This week it's my first ever review!
Army of Darkness (1992)
Directed by Sam Raimi
Produced by Robert Tapert
Starring Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams
Music by Danny Elfman (themes) and
Joseph LoDuca (score)
Released – world premier: October
1992, in theatres: 1993
So, Army of Darkness, also known as
'The Evil Dead 3 – The Army of Darkness', 'Bruce Campbell vs The
Army of Darkness' and in its British release 'Army of Darkness: The
Medieval Dead'. The British name is the one I like the most as it's
quite a funny/clever pun.
The genre of this film is quite hard to
place, it constantly moves between a dark comedy, horror, fantasy and
there are some bits that I would say are slapstick.
Released in 1992, Bruce Campbell stars
in Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert's third film in the Evil Dead trilogy.
In true Netflix fashion, this is the only film in the trilogy that
they have available to watch, but I thoroughly recommend you seek out
the first two as they are great films. You don't have to have seen
them previously to watching the Army of Darkness as there is a short
prologue that explains what happened in the second film and how Ash
came to be in the year 1300 AD. I would suggest that you do watch
them first however as they are a good introduction to the themes and
characters presented.
So anyway... THE PLOT:
Hailed as the one foretold to rid Lord
Arthur's lands of the Deadites, Ash Williams is told he must get to a
graveyard (which is conveniently placed on the other side of a
haunted forest) where the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis is held. Only this
book will rid the land of the Deadites, only this book has the secret
that will let Ash get back to the present, and an old man with a
beard tells Ash “Only you, the promised one, can quest for it!”.
There is the obvious clause that if the
Deadites get their hands on the book before Ash then an army of
darkness (see where the name comes from?) will rise up and take over
the world!
The plot is vastly different to the
previous Evil Dead films in that they were about a group of American
teenagers or early twenty-somethings who are trapped in a cabin in
the woods fighting possessed people, so it is great to see the
character of Ash in a totally new environment.
However, there are a lot of clichéd
plot points, such as Ash being made to go through a haunted forest to
get to his goal, evil taking over the world if the book falls into
the wrong hands and Ash being prophesied as the only one who can save
the world.
On the other hand, it remains true to
its Evil Dead roots by having the book fall into the wrong hands due
to a hilarious mistake by Ash, and the fact that he has no interest
in playing the hero, it's just by good fortune that the way that will
send him home will also save the world.
There is a strange bit which I feel is
the one failing of the plot (aside from the whole fantasy horror,
time travelling stuff). There is a scene where some skeletons are
shown taking a couple topless woman hostage/prisoner, and one
skeleton says “We've got plans for you...”. These woman are never
seen again, they're never spoken of again and so it doesn't fit in with
the film.
I feel Ash Williams is a fantastic
character, and it's great to see him in this new environment. The
fact that he doesn't care about anyone, is a bit of an eejit and a
total bad-ass leads to some of my favourite film quotes. Bad guys are
told to “Come get some!”, love interests are told to “Gimmie
some sugar baby!” and friendly peasants are told to “Get the fnck
outta my face!”
SPECIAL EFFECTS:
Rather than using CGI which was
becoming more popular at the time, the film uses puppets, stop motion
animation and something called Intro-vision. This is a fancy kind of
incorporating pre-recorded performance with live action using
projectors and things similar to cinema screens. I find this a lot
more visually appealing to what a lot of modern day films contain. I
personally don't like the whole Inception thing with roads rising up
into the sky.
In terms of special effects, this film
is very dated – considering it came out the same year as Jurassic
Park. I do however find the style presented a lot more enjoyable to
watch than someone jumping around in front of a green screen.
The chase scene through the haunted
forest is very pleasant and well done. However, the same technique
had been used a few times in the first two films, which left it
feeling a bit overused, and maybe even abused.
The fight scenes are too long in my
opinion, with the final battle lasting over 20 minutes which is
excessive. When you consider that Bruce Campbell/Ash Williams is
fighting people who aren't really there (as in they are projections
or added in via stop motion), the fight scenes become well
choreographed and almost impressive.
The film on Netflix has the original
ending, which gives a totally different feel to the 'S-Mart' ending
that was created for American release. 'S-Mart' is funny and shows
Ash to be the womanising bad-ass he is often portrayed to be in the
film. The original ending shows Ash to be the eejit he is also often
seen portraying, and is considered to be more cruel and pessimistic.
Both endings are however true to his
character, and I prefer the one on Netflix. I think it is more likely
to happen to Ash than the 'S-Mart' ending, but I will provide a link
to it all the same as I think it is funny and still worth a watch
(although only after watching the original).
On a scale of Scott Pilgrim to Pans
Labyrinth, I would give this film a nine. It's funny, got some bits
that people might find scary, moves on quite a lot from the original
Evil Dead story line which would of become a bit stale, but not too
much as to appear unconnected, it's well made and... well if I only
had one word to sum up this film, I couldn't choose any other word
than: GROOVY!
Check back next Thursday as I will be
reviewing An American Werewolf In London.
Feel free to leave a comment with your
thoughts and opinions, and if you see a film you want me to review
make sure to let me know!
Link to my Twitter Page.
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