Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Universal Studios Home Entertainment – 81 mins  – 1993 – Rated R – 1080p Widescreen 1.85: 1 – DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1

Hey, I loved the Sam Raimi Evil Deal trilogy, but I’m not a fan of the way it has been constantly double-dipped and repackaged in its home video lifespan. The Evil Dead movies are like a new computer, as soon as you open the box they’ll be an updated version on store shelves. But die-hard fans of the ‘dead’ movies constantly need their fix, so if you’ve owned the films on every video format that has been created to date, then obviously you’re going to get this Blu-ray. The third film in the Evil Dead trilogy, Army of Darkness is available from Universal Studios Home Entertainment; so grab your boomstick and start blowing away some throwbacks, because Ash is back.

THE MOVIE

The Evil Dead Movies are hard to describe, because either you get it or you don’t. The first film, The Evil Dead, came out in 1981 and introduced moviegoers to Ash (Bruce Campbell) who is just an average guy who stumbles across a book of the dead, called the Necronomicon and unleashes the pure evil of hell that kills all his friends and leaves him as the lone survivor. The original Evil Dead was a traditional blood and gore 80’s horror movie, but the sequel, Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn, took an odd turn that really paid off with fans, making the second film a comedic spoof of the first film. Ash is still the hero, but just imagine Jerry Lewis fighting off the undead. This comedic tone stays with the third film, Army of Darkness, but this time Ash is thrown back to medieval times to continue his fight with the forces of evil.

Army of Darkness is not a horror film; it is a comedic adventure to continue the adventures of Ash, because after the success of the second film, fans demanded it. It’s a B movie with all the right trimmings, swimming in over the top action sequences and one-liners that only work because Bruce Campbell is saying them. Sure there are other characters in this film, but let’s face it, everyone else in this film is an extra to give Ash things to bounce off and make himself look cool. When a guy uses a chainsaw rig in the place of his severed arm to battle evil doers, he’s going to get your attention.

Directed by Sam Raimi on a shoestring budget just like all the other dead movies, (hey, he didn’t have Spiderman money back then) Army of Darkness works because it knows it’s one big in-joke for the fans. If you take anything in this film seriously, or even worse, if you never saw the first two films, you will be completely confused as hell. The effects are bad, the plot is ridiculous, and most videogames have better dialogue, but this never stops Army of Darkness from being one big entertaining ride. Basically, the ‘dead’ movies sell themselves, so if you live and breath the world of Ash, then you’ll be buying this Blu-ray on day one. For everyone else, it is highly recommended that you watch these films in chronological order to decide if you want to continue on to this one. The world created by Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell is not for everyone’s taste, but those who have been sucked in love every minute of it. “Gimme some sugar…baby.”

VIDEO

Army of Darkness comes in full 1080p in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, but it leaves a lot to be desired. The image quality is acceptable, but it looks as if it’s washed out at times. Colors are bright and skin tones look good, but it feels more like you’re watching an episode of Xena: Warrior Princess than motion picture quality. The source material has been passed along so many times for the different versions that have come out over the years, that it’s probably been over-tweaked. If you only have one of the DVDs it is a step up, but don’t expect it to look like one of the Mummy films.

AUDIO

The Dolby Digital DTS-HD 5.1 audio mix sounds good, and with a film like this where there is so much going on, this is appreciated. Your front and rear speakers will get a workout as an army of dead soldiers rush into battle, or when Ash revs up his chainsaw or fires a blast from his boomstick. Dialogue sounds muffled at times, but being that none of it is on the level of Shakespeare, it’s actually fitting. The sound is definitely a leap over the image quality and makes the experience of watching the film much more fun.

EXTRAS

Again, so many special editions have been released for these films that you never know if they’re holding back on bonus features just so they can sell you a new version in six months. This version called the Screwhead Edition doesn’t have a lot of goodies, not even a director’s commentary track. There’s just enough to technically be called extra features, but it’s anemic. Hmmmm, sounds like a double-dip to me.

‘Creating the Deadites’ is a twenty-minute featurette that goes into the visual effects for the Army of Darkness, but being that no one really does effects this way anymore, watching it is merely for nostalgia. 

The film’s alternate ending that every fan has seen a zillion times is obviously also incuded.

Finally there’s the original theatrical trailer.

BOTTOM LINE

So here’s the deal, this is an acceptable Blu-ray, but you know they will be a bigger and better version released with the director’s cut one day, because it already exists on standard DVD. Now do you wait, or do you chuck up the money for this one as well? This all depends on what kind of fan of the dead trilogy you are.

SCORES: (out of 5):

 The Movie: 3.0

Video: 3.5

Sound: 4.0

Extras: 2.5

Bottom Line: 3.0