A (Chainsaw) Cut above the rest!

Rating: Null/10 (17 November 2011)

Army of Darkness is Director Sam Raimi's final film in the excellent and bonkers Evil Dead Trilogy. Sometimes subtitled the Medieval dead, this third installment throws horror out of the cabin window and goes for full-on comedy slapstick antics instead! This is about as far removed from the original Evil Dead as any film could be, let alone a direct sequel. The film has the feel of an old adventure movie, or a Ray Harryhausen monster feature like Jason and the Argonautsor somethingwhat was the one with the skeletons?
The film begins (at the beginning) with another re-cap of the first two films, with the first film's sequences being re-filmed for a 'second' time (these scenes were recreated for use at the start of Evil Dead 2 due to copyright and studio ownership). These sequences feature Ash and a third, completely different Linda (this time played by Bridget Fonda, no less) being terrorized by the evil spirits, explaining how Ash lost his hand and ended up being sucked through time and spaceas you do (just watch the first two films and it'll make sensekind of).
We then cut to Ash (played by Bruce-I'm-the-best-actor-in-this-type-of-film-ever Campbell) narrating and filling us in on his current plight, learning that he has been mistaken for one of King Henry the Red's men, and is to be put to death in 'the pit'. Ash is thrown into this pit, which is shown to contain at least a couple of Deadites (zombies/ possessed people, seriously, watch the other films) which he must then fight, using his famous chainsaw hand! Ash is thrown the chainsaw by the helpful wise man and catches it neatly on the stump of his right hand, which is the point the audience is probably supposed to realize that this film really isn't going to be taking itself too seriously! After escaping, he confronts his captors, frees Henry and his men and is then hailed as the 'hero form the skies' mentioned at the end of Evil Dead 2.
One of the most notable changes in this installment is with the actual character of Ash. He has changed over the course of three films (and just two nights, in the timeline of the movies) from a shy, slightly geeky, barely capable college student, to a cocky, cynical, loud mouthed braggartwho's suddenly a shop assistant ("Shop smartshop S-Mart!")! Ash learns he must then embark on a quest to find the Necronomicon, the 'book of the dead' featured throughout the other trilogy, which can not only dispel the evil but also send Ash back to his own time ("Plasticsmanufactured products"). Ash sets off after hastily creating a new fully functioning, seemingly 'air-pump powered' metal hand (good job we're not taking this film too seriously anymore) and 'getting it on' with his medieval love interest Sheila ("First you wanna' kill me, then you wanna' kiss me"). After riding for some time, he's chased into a deserted windmill by the ever present 'Evil Force' thingy. He then fights a group of mini Ash's (Don't ask) one of which ends up diving down his throat and growing out of him into a full sized 'Evil Ash', who pursues and torments our hero for the rest of the film!
After failing to recite the correct passages when retrieving the book, Ash inadvertently awakens the Army of Darkness, which basically consists of hundreds of cartoony skeleton puppets (the final assault on the castle is a little like an extended episode of the Muppets). This army, under the rule of Evil Ash and the recently possessed/ changed Sheila (Evil Sheila, I guess) is after the Necronomicon for reasons never really explained. The final, large scale battle ensues and Ash faces off against Evil Ash amidst the good and bad armies, the goodies having the edge as Ash uses the 'power of science' to make explosives etc in typical man-from-the-future-stuck-in-the-past style!
There are actually two different endings to the film, with the original (better) ending being seen as too bleak by the studio, who actually requested that Raimi film a more upbeat ending which was the one shown in cinemas (although if you purchase the two disc DVD it includes both 'good' and 'bad' endings). Overall then, this film is loads of childish fun and shamelessly ditches any pretense of horror in place of comic action and laughs, and works really well. It's not quite as good as the previous films, but it is enjoyable and has the same creative camera shots, clever one liners and frantic energy of the others and is a fine final finale to the series.finally!