An Action Packed,Hilarious Classic Finale To The Evil Dead Trilogy.

Rating: 10/10 (18 February 2013)

Army Of Darkness is an excellent,Action packed,fun and Hilarious film filled with great direction,an excellent performance by Bruce Campbell,great Action,fun laughs,special effects and is a classic finale to the Evil Dead trilogy.
Set in medieval times in 1300 A.D,hero Ash(Bruce Campbell)has been transported back to time and this time has to battle an army of dead skeletons,help a group of people and get the Necronomicon(Book Of The Dead)back so he can get back to his time,and for Ash it's going to be dangerous,full of adventure and will be groovy.
What would happen if The Three Stooges met The Evil Dead? You would get Army Of Darkness,a classic film that is an absolute blast from beginning to end. What I love about Th Evil Dead Trilogy is that while all three films are connected with one another,they're different in terms of tone. If Evil Dead was pure Horror and Evil Dead II was a Horror-Comedy,then Army Of Darkness is in the Action/Comedy/Fantasy category with a little bit of Horror thrown in. The Comedy and laughs in the film are hilarious and ingenious and over the top with Sam Raimi using Three Stooges-style Comedy and slapstick in the film and with the character Ash being apart of the joke going through many bizarre and crazy things on his adventure. Ash's journey of trying to get the book of the dead is definitely one of the film's many great and funny highlights,seeing Ash's many reactions to the evil forces around him trying to stop him from getting the book of the dead and the things Ash goes through is over the top and funny. What is also funny is that Ash not only has to deal with evil spirits but also has to deal with the leader of medieval swordsmen to battle the army of the dead and it is hilarious how he teaches and leads the swordsmen how to battle and not act like cowards. Watching Ash being a leader is funny but you as a viewer are rooting for him all the way. AOD is also an homage and parody of films like Jason And The Argonauts and the original Clash Of The Titans in terms of cinematic style and influence,it's an homage to those films but a parody as well especially with the dead skeleton army which is an homage to special effects artist Ray Harryhausen. The skeleton army in the film and the way they're used is absurd and funny and having the army talk and react makes them even funnier. If you love Ray Harryhausen you will AOD. The Action and fight scenes in the film are well-done and fun and add to the film,because the Action isn't always serious to the point when you have to laugh at the wild energy and insanity during the Action scenes and throughout the film. Despite being a sequel to the first two Evil Dead films,some fans maybe a little disappointed to find out that AOD is the lightest film in the Evil Dead trilogy,meaning this film is less of a Horror film and more of Action/Comedy/Fantasy. Where the first two films were Horror films and had blood and gore,AOD was more of an adventure that didn't really need blood or gore because if AOD had that the film would've had a different tone to it and like I said before one of the things I love about the Evil Dead trilogy is that they're all different in tone,if you keep an open mind you'll love all the Evil Dead films including this one because like the first two film AOD has the same crazy and insane energy that the first two had. The ending of the film is a great,Action-packed and very exciting conclusion that will have viewers clapping and cheering at the screen and is one of the reasons that the Evil Dead films,Bruce Campbell and Ash are so legendary and iconic and in the immortal words of Ash it's...groovy.
The cast does a great job. Bruce Campbell is excellent once again as Ash,bringing laughs,Action,toughness and great one-liners. Embeth Davidtz is wonderful and beautiful as Shelia,Ash's love interest. Marcus Gilbert gives a good performance as Lord Arthur and plays it straight. Ian Abercrombie is great as the Wiseman. Richard Grove is wonderful in his small role as Duke Henry The Red. Also lookout for cameos from Bridget Fonda(Linda)and Ted Raimi(S-Mart Store Clerk).
The direction by Sam Raimi is excellent with Raimi with Raimi going nuts with the camera especially with the POV shots of the demons,the tilted angles and Raimi also does well with the Action scenes. Great job,Raimi.
The score by Joseph LoDuca is wonderful and great sounding and fits in with the tone of the film. Great score. Also,lookout for a score cameo from Danny Elfman.
The special make-up effects by K.N.B are well-done,memorable and very realistic. K.N.B does it again.
In final word,if you love the first two Evil Dead's,Sam Raimi,Bruce Campbell,Action,Comedy or Fantasy,you love Army Of Darkness,a classic film that is an great conclusion to an excellent trilogy. Highly Recommended 10/10.