Fun Third Entry in the Series

Rating: Null/10 (5 January 2014)

Army of Darkness (1992)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Ash (Bruce Campbell) finds himself get sucked back into time where he gets involved with a small village who need the Necronomicon so that they can defeat the Army of the Dead. Ash needs the book to get back to his time so they team up to try and win the battle.
Sam Raimi's third film from THE EVIL DEAD trilogy is without question my least favorite of the series and I honestly just don't find it as funny as I'm sure everyone intended. The movie was obviously meant to be a cross between a Three Stooge film and a Ray Harryhausen film and there's no doubt that Raimi keeps the mood light and fast moving.
If you're coming into this expecting something like the first two films then you'll certainly be disappointed because this goes off in its own direction, which was a pretty brave thing to do. After all, when you're going into a sequel you just expect to see the same thing as before. This probably explains why the film didn't do too well at the box office but it eventually found a cult following.
Raimi certainly keeps the film moving at a nice pace and of course there's Campbell returning as Ash. It goes without saying but Campbell is what keeps this movie going with his zany and comic performance. He manages to milk out all sorts of entertainment and is there anyone better for this campy lines that he has to deliver here? ARMY OF DARKNESS is a nice throwback to the Harryhausen films but I still think it's the weakest of the series. I'd argue that the Director's Cut is certainly the version to go with as it contains the better ending and doesn't feel as rushed.