A great movie for 13+,a good laugh for Evil Dead fans

Rating: Null/10 (19 November 2004)

The movie begins where Evil Dead II left off,with Ash - the sole survivor - being sucked into a vortex and finding himself confronted by a hundred men at arms and knights. Ash is arrested as an enemy of King Richard and marched to the castle with several Scotsmen.Upon entering the courtyard they are marched to a large pit, where the King explains that they will meet their deaths in a pit containing one of the Evil Dead.When Ash is thrown in to the pit hilarity ensues,as he fights a zombie that seems to know karate.Then the Wizard retrieves Ash's chainsaw and throws it to him,whereupon Ash quips "come get some" and proceeds to slash the evil dead into little bits.After Ash escapes from the pit he gives the King a little lesson in manners,then challenges the crowd with "Who's next?Come on,who's next?You!?You want some?Do ya!?Huh!?".
The movie unfolds, and Ash learns he must once again retrieve the Necronomicon,this time from a large cemetery..but after forgetting the magic words he only pretends to say them,mumbling the last word silently before he picks up the book.Uh oh,you've wakened the dead! The next 40 minutes consists of Ash rallying the troops to defend the castle and the Book within from the Evil Dead,and giving some Frame-by-Frame skeletons a bloody good smashing.
Army of Darkness is a departure from the Evil Dead and Evil Dead II in that there is far less gore,and the movie exudes a campy feeling in every moment of seriousness. This is less a tribute to Evil Dead and more about the good IL harry hausen films of yesteryear.
The movie is hilarious and engaging as a pure back in time/fight the undead story,but Bruce Campbell breaths life into it as his ever-growing character Ash.Such witticisms as 'come get some' and 'gimme some sugar,baby' are liberally sprinkled throughout the dialogue to highlight the camp feeling in moments of seriousness,and bring us back to the point - which is laughing.
Is it a comedy? I think so,but then I laughed at both Evil Dead movies. Definitely worth checking out regardless to whether you're looking for a tion or comedy.Sam Raimi fans be forewarned,this was not directed by Raimi.