Army of Darkness (2007)

I can understand how this film wound up a cult classic but it did very little for me. It's difficult to categorize what genre it's in, as it combines elements of horror, sci-fi, comedy and camp, along with a lot of farcical nonsense. So maybe that's the appeal for dyed in the wool fans who have watched it over and over again, judging by it's positive reviews on this board. I have to admit though, the concept was cleverly outlandish, taking a modern day housewares clerk and transporting him back to the medieval ages along with his car and a chainsaw. Lots of possibilities there, but then it degenerated into a lot of downright silly battles against evil demons and a whole host of skeleton warriors. I guess that's where the Army of Darkness comes in. Without acknowledging it's origin in the 1951 sci-fi classic "The Day The Earth Stood Still" (one of my favorite movies by the way), our hero Ash (Bruce Campbell) is given a secret password to retrieve a deadly scripture known as the Necronomicon. However it sounded to me like the second word in the phrase 'Klaatu, Barada, Nikto' was changed to something like 'Verata', or at least that's the way I heard it. The original usage of the term in the earlier movie was also used as sort of a password to let a supporting character advise an alien robot that it's Master Klaatu was in trouble. In retrospect, now that I think about it, the usage of 'Klaatu, Verata, Nikto' here might have meant the whole picture was in trouble. (But in a good way for all you loyal fans.)

One of my all time faves, Army of Darkness. I remember watching this movie when I was eleven in 1993. At first I was drawn in by the excellent direction, camera angles that I had never seen in any other movie before. I also love the slapstick humor that Bruce Campbell is great at. Ash vs Evil Dead just wrapped up on STARZ, which made me a little sad, but I am happy that we were able to enjoy an additional 15 hours with this character In a great follow up to the Evil Dead and Army of Darkness triology. I just bought the collectors edition of Army of Darkness with every cut remastered by the Scream Factory. I hope to see Sam Raimi make more great movies, as well as Bruce Campbell. This is one of those movies from my childhood that I will never forget, Hail to the King Baby!

While first Evil Dead was stupid horror, second so over the top that it was more of a comedy than horror, third one is pure comedy of epic proportions. This one also continues where previous left off, but once again it does not begin the same way previous ends, but changes its ending a bit before continuing the story. Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell once again overcame themselves and made "Army of Darkness" the best one in franchise. It's a shame franchise ends here. I hope TV series won't disappoint.8/10

Only having three titles by Dario Argento left to see (I ended up picking Phantom of the Opera,which apart from the continuing of a few themes was a missed opportunity for Dario) I decided to go for another movie to watch as a double bill on my 31st birthday. Receiving the complete set from very kind fellow IMDber Red-Barracuda,I decided that it was the perfect time to see the evil dead rise again.View on the film:Revving back to life after a five year gap, co-writer/(with brother Ivan) director Sam Rami & The Matrix cinematographer Bill Pope transfer the free-flowing ultra-stylisation of the first two onto a much larger canvas,with the extended,rapid-fire tracking shots of the first films morphing into explosive battle scenes that spin flying first-person shots across the sky towards their targets. Taking the series in a more open Fantasy/Ray Harryhausen-inspired direction,Rami tones down the gory horror shocks for playful Slap-Stick Horror (!) that ties Ash into Gulliver's Travels,and the Medieval setting allowing Rami to use Harryhausen-style stop-motion animation to bring an army of darkness back from the evil dead. Sending Ash's 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 into Medieval times, the screenplay by the Rami's chop their lone hero into a fish out of water adventure,where Ash's off the cuff one-liners leads to very funny gruff exchanges with the knights. Whilst less focused on the horror element,the writers do well twisting the Adventure tale into the Horror genre,as Ash is sent as a man on a mission to retrieve The Book of the Dead,and a surprising dip into Sci-Fi ends the trilogy on an excellent chilling note. Picking up the chainsaw again, Bruce Campbell gives a hyper-active performance as Ash,who leaps into action to take on the evil dead's army of darkness.