EVIL DEAD 3: ARMY OF DARKNESS (1993)
By Chris Ward
Otherwise known as ‘The Medieval Dead’, ‘Bruce Campbell vs. the Army of Darkness’, or if you’re in Japan, ‘Captain Supermarket’ (!), ‘Evil Dead 3’ marks the final part of director Sam Raimi’s trilogy that began all those years ago in that run-down log cabin in the Tennessee woods, with a geeky Ash (Bruce Campbell) battling all manner of demons who had taken possession of his friends and left him with no way of escape.
The movie picks up right where part two left off, with Ash having being transported through time by the power of the Necronomicon – the Book of the Dead – and ending up in the fourteenth century, where he finds himself captured by Lord Arthur and his men – one can assume that he’s landed in medieval England – and cast into the pit, where he encounters two ‘deadites’. After disposing of them in his usual obnoxious fashion (with his ‘boomstick’), Ash then has to figure out a way to get home. Believing Ash to be some sort of deity, the village wiseman tells him the only way to get back to his own time is to retrieve the Necronomicon from an ancient cemetery, but he must recite the special magic words before removing it. On his way to the cemetery, Ash encounters the unseen force that has tormented him since the first movie, and in doing so creates a doppelganger that he soon disposes of. Of course, when Ash gets to the cemetery and recites the words, he gets it wrong and the forces of darkness, led by the doppelganger Ash, are unleashed, forcing Ash and the villagers to confront the demons for the ultimate showdown.
Does Ash get back to his own time? Or does the Army of Darkness prevail and keep Ash trapped in the middles ages? You’ll have to watch it, but there are two endings to this movie, and funnily enough, the ending that wasn’t used in the UK version is the better one (the alternative ending is included in the dvd extras). As it is, ‘Evil Dead 3’ is somewhat of an oddity, as it isn’t really a horror film in the traditional sense, but nor could you call it any other type of film – at a stretch you could label it a dark fantasy, but this would discredit the comedy aspect plus everything laid down by the movie’s prequels. The movie should really have been called ‘Ash & The Three Stooges meet Jason and the Argonauts on the Planet of the Apes’ as the whole movie really plays out like those old swashbuckling adventure movies. There’s next to no blood, slime or any other oozing liquids as in the previous movies, the ‘deadites’ are either ridiculously slapstick or skeletal with no features, there’s far too many crass one-liners and the whole thing just feels like one big compromise by the makers to get the movie seen by a wider audience.
That being said, though, this movie really is fun. Bruce Campbell again gives the perfect performance of Ash – part geek, part super hero – and, although the scipt may lean towards the cheesy, he delivers his lines with remarkable charisma. Again, you sympathise with Ash as he goes through the movie and gets seriously put upon by nearly everyone (or thing) he encounters. The Three Stooges-style comedy that was started in part two is exploited to the maximum here – indeed, the scene in the cemetery where Ash has a fist fight with skeletal hands still emerging from the ground is pure Stooges – and although fans of the original movie may howl in protest, it is quite amusing. The effects are very good, and although obviously the best of the series in terms of budget, they don’t seem to have the charm of the first movie. Indeed, this seems to be a common thread throughout this movie. It’s well made, looks good, pacy and competently acted, but ultimately seems to fall flat when taking into account what went before.
Overall, ‘Evil Dead 3’ is the weakest of the trilogy, mainly due to the fact that that the ‘Evil Dead’ mythology that was created in the first movie has been compromised and watered down for mass consumption. The fact that the movie wasn’t very successful at the box office is indication enough that alienating your core fan base really isn’t a good idea. Instead, after the rollercoaster ride of the first movie and the tortured madness of the second, you’re left with a movie that’s got less shocks and gore than a ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movie, and when the movie has the words ‘Evil Dead’ in it’s title, we really should have got a lot more.
