372 - Army Of Darkness - 2 stars
Or to give its full title, Bruce Campbell Vs Army of Darkness.
Be under no illusions, this is the Bruce Campbell show. No other characters really get a look in, as he gurns and quips his way to victory against the deadites, and at one point Ash fights an evil version of himself, double the Bruce. Gone is the wimpering, cowardly Ash from the first film and now we have a fully fledged 80's style action hero.
There will be more in-depth discussion about how great Bruce Campbell is when I review Evil Dead 2, and the Spider-Man films.
This film is not as over-the-top bloody as the first two, instead Sam Raimi seems to be fulfilling a childhood dream by making his own Harryhausen film, as Ash takes on an army of stop-motion skeletons.
Unfortunately I didn't find this as good as the originals, Evil Dead 2 being one of my all-time favourite horror films. Thee wasn't enough blood and gore splattering the screen and Raimi didn't abuse Campbell enough. Didn't help mattes that I accidentally put on the US theatrical cut instead of the Director's cut that has the better ending.
Army of Darkness is on the list?!!
ReplyDeleteYes it is! Thought that when submitting a top ten it would have limited people to only one Evil Dead film but clearly I was wrong.
ReplyDeleteForgot to mention in the review that I found it hilarious how Campbell's hair changes length and even style from shot to shot, especially when he's riding the horse through the woods.