"Hail to the King, Baby" or "I slept too long!" ?

Rating: 10/10 (26 October 2000)

Army of Darkness brings the Evil Dead Trilogy to a close (for now at least) with the funniest instalment. Evil Dead was horror with comedy, Evil Dead 2 was comedy with horror, but Army of Darkness is comedy with fantasy. As Sam Raimi admits, it's less a homage to horror films but more to the old Ray Harryhausen classics like Sinbad or 'Jason and the Argonauts' (most obviously the army of skeletons).
There are numerous different versions of the film, each with their own good points, although the recent Director's Cut release is the one Sam Raimi considers to be the most complete. This has 15 minutes extra footage beyond the American Universal release, including the original ending. Here in England, the original release was far closer to this new Director's Cut, though there are welcome additions. Most noticably, the battle with the 'army of darkness' is much longer and features some amusing fight scenes which were previously cut for running time. The longer version also fills in a number of plot holes and, as Raimi points out, sorts out many of the continuity errors.
Opinion is generally divided on the subject of the ending. The original American release featured a re-shot ending where Ash, back in the present, fights an evil-dead-hag in a shopping mall before finishing with the famous "Hail to the king, baby". This is much funnier than the official ending and it's a shame it's not included as an extra on the Director's Cut. However, it's easy to see why Raimi and Campbell prefer the original, 'downbeat' ending. It fits the tone of the film better, and bears closer relation to Evil Dead 2 by ending on a cliffhanger. It also has more interesting implications about what could happen in a sequel, should one ever be made. The one complaint I have about the Director's Cut is the replacement of the legendary line, "Good, Bad. I'm the guy with the gun", with the international version's "I ain't that good".
Personally, I think newcomers to the series might be better off seeing the 80 minute version (or perhaps the international version) first, but those who've seen the first two films should stick with the more complete and more satisfying 96 minute Director's Cut.