Humor replaces gore in 'Darkness'

Rating: Null/10 (12 March 1999)

It seems like yesterday, but I remember seeing "Army of Darkness" on the big screen six years ago. Just as the movie started, I began to laugh my ass off. Bruce Campbell (TV's Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess) returns as the macho and offbeat hero Ash, not only armed with a "boom stick", but one-liners as well. Unlike the first two "Evil Dead" films, this third installment has no gore. Instead, it references classics such as "Jason and the Argonauts", "The Day the Earth Stood Still", and "Gulliver's Travels." Also, the soundtrack is cool; especially Danny Elfman's "March of the Dead."
Picking up where "Evil Dead 2" left off, Ash gets transported back to 13th century medieval times surrounded by a bunch of "primitive screwheads." These primitives must rely on Ash to save them from the "army of the dead." To get back to his own time, he must retrieve the "Necronomicon" (a.k.a. "The Book of the Dead") and must correctly recite the magic words "klatu, verata, nektu" or the dead will wake up. He fails and has to deal with the walking skeletons. Ash must recruit a bunch of men for the final showdown.
My evaluation: *** out of ****.