Thursday, 24 November 2016

My Favourite Films - Army of Darkness (1992)


A part of me really wanted to talk about Evil Dead in this series simply because it's one of my favourite stories on how a film got made and is the defining example of a passion project. Unfortunately I don't love Evil Dead. Oh I respect it a ton, and it launched the careers of several of my favourite people in the industry; but as a film, it doesn't do anything for me. However I will say that each film in the series does get better as they get better equipment and the crew behind the films expand their skillset. And despite the sequels not being as challenging as the first one, that doesn’t change the fact that these are all incredibly unique, well made passion projects, with a lot of effort and talent but behind them and is worth talking about.

Army of Darkness is a horror-comedy that was directed by Sam Raimi and stars Bruce Campbell and is the third instalment of the Evil Dead franchise. It sees our protagonist Ash Williams get sucked into a vortex and sent back to the middle ages, where he earns the respect & trust of a group a town and forms a small army to take on the Necronomicon and its army of Deadites one last time. Honestly I don’t know where to begin when it comes to talking about what’s good about this film, there’s just too much to list. I guess the best place would be with the most stunning, the effects. Now yes, usually when someone describes the effects of a movie being the best thing, that’s not usually a good signifier for the plot which…okay is technically true here, but let’s be honest, this is not a film that is all too focused on its plot. It’s like when I discussed The Addams Family, it’s a film that knows where its strengths lie and they’re going to focus on that. You can feel free to say you dislike it because it’s not giving attention to the elements that you think are most important, but you can’t actually call it a flaw in the film. The Evil Dead series is supposed to be fun, experimental, over the top gorefests that act as a treat for the eyes and a hearty laugh for the soul. Saying you dislike them because of the plot is like saying you dislike celery because it’s not spicy enough.

Oh right, I was supposed to talk about the effects. The effects in this film are incredibly, the majority is done through puppet work and stop motion animation and it gives the film a classic Ray Harryhausen feel, they’re cheesy but creative, and clearly took a lot of work. The make-up is also fantastic, particularly the make-up on Evil Ash, mostly because I did not realise that was actually Bruce Campbell under all that make-up. Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero should be commended for what they did here because it outstanding. And their work is complimented by some bizarre and unconventional cinematography that has become a staple for the Evil Dead franchise, wide-angle lenes on hand held camera moving to extreme close-ups, it certainly creates a distinct feeling for the film.

Now let’s talk about the man of the hour, Bruce Campbell, AKA Ash Williams. Often considered to be the best B-Actor in the world. Good lord, how can you not love this man? The best description of Ash I’ve ever heard is: Imagine the scariest monster you can, your own personal bogeyman; well, Ash is the man who tells the bogeyman to go fuck himself! A lot of people describe Ash as the unluckiest and stupidest hero in horror, which in some aspects he is, he is overly cocky, constantly makes mistakes, never seems to grasp the full extent of the situation he’s in…yet he’s also the most badass guy there is. The man leads an army of knights against the Deadites, fights them off with little worry, goes through so much significant pain over the course of these movies, yet here he is, still fighting and with a good quip to back him up.

“Yo, She-Bitch, let’s go!” “I've got news for you pal, you ain't leadin' but two things, right now: Jack and shit... and Jack left town” and my own personal favourite “Good. Bad. I’m the guy with the gun.” Everything this man says is gold, he’s one of the most quotable characters there is. Which also helps make this one of the more entertaining films out there. I’ve stated before that the most important factor of my favourite films is rewatchability, and I never get bored of watching this film, every time I watch it with someone new they always end up enjoying it, and I just find myself appreciating it more and more. Now true, some fans of the franchise find themselves liking this one the least because for a horror franchise, it’s not exactly scary. It certainly has some gothic and dark imagery, but nothing to the extent that it would actually frighten someone. For a horror/comedy, it’s a film that much more focuses on the comedy than the horror. Personally this never bothered me because, I never found the Evil Dead franchise scary, I always appreciated the comedy aspects more. So of course when I would find more love for the film that focuses on the comedy more so than the others.

In the end, this is one of those films where you can see the passion and creativity in every single millimetre of film. The effects are an enjoyable send-off to classic Claymation, the dialogue is whitty and memorable, the main character a brilliant mix between foolish and badass. But most of all the effort put behind this film, it is so unique a product that even with its flaws, I am more than willing to overlook them, just simply out of respect for the filmmakers. I love this film, and is of course, one of my favourites.

-Danny

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