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Army of Darkness (1993)
Starring Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Ian Abercrombie, and Bridget Fonda. Cinematography by Bill Pope. Edited by Bob Murawski and R.O.C. Sandstorm. Produced by Robert G. Tapert. Written by Sam Raimi and Ivan Raimi. Directed by Sam Raimi.
After a deadly battle with the Deadites in a backwoods cabin, Ash (played by Bruce Campbell) now finds himself stranded in the thirteenth century. He is captured by Lord Arthur (played by Marcus Gilbert) who quickly decides that he is a spy for a rival kingdom sentences him to death. But when Ash defeats an evil demon with his futuristic weaponry it is revealed that his coming has fulfilled a prophecy of a champion that will save the world from the undead evil that plagues it.
Ash, the unlikeliest of heroes, agrees to search for the Necronomicon, but only if he will be sent home immediately thereafter. A mistake in his incantation results in the arousal of an evil army and it seems that Ash is the only one who can stop it.
With Darkman under his belt, Sam Raimi was starting to earn respect in Hollywood filmmaking circles. His building reputation, along with an association with Dino De Laurentiis (who financed Evil Dead 2) and Universal Pictures (who financed Darkman), soon earned him a chance to turn his Evil Dead franchise into a trilogy. But instead of having to recycle the same old story once again, this time he was given the freedom to take his film to the farthest reaches of his imagination.
Using the template of what he originally had in mind for Evil Dead 2, Raimi and his brother Ivan spent time during the production and post-production of Darkman to iron out a shooting script for what would eventually be known as Army of Darkness. But instead of making another horror picture, Raimi took his series and morphed it once again; this time into an entirely different genre. Now in the realm of “fantasy adventure”, his new film drew it’s inspiration from dozens of cinematic and literary sources. With plot points straight out of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, characters and dialog from Jason and the Argonauts and The Day the Earth Stood Still, and visual gags from his beloved “Three Stooges”, Army of Darkness represented a change in direction more closely suited to Raimi’s filmmaking aptitude.
The creative freedom that Raimi enjoyed during the production of Army of Darkness was quickly cut short during the editing process. Studio interference resulted in various cuts of the film and ultimately an entirely different ending. The film’s final sequence, as it was originally conceived by the Raimi brothers, featured Ash taking a magic potion that would make him sleep until his modern era.
But an improper dosage puts him one hundred years beyond target and when he finally rouses from his hibernation he finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world. This ending, which would have easily lead into an Evil Dead 4, was deemed too downbeat by the studio and Raimi was force to reshoot a new, more optimistic, one.
Both endings can be found on the various “collector’s”, “special”, and “limited” editions that have been released on DVD. Army of Darkness was a surprise to many Evil Dead fans, but most welcomed the change. If it truly is the end of the series, it’s a great way to go out.
Budget: $12,000,000
Total US Gross: $10,526,905
Genre: Fantasy
Runtime: 81 Minutes
US Release Date: 2/19/93
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Awards: none
Tagline: Trapped In Time. Surrounded By Evil. Low On Gas.
Quote: “Sure, I could have stayed in the past. I could have even been king. But in my own way, I am king. Hail to the king, baby.”
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