Wow, you know, I almost forgot how much fun this movie truly is. While preparing to review it... I found myself paying more attention to the television screen than to my notes. Yes, after all was said and done, I had watched Army of Darkness three times in a row, with absolutely no regrets. If you're a fan at all of this movie, you've probably noticed that Anchor Bay has released approximately five or six editions of this film (including both the theatrical version and the director's cut, which is the better of the two in my opinion). To say the least, Army of Darkness is a very ambitious film and is one hell of a ride (especially for those who are watching it for the first time).

The film starts out with Ash as a prisoner, simply because he ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time (and by wrong time, I mean about 1300 A.D.). And if you notice, the recap at the start of this film is slightly rewritten. It covers Evil Dead II in about four minutes or so (with Bridget Fonda playing Linda). However, several of the scenes were reshot, one of which shows Ash reciting passages of the Necrinomicon which opens the rift in time. In any case, Ash is now in medieval England and a prisoner of Lord Arthur (a nod to King Arthur perhaps?), who believes that Ash is one of Duke Henry's men.

Eventually Ash, Duke Henry, and several other captive soldiers are brought to Camelot... err... I mean Arthur's castle. Said captives are then sentenced to be thrown into "the pit." The first guy that's tossed in becomes a veritable geyser of blood. This shakes up another of Henry's men, who tries to escape, only to get an arrow to the back. So who's next in line? Well Ash of course! Though he pleads for his life and declares that he doesn't even know Duke Henry, Ash is sent reeling into the pit (thanks to a stone thrown by Sheila, and one pushy knight). Within the pit, Ash encounters two Deadites. Things look bleak until the local wiseman tosses Ash's trusty chainsaw into the pit.

Now armed, Ash easily fends off the Deadites and escapes from the pit. Once out, Ash hits Lord Arthur (I can't believe Arthur fell for that "your shoes are untied" line). Then Ash, with the use of his trusty "boomstick," quickly becomes the alpha male in the castle. In Arthur's throne room (no not the bathroom!), Ash is enjoying some good food and wine. Sheila enters and tries to apologize to Ash, who acts like a complete jerk to her. And on that note, Ash is pretty much the biggest anti-hero I've ever seen. He's a liar, he's a braggart, and sometimes a coward, but when it comes to fighting evil, he seems to be the man for the job! I think that gives his character more depth but apparently some people don't think so. I've actually heard complaints about this movie, because and I quote, "It was hard to root for Ash because he was a complete jerk." Well I have no problem cheering on a jerk at all. Had I been in Ash's shoes, I think I would've been a bit abrasive myself, especially after fighting for my life, killing possessed loved ones, and being sucked back in time.

Moving on then, Ash is told by the local wiseman that he can be sent back to his own time. All the wiseman needs is the Necrinomicon. Ash begins complaining about getting the book, but is interrupted by a possessed wench. Said wench floats in the air and tells Ash that he "will never obtain the Necrinomicon." She drops to the floor in an unmoving heap and Arthur goes to investigate. Ash quickly stops Arthur and before they can do anything, the wench explodes into action and begins taking on all comers. Ash, now a seasoned veteran at fighting evil, soundly defeats the evil wench with a few roundhouse kicks and some bullets. This attack helps convince Ash to quest for the Book of the Dead, but first, he builds himself a robotic hand! How does

That night, Sheila pays a visit to Ash and gives him a cape as a gift. And what does that suave ladies man say? "Thanks, I could use a good horse blanket." Hahahahaha. Sheila smacks Ash in the face and stomps away, but Ash grabs her quickly and kisses her firmly on the lips. This then leads to a short love scene (and no there isn't any nudity). The next morning, Ash rides off towards an unholy graveyard to retrieve the Necrinomicon. He doesn't go too far to find trouble though. That pesky invisible Force that has been around since the first Evil Dead begins chasing Ash. After falling off his horse and running for his life, Ash comes upon a derelict windmill. He rushes inside and throws his weight against the door as the Force continuously crashes against it. When it seems that the door is about to give, Ash is relieved to find that the Force has stopped its assault. Soon afterwards, it's nighttime and Ash is warming himself by a fire.

He turns around and sees someone standing nearby and charges. It turns out that it was just his own reflection in a mirror (where the hell did that mirror come from?!). Satisfied, Ash walks away and never notices the army of mini Ash's that hop out of the mirror shards. Soon the little demons begin tormenting Ash, who takes out a few of the mini clones. After some Three Stooge-ish antics, Ash gets knocked out. He awakens some time later and finds himself tied to the floor (kind of like Sam Raimi's twisted version of Gulliver's Travels) and is forced to swallow a mini Ash. After eating that tiny bugger, Ash gets up from his bonds and tries the bulemic approach to rid himself of his unwanted guest. That doesn't work so Ash drinks some boiling hot water to scorch the mini Ash inside.

