Army of Darkness

Geronimo1967

Apr 14, 2023

7/10

"Ash" (Bruce Campbell) is a bit of a loud-mouth hardware salesman who somehow manages to get himself, and his car, transported back seven hundred years and into a mediaeval combat zone! "Lord Arthur" (Marcus Gilbert) is his new master and together with his fellow prisoner "Duke Henry the Red" (Richard Grove) is soon facing doom at the bottom of a deadly pit! Luckily, he has a few useful things in the boot of his car, and the timely use of a chainsaw helps him escape and become the designated saviour who will retrieve the "Necronomicon". His quest will involve a treacherous journey through the land of the "Deadites" in search of a sacred book. Only the immortal words of Michael Rennie himself: "Klaatu Barada Nikto" can save the day... Well, needless to say, none of this grand plan actually works. He forgets half of his magic phrase and only succeeds in resurrecting a somewhat narked army of dead folks who are determined to lay siege to their castle and retrieve the book for themselves. Enemies soon become friends, arrows become strapped to dynamite, trebuchets start lobbing high explosives and all are now hoping to defeat, well, the already dead! This actually benefits hugely from not having a star. The whole ensemble cast join in to create a quickly paced, "Camelot" style action adventure that borrows heavily from twentieth century references (I'm sure the script has a bit of Jack Hawkins from "Ben Hur" here too) and Ian Abercrombie does a fine job as the wiseman. There's plenty of pyrotechnics and swordplay, a generous amount of rather daft humour and, for my money, is one of Sam Raimi's better, more entertaining features. Derivative? Yes - it is, but that doesn't stop it being an enjoyable romp through history and legend that is well worth an afternoon in front of the telly.

TitanGusang

May 16, 2023

7/10

Army of Darkness is such a mix bag for me, on one hand it is a very fun and whimsical fantasy adventure but on the other it is such a step away from the franchise that it feels out of place. It is marketed as a horror film, but there is absolutely zero tension or spooks to be had in its entire runtime, luckily the movie was actually quite funny. Raimi tried to do a bit too much in the special effects department, leaving many of the effects feel cheap and out of place. The green screen technology especially just was not there for the time. Raimi's direction was very relevant, and his signature touch on the film really helped. The performances and writing absolutely save the film. Bruce Campbell is the best he's ever been, with incredible line delivery that had be legitimately laughing out loud. The quick witty dialogue between characters was hilarious. Overall, Army of Darkness is by no means a bad movie, but it does take a step a little too far from the source material, which just didn't resonate with me as much. Score: 67% 👍 Verdict: Good