The Evil Dead series is an odd little footnote in movie history. With each subsequent film, director Sam Raimi changed the tone completely until we ended up here with Army Of Darkness, one those dark comedies that's garnered a massive cult following. It may not have made back its cost in theaters, but this one continues to pull in money on DVD, this time on a new format.
If a B-movie can be an epic, this is it. Sam Raimi's trademark style is in full force here, utilizing completely unique camera shots like only he can. Bruce Campbell has never been in finer form, easily becoming one of the most quoted characters in film history. He's smart, he's cocky, and he's a blast to watch.
Sent back in time, condemned to die, and forced to recite lines from The Day the Earth Stood Still, Campbell’s Ash character steals the show, even when stop-motion skeletons take over during the finale. The surrounding characters do their part, but it’s always the snappy one-liners that make this the film it is.
Compared to normal Hollywood standards, the budget here is meager, but a huge leap from the first two films. Every dime is put to good use and it shows. In addition to the Ray Harryhausen-inspired skeletons, rod puppets, and loads of suit actors comes to life to complete the end battle.
While the first half of the film relies heavily upon comedy and priceless one-liners, the second half takes on a darker tone as the final battle begins. It's still funny, but the sight gags and cheesy puns are spread out more liberally. The again, it's probably for the better so you can take in the great effects instead of wiping tears of laughter from your face.
Of course, Bruce Campbell would become a cult icon of cinema and Sam Raimi would take over the two (and debatably a third) excellent Spiderman films. Even with all the special effects wizardry of the those films, you can see on screen that every single crew member had a blast making Army of Darkness. You could even say this is more fun, energetic, and flat out more entertaining than the director's big budget films. If you've never seen this one, you need too. 
Article comments
1 - Dynamo of Eternia
Out of curiosity, which HD-DVD version are you reviewing?
There was initially the HD-DVD/DVD combo version, but then just last week they reissued it with an HD-DVD only disc. I am wondering if this reissue version has a better transfer than the previous one.
The reissue probably went under the radar for the most part. The packaging on both versions looks almost identical, with the exception of one version just saying HD-DVD and the other refering to it as being a combo disc.
2 - Matt Paprocki
The combo version. I can't imagine they'd have a new transfer for a simple re-release, and also don't quite grasp why they're dropping the combo for this one over all the others they've done.