As Ash revels in the pain he has wrought, he starts scratching an annoying itch on his shoulder. This signals the cloning of our hero, resulting in ... Evil Ash! After some hijinks with his Siamese twin, the two break apart. The Evil clone beats up on Ash a bit (calling poor Ash a "goody two shoes" the whole time). Ash gets fed up and blasts his abusive twin in the face with his shotgun. This scene featured one of my favorite one liners of this film ("Good. Bad. I'm the guy with the gun."). Notice that I said featured, because in the Director's Cut, Ash says a different line ("I ain't so good.") which isn't nearly as catchy. After getting a load of buckshot to the face, Evil Ash is dismembered with a chainsaw and buried (but not before he promises to come back for revenge). Having disposed of his evil twin, Ash rides onwards to claim the Necrinomicon.

Once there, Ash discovers three books, two of which turn out to be booby trapped. The first book is actually a miniature black hole that Ash narrowly escapes (it manages to make his chin even bigger too! Hahaha!). The second book turns out to be alive and vicious as well. Ash fights off the killer book and realizes that the third book must be the real one. As he's about to grab it, Ash realizes he has to say a magic phrase before taking the book. He starts off ok, but forgets the last part of the phrase (said phrase is "Klaatu barada nikto!" which was originally said in 1951's The Day the Earth Stood Still). Ash decides that if he mumbles the last part, all will be well with the world. So he says the first two words and coughs to cover up the third. Thinking all is said and done, Ash takes the book, resulting in the awakening of Evil Ash and an undead army.

Ash arrives back at Arthur's castle and reveals that he's messed up. Despite the fact that he's put all of these people in grave danger, Ash wants to get back home. Even Sheila can't seem to change his mind and is crushed that her hero/lover is such a coward. Suddenly, a winged Deadite flies into the castle's courtyard and snatches Sheila. From this point on, Ash changes completely from a somewhat cowardly braggart to a hero that everyone can rely on. As Ash, Arthur, and the remaining men at the castle make preparations to a great musical score, Evil Ash has literally dug up an army of skeletal warriors.

By now the movie's pretty much reached its climax. The undead army arrives at the castle and a huge battle ensues with the advantage being with Ash and his companions. Though the Ash has the technology (e.g. steam powered car of death and gunpowder), Evil Ash has the numbers. Soon the undead army pushes its way into the castle and things look grim for its defenders. Ash manages to keep his evil counterpart from obtaining the Necrinomicon, until demonically possessed Sheila jumps into the fray. She tries to kill Ash but he turns the tables and sends her falling to her (supposed) death. Things continue to look bleak, but the tide quickly changes once Duke Henry arrives with a large army of men on horseback. (In a deleted scene, Ash actually goes to seek Duke Henry's aid on his own.) As they clean up the remaining skeleton army, Ash has his final confrontation with his evil, rotting doppleganger. With some luck and some very quick thinking, Ash retrieves the Necrinomicon and Evil Ash becomes a 4th of July party favor!

The Deadites have now been defeated, Lord Arthur and Duke Henry have joined together to form one kingdom, Sheila is alive and well, and Ash is going to return to his own time. Now at this point, depending on which version you're watching, one of two things will happen. In the theatrical version's ending, Ash does indeed return to his own time but due to some flubbed incantations the Deadites have followed him back. The last scene involves Ash battling a possessed shopper at (Shop Smart) S-Mart (which is actually a K-Mart). Then there's the original ending, or as I like to call it, the "Rip Van Winkle Ending." Ash is to take six drops of a magic potion. Each drop will cause him to sleep a full century (without Ash aging much at all in the process). Ash ends up taking seven drops and awakens to find the ruins of (a seemingly) post-apocalyptic London, England. Though this ending is quite bleak, I think its a superb way to end the adventures of Ash.

Army of Darkness is probably the best looking of the Evil Dead films, in respects to the costuming, special effects, and the shooting locations. And though it isn't scary at all (at least not to me), it's tons of fun to watch. I mean, how can you not giggle when a skeleton screams in terror, just before it gets smashed or blown up?! Also, the music in the movie was great! Danny Elfman did a wonderful job (as usual) scoring the "March of the Dead" and Joseph LoDuca's music was superb as well. As you can see, I pretty much don't have any major complaints about this movie at all (I can look past the all the bad continuity) except for one thing. Why isn't there one definitive version of Army of Darkness?!

Couldn't a little extra footage be shot so that BOTH endings are somehow integrated? For example, let's say the original ending was just a dream sequence or better yet, a daydream Ash was having while working at S-Mart, just before he battles the demonic she bitch. They could've even gone the opposite way whereas the S-Mart ending was a dream that Ash was having before he woke up far too late in the future! While this remains as my only major gripe with the film, I'm quite thankful that both versions are included with the latest DVD release from Anchor Bay (The Boomstick Edition, which is available at both Amazon.com and Movies Unlimited.com). Basically the Boomstick Edition is a re-release of the Limited Edition Director's Cut that came out a few years back with different box art. In closing, if you haven't seen either version of Army of Darkness, that surely must be remedied. Go out and rent it or buy it now, and be sure to show it as many people as you can.