ash completes his evolution here from the victim of the first film, the borderline insane and dismembered survivor of the second, to fully fledged action hero. Lets face it, apart from Freddy, horror films aren’t packed to the gills with one-liners the way this is. This is Ash in all of his loser glory, a hero that completely lacks chivalry, is frankly a fucking idiot, and we all want him to win. Which he does. Hail to the King, baby!
So, we have come to the end of the Raimi/Campbell portion of the series and I would like to hear from you lot. What’s your favourite film, kill, joke from this original trilogy? Most importantly, which ending to Army of Darkness do you prefer? I personally like the theatrical ending because it makes more sense as a lead-in to Ash vs Evil Dead (which I might write about if enough people bother me to do so).
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By Kevin Boyle
(header image via Turner Classic Movies)
No But Listen 