Number Twenty: Army of Darkness

I know I just laid on the praise for how much I adored Evil Dead II. Oh and by the by, I realized that I have indeed seen The Evil Dead; it was that movie I knew I watched and really really loved but I couldn't really remember anything about it except it was zombies in a cabin. That's super embarrassing, especially since figuring out what "that movie with that guy who was in that other thing with that lady" is what I do for a living. So, I loved both Evil Dead movies. The third installment, Army of Darkness, just didn't quite muster the feelings in me that the first two did- which is not to say I didn't like it.

While the first two Evil Deads are pretty basic zombie flicks with low-budget charm, the third takes off where Evil Dead II left off- Ash is transported back in time and must lead an epic battle to fight off the undead "Army of Darkness" (hey that's the title!). Immediately noticeable are several inconsistencies with the previous installment. For some reason, footage from Evil Dead II was not used in the recap, so scenes were reshot with a different Barbara. I can handle that. What I couldn't take was that they took out the best scene from the end of Evil Dead II- when Bruce/Ash shoots down a giant monster with his shotgun, thus proving how awesome he is. I think this probably got cut to make taking Bruce prisoner more believable.

This movie is much less gory than the first two. Bruce gets to be a huge chauvinist, there's more time for characters to get some development before they get killed off (well, not much), and the slapstick comedy is pretty heavily relied upon. While it is a sequel to the first two Evil Dead movies, I really wouldn't consider it a trilogy. Army of Darkness can totally stand alone. Actually, any of them could stand alone. But this one really stands apart. (Not necessarily in a better way.)

Interestingly, there are two different endings to Army of Darkness. According to that ever-honest source, Wikipedia, Universal wasn't happy with the original ending, so they reshot a happier one during post-production. I guess Sam Raimi didn't have a problem with this. He's quoted as saying, "Actually, I kind of like the fact that there are two endings, that in one alternate universe Bruce is screwed, and in another universe he's some cheesy hero."