Stars: Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert, Ian Abercrombie, Bridget Fonda, Ted Raimi

Director: Sam Raimi

Summary: An employee from the Houseware department of a discount store is transported to a medieval castle where he is initially mistaken for the enemy but eventually seen as the person to rid the castle of evil forces.

Following a harrowing night of demonic possession and slapstick antics in EVIL DEAD II, unassuming store clerk Ash (Bruce Campbell) is time-warped into England's Dark Ages, where he must find the Necronomicon, a compendium of the black arts, before he can return home. Fortunately, he has time to romance a beautiful princess (Embeth Davidtz), tune up his chainsaw hand, and battle an army of skeletons led by...himself

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It's hard not to feel there's something wrong when Army of Darkness, the third entry in Sam Raimi's lively Evil Deadseries, opens with a 15 certificate. And indeed, this is not quite the non-stop rollercoaster of splat we're entitled to expect.

Like Evil Dead II, it opens with a digest-cum-remake of the original movie, taking geeky Ash (Bruce Campbell) back out to that cabin in the woods where he is beset by demons who do away with his girlfriend (blink and you'll miss Bridget Fonda). Blasted back in time to 12th century England, Ash finds himself still battling the Deadites and his own ineptitude in a quest to save the day and get back home.

Though it starts zippily, with Campbell's grimly funny clod of a hero commanding the screen, a sort of monotony sets in as magical events pile up. Ash is attacked by Lilliputian versions of himself, one of whom incubates in his stomach and grows out of his shoulder to be his evil twin. After being dismembered and buried, Evil Ash rises from the dead to command a zombie army and at least half the film is a big battle scene in which rotted warriors (nine mouldy extras in masks for every one Harryhausen-style impressive animated skeleton) besiege a cardboard castle. There are lots of action jokes, MAD Magazine-like marginal doodles and a few funny lines, but it lacks the authentic scares of The Evil Deadand the authentic sick comedy of Evil Dead II.

On the DVD:Army of Darknessmay be the least of the trilogy, but Anchor Bay's super two-disc set is worthy of shelving beside their outstanding editions of the earlier films. Disc 1 contains the 81-minute US theatrical version in widescreen or fullscreen, plus the original "Planet of the Apes" ending, the trailer and a making-of featurette. Disc 2 has the 96-minute director's cut, with extra slapstick and a lively, irreverent commentary track from Raimi, Campbell and co-writer Ivan Raimi, plus yet more deleted scenes and some storyboards. The fact that the film exists in so many versions suggests that none of them satisfied everybody, but fans will want every scrap of Armyin this one package. --Kim Newman

Aspect Ratio:	1.66 Wide Screen, 16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	US Theatrical Version Original Ending, Theatrical Trailer, Exclusive Behind The Scenes Featurette, The Men Behind The Army Narrated By Bruce Cambell, Talent Biographies, Directors Cut With 15 Minutes Additional Footage, Audio Commentary With The Director And St
Year:	1993
Release Date:	November 11, 2002
Runtime:	92 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	A B D 4197
Keywords:	Army, Action, Darkness, Dead, Two, Bruce, Evil, General, Campbell, Wide, Screen, Adventure, Discs, Vs
Genre:	Action/Adventure