Army of Darkness

The situation with Sam Raimi is strange - his early films have an unshakable cult status, even though they have been significantly affected by the passage of time, and if I were to go back to Evil Dead or Evil Dead II, I would probably need a stiff drink to encourage me because otherwise, they would seem too stupid to me. However, it is evident that they were made by someone who can do better. With each subsequent film, Raimi improved and each of his films had a weaker impact on the audience. Army of Darkness is not the younger sibling of the two aforementioned low-budget slasher films and instead is a much older relative of Raimi's film Drag Me to Hell. It is a horror comedy, where the director makes fun of genre clichés, horror props, over-the-top heroes of B-movie trash, and even himself. It can be criticized in a hundred and one ways, but it is filmed with such irony and quite a distinctive directorial style, that I generously overlook those flaws. It is entertaining, and undemanding, but not stupid, and in my opinion, it is the first work in his filmography that withstands stricter standards. Bruce Campbell with his lines, faces, and proverbial audacity simply gets to you and you instantly forgive Raimi for the lack of a proper script and the need for improvement in all aspects. Overall impression: 60%. (27/07/2012)

A bombastic array of excellent "fights" with the dead, a huge number of great original ideas, a wonderful sense of perspective, and the divine Campbell. Overall, I really like the way Raimi conceived the whole trilogy – he started with a pretty serious horror film, then defined a new genre in which he mixed horror elements with comedy elements, and then conceived the final part as pure comedy. Even though I was laughing a lot of times ;))), this instalment is still the weakest of the whole series for me. (07/03/2011)

An hour and a half of unbridled fun. The film pretends to be horror, but there is nothing to be afraid of, it’s just fun and marveling at what Raimi has come up with again. There are countless gags and when you add Bruce Campbell, my personal cult actor with charisma to spare, the fun is guaranteed. Clearly the best film of the Evil Dead trilogy! (01/09/2002)

If I were to say that Evil Dead 2 is Bruce Campbell's one man show, what am I supposed to say about Army of Darkness? I know, it's a show of several Bruce Campbells (of different sizes). The story doesn't seem to exist, but everything from the beginning to the end is pushed by Ash and charming special effects, which are really abundant here. While the escapades in the windmill are reminiscent of the hand scene from the second film, the final battle with the "Harryhausen" skeletons is unique. And I haven't even mentioned yet how funny Army of Darkness is (no, it really doesn't have much to do with horror). What I liked most was Ash picking the right Necronomicon (when his deformed head looked very, very, very strikingly like Al Pacino) and his irresistible recitation of the three key words. (30/07/2012)

Raimi continues beyond the surreal Evil Dead 2 carnival into the realm of infantile pleasure and unfettered phantasmagoria. Campbell is the greatest hero to have ever worn household goods, and of the whole trilogy, I enjoyed this film the most. Probably even from the whole of Raimi's filmography. A festival of jokes and knee-deep fiction, in which the technical imperfection seems to me to be an integral part of the game. The much more perfect (and built on the same plot), whilst paradoxically less playful and imaginative, Oz: The Great and Powerful, is evidence of this. (03/04/2013)