Army of Darkness
Tags: comedy, avant garde, dark, boring, fantasy, cult, violence, horror, good versus evil, absurd, psychedelic, humor, action, sci-fi

Plot synopsis:
From a slave coffle, a brief flashback to Evil Dead II (which itself starts with a recap of The Evil Dead) explains the Necronomicon Ex Mortis and how Ash got to where he is, Ash (Bruce Campbell) lands in Medieval England, where he is immediately captured by Lord Arthur (Marcus Gilbert) and his men, who suspect him to be an agent for Duke Henry, with whom Arthur is at war. He is enslaved along with the captured Duke Henry The Red (Richard Grove), his gun and chainsaw confiscated, and is taken to a castle. Ash is thrown in a pit where he regains his chainsaw from Arthur's Wise Man (Ian Abercrombie) in mid-air, decapitates a female Deadite and lops the hand off another, before escaping the pit. He decks Arthur using the "your shoelace is untied" gag. Ash demands that Henry and his men be set free (since Henry was sympathetic to him) and they ride off. He uses the shotgun to blow the end off of Arthur's sword, and to blow a large Deadite back into the pit. Ash is celebrated as a hero, and also grows attracted to Sheila (Embeth Davidtz), the sister of one of Arthur's fallen knights.According to the Wise Man, the only way Ash can return to his time is to retrieve the Necronomicon. After bidding goodbye to Sheila, Ash starts his search for the Necronomicon. Entering a haunted forest, an unseen force pursues Ash through the woods. Fleeing, Ash ducks into a windmill where he crashes into a mirror. The small reflections of Ash climb out from the shattered mirror and torment him. One of the reflections dives down Ash's throat and uses his body to become a life-sized copy of Ash, after which Ash kills him and buries him.When he arrives at the Necronomicon's location, he finds three books instead of one. Ash eventually finds the real one and attempts to say the magic phrase that will allow him to remove the book safely "Klaatu barada nikto". (The line was taken from the 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still). However, forgetting the last word, he tries to trick the book by mumbling the missing word. He then grabs the book from the cradle, and rushes back to the castle, while the dead rise from graves all around. During Ash's panicked ride back, Ash's evil copy rises from his grave and unites the Deadites into the Army of Darkness.Despite causing the predicament faced by the Medieval soldiers, Ash initially demands to be returned to his own time. However, Sheila is captured by a Flying Deadite (Nadine Grycan), and then transformed into a Deadite. Ash becomes determined to lead the humans against the skeletal Deadite army. Reluctantly, the people agree to join Ash. Using scientific knowledge from textbooks in the trunk of his 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88, and enlisting the help of Duke Henry, Ash successfully leads the Medieval soldiers to defeat his Deadite clone, Evil Ash, and his Deadite Army, and save Sheila. After this, he is brought back to his own time using a potion made from the Necronomicon.The final scene (See Different versions) begins with Ash back at the S-Mart store, telling a male co-worker (Ted Raimi) all about his adventure back in time, and how he could have been king. After this, a Deadite starts wreaking havoc on the store (it is implied that he again raised the dead by saying the wrong words needed to travel through time), and Ash slays the creature. The film ends with Ash in voice over saying, "Sure, I could have stayed in the past. Could have even been king. But in my own way, I am king." He then says out loud, while kissing the attractive female co-worker whose life he has just saved, "Hail to the King, baby!"

Review: An oddball yet absolutely successful pairing of slapstick Comedy and undead Horror with a medieval setting thrown into the mix for good measure, 1992's Army of Darkness sits proudly near the top of the list of most unconventional yet absolutely entertaining motion pictures in history.
Hail to the king, baby.Army of Darkness is a 1992 American dark fantasy action comedy film directed by Sam Raimi.
Continuing from Evil Dead II, Ash Williams (Campbell) is trapped in the Middle Ages and battles the undead in his quest to return to the present.Beyond in human flesh, inked in blood-and amazingly hard to pronounce-the ancient "Necronomicon" (Book of the Dead) unleashes unspeakable evil upon mankind in director Sam Raimi's (Spider-Man) outrageously hilarious sword-and-sorcery epic.
Back to do battle with the hideous "Deadites," Bruce Campbell reprises his role from the Evil Dead series as Ash, the handsome, shotgun-toting, chainsaw-armed department store clerk from S-Mart's housewares division.
