Purposely terrible one liners, unique slapstick action scenes and retro special effects make this a great time.

Rating: 9/10 (12 June 2008)

The "Evil Dead" trilogy has to be the most diverse trilogy ever created. The first movie was sort of funny, but it was a genuine horror movie. The second film still had the same creepy sets and horror elements from the first film, but was much more comical. The acting was extremely over the top as were many of the scenes, such as the hilarious laughing scene. Then we get to "Army of Darkness". All the horror from the series is gone, and the slapstick comedy introduced in the second film is prevalent.
Ash (Bruce Campbell) was the only survivor from the last film and he has landed in a time warp in the 13th Century. In order to get back to his own time he must recite a phrase and find Necronomicon, the book of the dead, and it ends in war between the living and the "Deadites".
This is not an original movie in any way, and if not looked at as purposely bad, this will be viewed as bad. The script is full of some truly awful one liners, such as "Give me some sugar baby!", many uses of the phrase "Groovy.", and dozens more terribly hilarious lines. The action scenes here seem very Three Stooges inspired, from the slaps to the face and the blocking of the pokes to the eyes, to the cuckoo clock sound effects used when Ash is a little out of it. The villains are not as menacing as in the last movies because they all are comical, but this is not a complaint. The light tone of the movie makes the lines funnier and the movie enjoyable.
If you enjoy silly comedies and/or slapstick comedies, then you will probably love this. If you are expecting horror after seeing the last two movies, then you are in the wrong place.
My rating: *** 1/2 out of ****. 80 mins. R for violence.