Too silly

Rating: 4/10 (16 April 2020)

I like how Sam Raimi didn't just trot out another cabin movie per the usual kind of horror film formula, and I also like how he wasn't afraid to retell the ending of the last movie when setting up this one. I really hoped to like this one more, given what I thought was a creative transition back to the year 1300. His special effect work is pretty cool as usual, and I think my favorite moments were when the false books attack. There are also all sorts of homages in here which were interesting to see, e.g. the stop motion animation work of Ray Harryhausen with skeletons in Jason and the Argonauts, Errol Flynn as Robin Hood, and the Three Stooges.
For me though, it just wasn't my kind of film. It shifts the tone of the previous movies from horror/comedy, with emphasis on the horror, to action/comedy, with emphasis on the comedy - and the comedy is too damn silly for me to find funny. The film seems to go out of its way to be stupid, having the main character say cheesy lines like "gimme some sugar baby" before having sex with a woman he's met, and all sorts of other bits that I groaned over. The story and action scenes end up being pretty standard too, certainly not keeping up with the special effects, though I have to say, I loved the ending.