It remains unbelievably quotable and helped make Bruce Campbell move from a B movie actor into a B Movie Star, and the director Sam Raimi a bona fide Hollywood big shot, I think the Spiderman films might've helped though In the first 5 minutes Raimi effortlessly manages to catch us up on the first two films by showing the summarised backstory, only now including new scenes and events that featured Bridget Fonda as Ash's lady friend, and introducing his S-Mart career.
Of course his solo quest is destined to never run smoothly, and over the journey Ash must face and defeat a series of mini Ashes (in an amazingly creative Must-see scene), his evil doppelganger Evil Ash and his interred horde of undead minions who range from mere skeletons to more recently deceased zombie soldiers.Along the way there is much over the top gore and action, some witty and incredibly arrogant dialogue, some "Three Stooges" homages and the extraordinary physical acting abilities of a young Bruce Campbell.
Raimi is well know for reveling in the on screen torture of pal Bruce so in the film Ash must perform some incredible "backwards acting", get attacked by flying and biting books, get attacked by underground bones and perform lengthy and intricate sword fighting combinations.The evil dead soldiers are often shown in stop motion animation, and there are some shots that I would guess are either homages or were influenced by the work of Harryhausen.
A scene in which one of Evil Ash's generals asks for orders and then rides off is hilarious when you look at the General's riding partner who is obviously little more than a skeleton shaped scarecrow, and the appearance of an unwitting crew member in the original version is another quirky and amusing oversight that enhances my enjoyment of this brilliant film.The Evil Dead trilogy already represents some of the best examples, in horror, horror-comedy and simply comedy in cinematic history.Not a bad effort for a few blokes with a miniscule budget and a few crazy ideas.
Picking up where "Evil Dead II" left off in a somewhat altered opening, Bruce Campbell, now a full blown Han Solo smart ass, is trapped in the dark ages and is eventually found to be the one fated to the Deadites after he retrieves the Book of the Dead, which can also help send him back to his own time.
The first movie was pretty much a straight up horror movie, then Evil Dead 2 while it still had a bit of true horror in it was very much a comedy film also, in Army of Darkness they go all out with the comedy.
The third--and presumably last--of the Evil Dead movies finds Ash Williams(B-movie supreme ruler Bruce Campbell in full froth)somehow transported(along with his broken down car)in Medieval England,about to do battle,once again,with the undead,with the aid of(among other things) his "boom stick" and his chainsaw.
The horror is not scary as before  mainly because the gore is gone, however I prefer this as the stop motion stuff gives it an old fashioned feel that adds to the value of it  it's hard to explain but I really enjoy this because it feels like an old Harryhausen film.Campbell is brilliant  I bet he can't believe hi s luck, the rest of his career he's struggled but Rami seem to love him.
Along his journey to save the people, he must retrieve the "Book of the Dead", but when he slurs the words and does a half assed job of it, the book rises an evil twin of Ash's and leads his Army of Darkness to destroy the village Ash has promised to save.This movie has great laughs and is a great end to this terrific trilogy.
His use of the steady-cam during a chase scene from the monster's point of view is admirable, as is his ability to super-impose the 'tiny' Ashes with the Big Ash as flawlessly as could have been done pre-CGI (well, except for the rather obvious "Gulliver's Travel" parody scene when they push closed his nostrils, which appears clearly bad).Overall, this movie is the perfect melding of Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell's senses of humor and style.
I think there may be no more funny facial expression in movies in the 90's than when Bad Ash suddenly is confronted with a shotgun to the nose, as Bruce Campbell's sudden bug-eyed expression drove me to howling peals the first time I saw that part.
Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi reinvent the Evil Dead series in this off-the-wall, tongue-in-cheek self-parody.
The whole movie basically consists of Ash (Bruce Campbell) going after various evil spirits in the funniest way possible.
Unfortunately for Ash, he awakens the dead while taking the book, and now must battle the army of Darkness before he goes back to his own time.Back in the year 1981, Sam Raimi and a group of friends created one of the most terrifying horror movies to date, The Evil Dead.
Campbell is the master of physical comedy and he uses it to his advantage here, fighting an army of mini ashs, splitting away from his evil self and getting his face sucked down an unknown demon hole from a book.Speaking of which, that's what makes the film even more enjoyable.
