Army of Darkness
Time to do a complete turnaround on the types of movies I’ve reviewed this week. Honestly, intellect can be a liability when you’re watching this movie, so leave that behind. Hike up your disbelief suspenders as far as they go and “come get some.”
Premise – 3/5
The dude has a chainsaw for a hand. Just admit his kung-fu is the best, already!
Dig this: Ash, our once-weeny hero has been having a bad time of things. Spins out to the country to spend some quality time with his girlfriend, finds an ugly little book called the Necronomicon Ex Mortus, and does just what anyone else would in such a situation: he starts reciting passages from it (or actually, I think the professor who’s strangely absent made a recording of these passages that Ash plays). So, zombie stuff happens, his hand gets possessed by evil, he cuts it off, mounts a chainsaw to it, and then gets sucked through a portal to what’s apparently medieval England. And hell, that’s just in the intro!
Understandably, Ash wants to get back to his time, away from the “primitive screwheads” who mistake him for an enemy. More stuff happens involving a couple zombies, and it gets determined that Ash is “the one sent from the heavens” to rid the world of the Deadite plague. So, he’s off to get the Necronomicon Ex Mortus from a cemetary since it has the power to stop the Deadite scourge and send Ash back home. Of course, he flubs his chances, gets beaten and abused by the zombies and skeletons he awakens, and then has to get back to the castle in time to rally everyone into fighting off the undead.
At the very least, it gets points for originality. Of course, the downside is that if you think for even a minute about the plot, you’ll realize how completely ludicrous it is. It’s like the Three Stooges meet Abott and Costello meet Night of the Living Dead. And as bad as that may sound, somehow it works in this flick. If you’re looking for horror, you won’t find it here, though it does contain the titular undead Army of Darkness. It’s just that it’s not scary or suspenseful at all, and goes for the straight-up goofball factor.
Cast – 3/5
Don’t even get me started. Seems like just about everyone in the movie’s rented out from a Renaissance festival, complete with the over-exaggerated acting and “British” enunciations. And I know I saw Ted Raimi in three different, though small, roles. What more do you need to know? I hope you like cheese!
Bruce Campbell, on the other hand, carries this whole movie by himself. No matter how corny the lines, or how ridiculous the action a scene calls for, even when it’s at its worst, Bruce Campbell carries it all out with style. I really think that if it was anyone but Bruce in this role, the movie would’ve turned out to be completely unwatchable. He’s got the charisma, goofiness, and aw-shucks-nicity about him that this movie is founded on. He is the man, and deserves to be recognized as Patron Saint of Cool One-Liners.
Cinematography & Design – 3/5
It’s all merely okay. The castle’s fairly cool, as is the windmill, but there’s nothing that really stands out as either exceptionally good or exceptionally bad. Some of the fight scenes are so badly choreagraphed as to be unintentionally (I think it’s unintentional, but I can’t be sure with this movie) funny, but, again, Ash kicks all kind of ass. I think I once read in an interview that most of this movie was made with the sole aim of seeing how much punishment they could dish out to Ash. It certainly succeeds there!
Special Effects – 3/5
Really light on blood, unfortunately. The demented comedy would’ve turned out even more so if Raimi had gone at least a little overboard with bloody bits, but he wanted this movie to be more slapstick than that, so I guess we’ll have to deal. Some of the deadite costumes and makeup look very, very cool. Not especially realistic-looking, but very cool. Of course, some of it’s also really lame. I swear I saw an extra or two at least just running around in black costumes with plainly fake “bone” effects on it, wearing simple masks. There’s a lot of pyro, so that’s always good, and I have to give credit for the sheer volume of undead warriors we see in action. Never mind the fact that some of them are just posed in certain positions and occasionally wheeled to different areas of the battlefield. In all fairness, I do think some of the effects are cheesy on purpose, just to remind you that this is not a movie to be taken even remotely seriously.
Popcorn Factor – 4/5
I just don’t know what it is about this movie. It’s completely silly, the plot’s absurd, and the dialogue and acting are totally corny. Sure it’s intentionally bad, but I usually don’t go in for that kind of thing much. Somehow, though, somehow, this movie still works like a charm. I didn’t think I’d like it anymore these days, but, upon watching it again for the first time in years, I find it’s almost impossible to not like it. If you haven’t seen it yet, you really do owe it to yourself.