Not at the same level of excellence of the first two "Evil Dead" films, but still nonetheless, a small triumph for the horror-comedy genre.

Rating: 8/10 (3 November 2008)

Not at the same level of excellence of the first two "Evil Dead" films, but still nonetheless, a small triumph for the horror-comedy genre. The reasons for me considering this film to be below the first two are pretty straightforward. Now while the first two "Evil Dead" films had gore, but this films lacks it (I am aware of the cuts Raimi was forced to make), this film is also not as funny as the second Evil Dead films, and the effects to seem a little cheaper despite the bigger budget of about 10 million.
In the nature of "Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn" the film picks of were its predecessor left off. Ash (Bruce Campbell) is sucked into a vortex after being stuck in the same cabin, for the last two films and arrives in the year 1300AD. Now considering he spent the first two films fighting Deadites (think demons) summoned by the Necromoicon, this film is no different. Ash falls from the sky with his car and is approached by knights. After trying to kill Ash and realizing his power as a hero, they become convinced he is the chosen one said to free the world of the Deadites. Ash is requested to go and recover the Necromoicon from its resting place (a graveyard) so its deadly works can be stopped. Ash agrees on the basis that the book can send him back to his time. Unfortunately things don't go as plan, and once again ash is pitted against deformed monsters from his worst nightmare trying to capture his soul.
Now what "Army of Darkness" succeeds in is creating a daunting and impressive fantasy world roamed by monsters with its limited budget. Despite costing only 10 million to make the sets include a castle, an old abandoned windmill and a ghastly graveyard. These sets look impressive and are accompanied by equally good creature effects. Now remember this film came out before CGI composed creature effects (so keep that in mind). The beautiful yet hideous creatures include a gargoyle like Deadite and a hideously deformed Evil Ash. These realistic and rather daunting effects create an effective atmosphere, which surprisingly still manages to generate some laughs.
Now I said some laughs, as personally I think the film was not as funny as the second "Evil Dead" film. The first film had Ash being beaten up by his own hand, which really was one of the funniest few minutes I ever saw. Now "Army of Darkness" has laughs, but not as many as many as Dead by Dawn. The laughs of this film include Ash forgetting what he has to chant when collecting the Necromoicon, and instead he coughs the last word, and takes the book. This results in him being b****-slapped by a bunch of skeletons. And of course results in a massive siege which almost destroys the people Ash is trying to save. And before this ash is also attacked and beaten up by a fake version of the Necromoicon, and another nearly sucks him into another vortex. Unfortunately it also seems that Raimi tried to hard to create humor, and hence some of it really stinks.
For example one scene I found particular tasteless, was when ash is attached by several miniature evil copies of himself, which arise from his reflection in a broken mirror. Now this mini Ash's beat Ash up in ways which seem unfunny and rather stupid. He is tied down by them and one of them jumps in his mouth (it later grows out of him), and they also ram a fork into his backside. While most people will find this funny personally I did not.
Now before I conclude, I have to mention the closing battle. While the first two "Evil Dead" films had a low body count this raps up one above 100. The closing minutes of the picture feature a siege on a castle of people (whom Ash saves). Fans of the first two will be happy to see Ash rip apart Deadites with his shotgun and improvised vehicle-of-death, as well as knights smashing apart and blowing up hordes of skeletons. Although some parts of the battle are quite cheesy, the siege is still quite impressive considering it was conceived with such a low budget and without major known effect artists.
Overall I give his film a 7.3/10, the lowest of the "Evil Dead" trilogy, but certainly in no way a bad film. Now for the parents, despite "Army of Darkness" R- rating the film is a very light R (in fact it was almost rated PG in Australia) so anyone about the age of 13 should be OK. But still watch it with your children as the Deadites at times are quite disturbing and there is one brief scene of sexual assault.