The opening does give you a recap of what's happened, but you feel more for the film and ASH if you've been through the horrors that he has.Much like Peter Jackson got his start in the horror movie genre, so did Sam Raimi.
Army of Darkness is a film that I can watch over and over and never get tired of, which is what a great fun movie should be..
This frightening , strikingly designed horror/comedy movie achieved a lot of success thanks to its unstopped terror and humor , including continuous resemblances to the original version also directed by Sam Raimi .
This is one of my favorite movies of all time, a great sarabanda of fun, action, comedy, F\X, sapid puns, unforgettable characters: it is not horror, of course; it's a fantastic ride on a fantasy bus, next stop the glory.
Ash, a superb Bruce Campbell, must fight his evil self to defeat the Army of the Dead and return back in his time.
Haehaeh This is one of the greatest, "B-Movies" of all time...A guilty pleasure...Being a Sam-Raimi Fan, hmm...("the Gift") was so-so, i was definitely hooked on the evil dead series and this was no different.
I definitely feel this movie deserves 7.2/10 if not more, and since i voted 10/10 to keep it high "HAAHHHHHAHA"...Anyways this is  a great movie with BRUCE CAMPBELL "Ash" spitting out one liners left and right, its downright hilarious and the special fx still hold up.See this film, and judge for yourself.
Army of Darkness picks up right were Evil Dead II left off Ash gets sucked into a portal teleporting him to the middle ages.
All the chips in play Army of Darkness is a way less serious movie, with lots of humor and many things (besides gore and horror) that made the first two movies great.
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.
It's not good as "Evil Dead 2" but it's still a fun humorous wacky movie with a bit of horror(well when it comes to the surroundings anyways).
Army of Darkness was funnier than the first two Evil Dead films, and had a lot more comedy.
this third movie in the Evil Dead franchise is superior two the two previous movies,especially the second one,which was a pile of dreck in my opinion.this one though is very funny,and clever.it's lighter in tone.the story is much better.there are some very witty one liners.it's hard to believe this is part of the Evil dead franchise.but even if you're not familiar with the series you can still enjoy this particular film,as it works well as a stand alone movie.either way,it's a lot of fun.the only complaint i have is the length.at under 80 minutes,i found it a bit short.i think it could have been a bit longer.that's a minor issue.otherwise,i'd highly recommend it.for me,Army of Darkness is a 7/10.
a little more plot, and tongue-in-cheek humor (or in this case, out of cheek), makes Army of Darkness not only the best in Sam Raimi's series, but one of the best comedic horrors.
Army of Darkness definitely deserves a spot on every horror fan's movie shelf.Bruce Campbell is hilarious and awesome as always with a stellar performance as his character Ash. The special effects are amazing as well and the story is truly "epic." Medieval horror films are very rare and this is quite possibly the best.
You won't be let down if you liked the first two.After Evil Dead II's open ending, I simply couldn't wait to see Army of Darkness.
Army of Darkness is the third film in 'The Evil Dead Trilogy' and by far the funniest and grooviest one of the three.
Army of Darkness takes place right where Evil Dead II left off,our hero Ash is in Medevil times.
Army of Darkness is the third and funniest installment of the Evil Dead series by Sam Raimi.
I won't give away the movie's plot but Ash royally screws up in a very funny scene in a graveyard and ends up raising an army of darkness which he must help the locals fight off.
Army of Darkness proves to be the funniest and most clever of the Evil Dead movies, and Bruce Campbell once again proves that nobody plays a goofball like Bruce Campbell..
The three stooges-esque humor combined with a medieval setting, a very egotistical hero with a chainsaw (that runs w/o gas!) attached to one arm and a shotgun (doesn't need to be cocked or reloaded!) in his good hand, and of course, the evil ARMY OF DARKNESS makes one heck of a spoof of the horror/ slasher genre.
Bruce Campbell Returns To Kick Ass. Army of Darkness is one of those classic film which you remember for years after watching it.
Like the previous installments of the 'Evil Dead' series, this one has copious amounts of gore, but it takes the sense of humor presented in the second film and runs with it.
