Army of Darkness (1992)

Director:

Sam Raimi

Writers (WGA):

Sam Raimi (written by) &
Ivan Raimi (written by)

Release Date:

19 February 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Fantasy | Horror | Romance

Tagline:

Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas

Plot:

A man is accidentally transported to 1300 A.D., where he must battle an army of the dead and retrieve the Necronomicon so he can return home.

Plot Keywords:

Book | Necronomicon | Evil Dead | Army Of The Dead | 1300s

Awards:

3 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Bruce Campbell	...	Ash
Embeth Davidtz	...	Sheila
Marcus Gilbert	...	Lord Arthur
Ian Abercrombie	...	Wiseman
Richard Grove	...	Duke Henry the Red
Timothy Patrick Quill	...	Blacksmith
Michael Earl Reid	...	Gold Tooth
Bridget Fonda	...	Linda
Patricia Tallman	...	Possessed Witch
Ted Raimi	...	Cowardly Warrior / Second Supportive Villager / S-Mart Clerk (as Theodore Raimi)
Deke Anderson	...	Mini-Ash #2
Bruce Thomas	...	Mini-Ash #3
Sara Shearer	...	Old Woman
Shiva Gordon	...	Pit Deadite #1
Billy Bryan	...	Pit Bitch

Also Known As:

Army of Darkness: The Medieval Dead (UK) (video title)
Army of Darkness: The Ultimate Experience in Medieval Horror (USA) (closing credits title)
Bruce Campbell vs. Army of Darkness (USA) (closing credits title)
Evil Dead 3 (USA) (working title)
The Army of Darkness (USA) (original script title)
The Evil Dead 3: Army of Darkness (UK) (DVD box title)
The Medieval Dead (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and horror.

Runtime:

81 min | 96 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Netherlands:12 (re-rating) | Netherlands:16 | Portugal:M/12 | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) | Italy:T | Germany:18 (Special Edition DVD) | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Canada:14A | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Iceland:16 | Ireland:15 | Japan:PG-12 | Norway:15 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Acton, California, USA

Company:

Dino De Laurentiis Company

Trivia:

The magic words Ash must use to claim the Book of the Dead are "Clatto Verata Nicto" - a reference to "Klaatu, Barada, Nikto", the words used to command the robot Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951).

Goofs:

Continuity: The sun is rising when the reinforcements arrive, but soon after it is dark again (caused by re-editing the sequence, which was originally written differently).

Quotes:

[first lines]
[opening monologue]
Ash: My name is Ash and I am a slave. As far as I can figure, the year is thirteen hundred A.D and I'm being dragged to my death. It wasn't always like this, I had a real life, once. A job.
Ash: [now Ash is in a flashback] Umm... Hardware aisle twelve, shop smart, shop S-Mart!
Ash: [back to monologue] I had a wonderful girlfriend Linda. Together we drove to a small cabin in the mountains. It seems an archeologist had come to this remote place to translate and study his latest find: Necronomiconexmortis. The Book of the Dead. Bound in human flesh and inked in blood, this ancient Samarian text contained bizarre burial rights, funeral incantations, and demon resurrection passages, it was never meant for the world of the living. The book awoke something dark in the woods, something evil.
[something crashes through the window of the cabin and Linda screams]
Ash: It took Linda. Then it came after me, it got into my hand and it went bad, so I lopped it off at the wrist.
[Ash is seen cutting off his hand]
Ash: But that didn't stop it, it came back big time.
Ash: [Ash gets pulled into the vortex holding onto the doorway] For God's sake how do you stop it?
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Batman Returns (1992)

Soundtrack:

March Of The Dead

Listen you stuffy screwheads...their names are Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell and this movie is their boomstick!

The third time really is the charm, and "Army of Darkness" proves it incontrovertibly. This time, they just let the movie be what the first two movies were at heart: nice, silly, goofy, wacko, nonsensical fun. Just imagine the Three Stooges starring in a horror flick and you've got "Army of Darkness". The whole movie basically consists of Ash (Bruce Campbell) going after various evil spirits in the funniest way possible. And the quotes are some of the most hilarious quotes that you could ever imagine, probably mostly owing to how Bruce Campbell says them. Literally every scene is pure hilarity. Whether it's Ash showing his "boomstick", having trouble retrieving the book, battling mini-Ashes, or the big battle at the end, you never stop laughing yourself hoarse (I particularly liked some of the bone-related quotes). It doesn't even suffice to give this movie 10/10 stars. It deserves 100...no, a million...no, infinity out of 10 stars. Yeah, infinity out of 10 stars. Bruce Campbell not only deserves a star on the Walk of Fame, there needs to be a statue of him.

Oh, and an extra note. When I went to see "Bubba Ho-Tep" in the theater, Bruce Campbell was supposed to be there, but had to cancel. So, there was a short clip at the beginning showing him thanking us for coming, when his phone rang: "Hello...Oh, hi Sam. Listen, I'll get to you in a minute." (turns to audience) "So thanks for coming to this movie." (retrieves his phone) "Yeah, Sam?..."Evil Dead 4"?! I'll do it!"

I just wonder how they would continue the story, now that Ash battled skeletons with his "boomstick".