Army of Darkness (1992)

Directed by Sam Raimi. Starring Bruce Campbell, Marcus Gilbert, Embeth Davidtz, Ian Abercrombie, Richard Grove, Michael Earl Reid, Timothy Patrick Quill. [R]

Third entry in the Evil Dead franchise is a groovy change of pace, dropping almost all of the over-the-top gore and shocks in favor of a wild medieval horror-comedy adventure. Lone survivor of the last two outings, Ash (Campbell), has been transported back to the Middle Ages, where his knowledge of modern technology comes in handy when it comes to proving his mettle to the once and future king (Gilbert), stealing the Necronomicon, and battling an army of skeletal Deadite warriors. Fast, frenetic, funny, with a tongue-in-cheek homage to The Day the Earth Stood Still, a reverent tip of the cap to Ray Harryhausen’s work on Jason and the Argonauts, and B-movie legend Campbell making the most of his only lead role in a Hollywood studio picture—sly, swaggering, silly, a total blast. Sure, the thin narrative is too patchy for its own good, and the rampant slapstick in the vein of the Three Stooges and Looney Tunes that fills out the middle act exhausts inspiration, but fans of these kinds of outta-control genre mashups should be wearing a smile pretty much all the way through. Director’s Raimi’s original title, The Medieval Dead, is the subtitle for the UK release. Bridget Fonda cameos during the opening (revised) recap.

78/100