Army of Darkness

Army of Darkness (1992)

Directed by Sam Raimi

Screenplay by Sam Raimi and Ivan Raimi

Stars: Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert, Michael Earl Reid, Ian Abercrombie, and Richard Grove

I wanted to complete the Evil Dead trilogy with the last big screen entry. The series went of the rails wacky with this one to varying degrees of success.

After the events of Evil Dead II, Ash Williams (Campbell) is sucked into a portal to transports him back to an unknown land around 1300 A.D. Noticing this stranger person that fell from the sky, Lord Arthur (Gilbert) captures Ash to supposedly to usurp his leadership with Duke Henry the Red (Grove). Ash has to find a way to get back to the present.

I know the prerequisite to these movies is to turn off your brain. I tried to do it, but some things didn't make sense. How many rounds does a rifle have? My biggest question: where was Ash getting his shotgun shells from? I'm serious. Ash has the sawed off shotgun. Did he takes a big carton of them through that portal?

It seems that the central lore of Evil Dead has been completely lost. The first movie was about demons. The second movie was about demonic zombies? This movie is about revenants and skeletons. I don't know what is happening.

Did I laugh at the comedic beats of the movie? Yes. Did I think that the romance between Ash and Sheila (Davidtz) was out of left field? Yes. Were there many lapses in plot? Plenty. I forgave some of it. Not all.

I want to leave with a couple of last thoughts. The shaky cam action sequences were nauseating. The endless zoom in shots. Stop it. I hated it.

Rating: 7/10

Evil Dead II

Evil Dead II (1987)

Directed by Sam Raimi

Screenplay by Sam Raimi & Scott Spiegel

Stars: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie Wesley DePaiva, Richard Domeier, Denise Bixler, John Peakes, Lou Hancock, and Ted Raimi

Since I saw the first movie, I wanted to continue with the misadventures of Ash and his endless battle with supernatural forces. This movie took a couple left turn to varying degrees of success.

After the tragic events of The Evil Dead, Ash (Campbell) is struggling to find a way to escape the cabin and the cursed woods. The demonic entities prevent him from escaping. The professor's daughter that recorded the ritual that awakens the demons, Anne (Berry) comes with three other people with the missing pages of The Necronomicon to find her parents. They found Ash and the demons find new victims.

Looking at the beginning of the film, I was confused with the continuity error. Turns out that Raimi didn't have the rights to the first movie and had to reshoot the "recap". I can forgive that. They were also recons of that movie that were not addressed. His buddy and his girlfriend and also, Ash's sister. No mention of them? No? Okay.

The movie went for more comedy horror route. Did I laugh with the movie? No. Did I laugh at the movie? Yes. Some sequences were baffling. Where did that tool shed come from? Why was there such a gap with the trap door that you could slip between the door and the lock? Does anybody know how stab wounds work? Where did Bobby Joe (DePaiva) go?

I will praise the movie for the makeup work. I thought the demon transformations were very good. I was impressed with that.

Rating: 6/10

The Evil Dead

The Evil Dead (1981)

Written and directed by Sam Raimi

Stars: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker, and Theresa Lilly

When you hear that name, you know what you are in for. This movie has been in the lexicon for over forty years. This is the first time that I saw it. I have some preconceived notions of the movie.

In 1979, a group of friends travel deep into the woods to a cabin none of them been to. When they arrive at the cabin, they noticed something uneasy in the air. Scott (DeManincor) and Ash (Campbell) find some demonic artifacts in the cellar to unleashes hell upon them.

I didn't know what to think about this movie. Hearing the title, I thought the movie was going to be a zombie/vampire movie. I did no think that it was would be about demons and demonic possession.

Being that this was one of Sam Raimi's first movies, I was impressed with the makeup in the movie. The beginning has me worried. I thought it was going to be shit. The tone and mood got better when the spookiness starts.

I had some gripes with this movie. I wish I knew more about everybody. I had no idea who was who in the movie. Who were boyfriend and girlfriend? Who was the brother and sister? There were also some weird shots; the upside down shot from behind Ash, that revolving shot in the cellar and the Dutch angles that bothered me.

Rating: 8/10