The result is sort of a bloody, live-action cartoon which pays tribute to the old adventure films of times past (similarities to 'Jason and the Argonauts' should be fairly obvious).In the hands of less talented individuals, this horror/comedy/adventure combination would surely have been a disaster, but Sam Raimi's off-the-wall script and stylish direction combined with Bruce Campbell's amazing performance as Ash, make this one of the funniest movies ever made.This is without a doubt one of the most entertaining films ever, packed with enough jokes and one-liners to strangle a horse.See this movie.
If not, it would have to be classified as one of the all- time dumbest movies ever made.If it weren't the language (Bruce Campbell, in the lead, provides lots of profanity), this would be a film little kids would love with all the non-stop action and Three Stooges-like slapstick humor.
The humor helps take off some of the edge of the violence.What you have is a medieval-horror-comedy film with Campbell fighting an army of skeletons, a la Jason And The Argonauts.
One of the most unrated fantasy flicks ever made, the third part of the the EviL Dead series, Evil Dead 3 The Army of Darkness its a great, funny and unusual adventure and fantasy movie, Ash (Bruce Campell) its an over the edge character who is transported by the powers of a mysterious book, Necromicon to an medieval fantastic era.
Sam Raimi's third entry in the Evil Dead series is this cool combination of his wild humor and action.After the chaos of Evil Dead II, Ash has been hurled back into the dark ages where he must once again battle the evil dead as a knight.Perhaps the most hilariously over-the-top of Raimi's horror comedies, Army of Darkness is a truly unique and ever-entertaining oddity.
The attack of the 'little Ashes' is especially funny.As with Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness is another weird, yet truly fun laugh riot that must be seen!*** 1/2 out of ****.
The medieval aspect of it is just plain awesome.The acting has gotten a lot better and Bruce Campbell's Ash is once again a badass.The pacing is fast and the humor throughout the film is great.
A direct continuation of "Evil Dead II", this 1992 movie "Army of Darkness" continues in the same manner of comedy, blood and pure wicked entertainment.
It is a movie that can be watched again and again, just like the previous two movies.The story picks up exactly where "Evil Dead II" ended, with Ash having been sucked through a vortex and having ended up in the Medieval Ages around 1300 AD, where he must retrieve the dreaded Necronomicon if he is to return home to his own time and world.
Army of Darkness, unlike the previous Evil Dead movies went light on horror substance and built itself around Ash and a plot that is seemingly close to the book, Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (since the movie wasn't out yet).
Briefly recapping the previous films in the "Evil Dead" franchise, "Army of Darkness" then picks up as the poor, bedeviled Ash (Bruce Campbell) is magically transported back to 1300 A.D. and the days of Lord Arthur (Marcus Gilbert).
Sam Raimi's 'Army of Darkness' may be the most quotable movie of all-time, but it's so much more.
You cant go into this movie expecting a great story and developed characters (though Ash is incredible), thats not what evil dead films are about.
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?
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.
One reason that the Evil Dead series is such a satisfying trilogy of movies is that Sam Raimi added to the formula with each new instalment in an intelligent way.
The good thing about it is that Raimi takes it all less seriously, and producing a number of hilarious bits as well.Bruce Campbell reprises his role as the chainsaw-armed store clerk Ash, who is whisked into the Dark Ages, facing rival kingdoms and the army of the dead along the way.
Army of Darkness (1992)** out of ****Directed by Sam RaimiWith Bruce CampbellAsh (Yes, from "The Evil Dead") wakes up in 1300 A.D and now must recover the Necronomicon to save the city and back to its time.
The first movie of the series was scary, but then they decided to take a new direction and go for comedy, hence Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness.
This movie shows Raimi's love for slapstick comedy and Bruce Campbell turns in a great performance as Ash once again, Campbell's one-liners are hilarious but seemed a little too 'dummied-down' if you know what I mean.
It's one of the few movies where the humor is as much in how the characters talk and act as what they say and do.As time goes on and horror movies get shittier, Army of Darkness embeds itself further as a gem amongst American cinema and cements Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell into movie history as a visionary and a genius..
If chins could kill  "Army of Darkness" is director Sam Raimi's insanely funny and action-packed (and presumed) closer to his "Evil Dead" trilogy.
If you like the Three Stooges and horror films run out and rent Sam Raimi's camp classic Army Of Darkness.
Sam Raimi takes the slapstick horror of the Evil Dead and goes way over the top with it, with great success.
Its kinda like the 3 Evil Dead movies have evolved from horror to comedy u can already see this a bit in part 2.