This is the definition of a cult movie

Rating: 10/10 (26 January 2012)

I simply love this movie. It is one of the classics in my opinion. It may not be that well known but when I first saw it I was captivated by the siege of the undead on the castle and loved it so much that I returned and saw it later at the cinema again. Now every so often I see it in the video store and go and hire it. When I recently hired it I noticed that they had released a directors cut with a different ending. Usually the director's cut is a little better that the original but I don't know with this one. I did like the original ending where he is back in S-Mart and blows away the witch that attacks him, grabs the girl, says "hail to the king, Baby," and kisses her. It is such a cool image.
Army of Darkness is labelled as black comedy but I would also put it under the category of satire. What we are laughing at is not just death but also the arrogance of the average American redneck. The cover is that of a comic book movie and the shelf it was on at the local video library was "Cult Movies". I remember Evil Dead back when I was a kid. There was a computer game based on it and it was described as the most scariest film ever made. The trilogy originally began as a horror but I was told that when Evil Dead III came around, Raimi decided that the horror genre was so worn out it drifted into comedy.
Ash (Bruce Cambell) went on a retreat with his girlfriend and found the necronomicon, the evil book of the dead. The book killed his girlfriend and tried to possess him but he fought it off. The book struck back and dragged him into the past to medieval England where he is captured by the local lord with Henry the Red. He manages to redeem himself and goes on a quest to find the book to get him back to his own time but unfortunately he awakens the dead and they swarm the castle to get it back.
What makes this movie great is the individualist attitude of Ash. He is great because he has a gun and a chainsaw and nobody else does. He has attitude and basically acts like your everyday average rednecked American, and this stands out in the background of Medieval England. Unlike most time travel movies, he does not try to blend in, nor does he hide his technology. He simply shoves it in their face "This is my BOOM stick!" and says that if anybody gets in his way he will blow their brains out. Even though he has his boom stick, this does not stop the people from turning away from him when he reveals his individualistic streak. That is he awakens the dead and then wants to return home. No matter how great his boom stick is, the awe that they held in him is gone.
All I can say is that I love this movie. I will pay money for it for the simple pleasure of having it in my collection. It goes beyond a simple fantasy/Horror/Comedy movie to that of cult status. It is great and deserves that position on the video store shelf.
Favourite quote: I hate to burst your bubble but you are in charge of only two things, Jack and S**t, and Jack just left town.