All right, listen up. Who forgot to mention that it was the 30th anniversary of Army of Darkness? I had planned on talking about the film already. But now it seems even more appropriate to do so considering that. Well, I guess I should start from the beginning. If you haven't seen my thoughts on the other two Evil Dead installments, you can do so here and here.
It was around the summer of 2000. Hey, I finally remembered when I received the first Evil Dead on VHS for Christmas. Talk about selective memory. My Dad and I had caught the first Evil Dead on Sci-Fi channel one afternoon. We enjoyed watching it even though I had it on VHS. It was interesting seeing a more bare bones version of the film considering back in this time Sci-Fi edited their films for content. It seems like nowadays they are able to get away with showing a lot more. It was just one of those fantastic days of leaving the TV on Sci-Fi for their movie marathons. At that point, we hadn't known anything about Army of Darkness and hadn't bothered checking the guide to see what was next. Imagine our surprise when the Universal Logo began and we saw Bruce Campbell on the screen again.
By that time, we had seen Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. So we were well versed with Bruce Campbell's acting. Heck, I was first to point him out in Evil Dead. So when we saw that he was in this film, we both were ready to check it out. The opening was a bit confusing though as at that time we hadn't seen Evil Dead 2 nor did we know that it existed. So it just felt like something had happened that we hadn't seen on screen at the end of the first Evil Dead. Funny enough that later that October I'd come across a VHS of Evil Dead 2 and help change that.
I remember on that first watch I wasn't sure what Army of Darkness was trying to do. It was a dramatic shift in tone from the first Evil Dead to this. But that didn't stop us from missing anything. Thinking back on it now, it honestly gave a very grindhouse feel to the film. I loved it though. There was so much slapstick in the film that you couldn't help but appreciate it. Bruce Campbell's performance as Ash is absolutely fantastic. He's a pompous ass that pretends to be so sure of himself amongst the 'primitive screwheads'. Yet when the times get tough, his first instinct is still to run.
Army of Darkness was a complete riot. It instantly became a favorite of mine. I appreciated the hell out of the effects that were done by KnB in it. A lot of them still hold up so extremely well too. They aren't afraid of stepping over the edge into slapstick. That was something that felt so fresh and unique when compared to other films. It was just allowing itself to be downright fun. Ash gets the hell beat out of him by skeleton hands in a graveyard? Hell yeah. He has to fight a bunch of mini hims? That ended up becoming one of my favorite segments. Just when I thought that Ash couldn't be more of a goof, he goes and misspeaks the words that wise man told him to remember. "Klatu Verata Nik--. Definitely an N-word." It's pure gold and at that time was my favorite installment.
Then in 2003, I remember hearing that Army of Darkness would be released on DVD. I had seen the previous DVDs on the shelves of the Theatrical cut and then the Director's Cut. But for the life of me, I couldn't push myself to picking them up. I waited. Then I finally picked up The Boomstick Edition, it was something that was a pretty fantastic release. I mean it had commentary and some behind the scenes. It was exactly what I had hoped it would be. A extremely nice upgrade from the VHS. It sat on my DVD shelf alongside the Book of the Dead Editions of Evil Dead 1 and 2, which those surprisingly held up very nicely over the years.
I still hadn't fully understood what was up with the film. It felt like there were still some things missing from the film. Everything I had seen on that Sci-Fi channel airing wasn't in either of these two versions of the film. I still found myself loving the film even more. It still was something fun to throw on and find something new. Eventually, I began to understand exactly what was going on. There had been a third cut of Army of Darkness that was never released at that point - the TV cut. I had seen an unofficial fanedit that attempted to provide the three different cuts on one DVD. It was a solid job and interesting to watch. But the quality still wasn't the greatest.
Then Shout! Factory released what many consider to be the definitive way of watching Army of Darkness - their Collector's Edition. Now, this was a set that seems to be pretty outstanding. It provides all three different versions of the film - so that you can watch whatever version you'd like. It had fantastic special features for the film as well. And many consider the transfer on that to be outstanding. Unfortunately for me and my collection, it's a set that is still managing to elude me. I haven't been able to find it. I'm hoping some day I'll be able to add it to the collection. Till then, I have the Primitive Screwhead 'Cashgrab' Edition that was released by Universal Pictures.
Over the years, I still find myself returning to Army of Darkness. I know that when it's time to introduce my son to the Evil Dead franchise, it'll be with Army of Darkness. It's a film that is just so damn enjoyable and in my opinion, a perfect film. It knows exactly what it is. It never falters or questions itself. It's a tribute to Ray Harryhausen with its fantastic final battle between Ash, The Primitives, Henry the Red and Evil Ash and his Army of the Dead. It's a tribute to the Three Stooges with its many hilarious gags. And its about a man finally coming into his own to save others. Honestly a pretty solid lead-in to Ash Vs. Evil Dead.
Rating: 5 out of 5.
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