Army of Darkness (1993) [41603]

I have never seen Evil Dead 1 or 2, or the crappy remake. Army of Darkness was my first and remains my only foray into Sam Raimi's beloved horror series. If you are expecting a genuine horror film, stay away. This movie could have been named "Monty Python and a Book from Hell." In fact, during my first viewing years ago I kept thinking about Monty Python. The humor is childish and relies on Bruce Campbell's charisma and one-liners. The entire second act is pretty much Bruce making faces and spewing one-liners at himself, and by the term "himself" you'll know it means more than one 'self' if you've seen the movie.

For such a non-traditional location in a horror film, we gloss over the facets of the world I wanted to see more of. Don't tell me these were more in-depth in the director's cut because we're setting that aside. What was with the feud between Arthur's men and Henry the Red's people? Why were they fighting? And why did it resolve so abruptly at the end? Sure, Ash united the two to beat a greater foe, but why would Henry care about his rival kingdom's fall? The last thing I'd do when I'm freed from my enemy is serve the interest of that said enemy. Embeth Davidtz's role is a Mary Sue and just a soulless pretty face. She does nothing in the movie other than to serve as Ash's love interest. You may say this is regressive, but I guess it's a spot-on image of 12th century English women.

Raimi made the decision to recycle the same basic premise of this film for Oz the Great and Powerful. "Oz" has a bigger budget, is longer, and has a CGI monkey, but "Oz" seems to lack the charm of "Army." Will Raimi ever do another film that doesn't take itself seriously, filled with glorious Harryhausen-esque special effects, a one-liner per every five minutes, and is thoroughly entertaining? Maybe not, but we'll see in Army of Darkness 2.

This Laserdisc features the US Theatrical cut which contains alternate dialogue ("Good. Bad. I'm the guy with the gun.") and the studio-commissioned S-Mart ending. It runs at a total of 87 minutes.

7/10

Picture Quality:

Presented in 1.66:1 within a 4:3 frame. Army of Darkness sure has several composite video issues, but knowing about LD it's dominant in the format. Film has a nice grain structure to it with nice details. Film dirt, grey-ish or bluish black levels, and video noise might be the most prominent issues here. Not the best disc for your television but side two is a huge improvement thanks to its CAV mastering. Video noise does not exist in side two though one thing to note the aspect ratio for one shot is 1.85:1 opening up to 1.66:1. I don't know why this happens. Overall, the 1.66:1 framing is a little cramped when compared to later DVD and Blu-ray releases. Adequate enough.

8/10

Audio Quality:

For the most part, there appears to be a boost in the mid-range frequencies. I did turn on the cinema filter on my AVR when I watched this. It's not as bassy as other LDs but there are some noteworthy explosions of bass, mostly, or entirely involving Ash's 'boomstick.' Surrounds are used well albeit a little gimmicky in some places. It's a fun audio field especially in the third act, with Danny Elfman's "March of the Dead" theme taking center stage and Joseph LoDuca's score supplementing the narrative. I just wish it was a little more rich like Star Trek VI and The Abyss. Acceptable.

8/10

shop smart, shop S-mart

if you want closer to real horror watch evil dead, if you want to start the saga then watch evil dead 2 and then this again
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the rein-o official signature:

Maybe it was just a Campy film? I think your taking a movie made to be funny and campy way to serious. I would love to read your review of bubba ho-tep.

I couldn't even sit through 15 min of bubba ho tep.
just not enough for me to keep it going.

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the rein-o official signature:

Elvis...in a retirement home...fighting a mummy..with JFK...who's black...
There's not enough in there?! :p

I tried, I really tried but just couldn't do it, and I always try to watch the entire film to expand my horizons

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the rein-o official signature:

Good review, Army of Darkness and the Evil Dead series is very near an dear to my heart. I'm always interested in other people's opinions of movies. I'm probably biased, but I liked the new Evil Dead and Bubba Ho-Tep.

for me, i liked the 3rd one (this one) better.