Army of Darkness.

Review #2141: Army of Darkness.

Cast: 

Bruce Campbell (Ash Williams / "Evil Ash"), Embeth Davidtz (Sheila), Marcus Gilbert (Lord Arthur), Ian Abercrombie (Wise Man), Richard Grove (Duke Henry the Red), Timothy Patrick Quill (Blacksmith), Michael Earl Reid (Gold Tooth), Bridget Fonda (Linda), Bill Moseley (Deadite captain), Patricia Tallman (Possessed witch), and Ted Raimi (Cowardly warrior/Second supportive villager/Anthony, the S-Mart clerk/Skeleton voices) Directed by Sam Raimi (#611 - Spider-Man, #1296 - The Evil Dead, #1483 - Evil Dead II, #1495 - Darkman, #1695 - Spider-Man 2, and #1779 - Spider-Man 3, and #1840 - Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness)

Review: 

Sure, it is easy to say that the third film of a series just can't compare to the first two films. And you would be right in a variety of those scenarios, even with something as curious as the Evil Dead series, which retained the same director in Sam Raimi and lead presence in Bruce Campbell for each of them that had a sense of evolution from film to film. The gory mayhem of the original film (1981) that was shot for a low budget in a cabin in Tennessee, combined with the efforts of producer Irvin Shapiro, resulted in a cult classic. Six years later, Evil Dead II, basically a "re-quel", came under the hands of Dino De Laurentiis to a cult hit that may or may not be better than the previous film within its comedy-horror aspects. Now, in 1992, here we have a medieval-themed film that actually was proposed and rejected for the second film due to cost. There were various influences that came into the script as done by Sam and Ivan Raimi, such as A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and Jason and the Argonauts. The film was made in a deal that saw De Laurentiis fund the film while Universal Pictures serve as distributor.  This is the kind of film that somehow has more than two versions: the original theatrical cut runs at 81 minutes (those studio yokels actually thought they could get a cut for PG-13 and failed anyway), while Raimi's preferred version, with the original intended ending, runs at 96. Other versions were done to go with International audiences and television viewers that each went 88 minutes. The four-disc Blu-ray I purchased included three of these versions, but I went with the director's cut for the sole reason that edits are no fun. A "re-imagining" feature of the series that shared the name of the original came out in 2013 before a continuation series of the third film came out with Ash vs. Evil Dead in 2015.

Sure, it's easy to say that the first two films shine more than this one when it comes to horror. But so what? I actually found this one to be a pretty good movie on its own goal of injecting action comedy into the mix to make a distinct venture that is quite entertaining. We are talking about a film following the lead of the last one in a lead character who had a chainsaw for a right hand, nothing surprises me here. Why would I be mad that the film goes in its own direction with Ash when it is evident the filmmakers want to go this way? (okay, maybe the theatrical cut might not have been coherently focused but screw the editor). This is basically the Return of the Jedi of the series, are you surprised by this? Of course, it's such a funny time with this oddball lead character that has to run the gamut of growth as a hero even when confronting the horrors of being stuck in the Dark Ages (with Deadites and other odd things, no less). When it comes to quips and goofy humor, I think Campbell handles it with good gusto that is interesting for those who like some slapstick humor. The lines of parody and spectacle are enjoyable in his hands because, well, that is what I am here for, particularly with the little Ashes sequence. Having to do cues and fight beings that would be added in as stop motion is no small feat. The other actors play it mostly to form (you've got some Deadite goofiness, of course), but again, the films are lifted mostly with Campbell up there first. If one is to go out with a bang, going out with stop motion and gusto is ideal. Personally, I'm fine with either ending of the film (after checking the obvious choice of the director's cut, I looked over the other disc for a moment). You either get a darkly amusing punchline or a heroically amusing punchline, it really is up to you. As a whole, the last two Evil Dead films are like sides of the same coin in horror misery that would've made it hard for any follow-up to top, but Army of Darkness, now with the passage of time and the availability of a director's cut, proves that even a third-best effort can still be a really good time anyway.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

This ends Halloween The Week After, Year Five. Over the course of October 1 to today, a grand total of 48 horror films (and one other exception) were covered by Movie Night. It only seemed funny to close November 7th the same way that I ended the first of the Week Afters with an Evil Dead film, much in the same way that a Ring film has been there the last three years. There were a handful of films that just missed the cut for timing or other reasons, such as: I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Return of the Vampire, Trog, The Old Dark House (1963), Color Out of Space, The Student of Prague (1926), The Monster, Quartermass 2, Frankenstein 1970, Misery, Beau is Afraid, The Fog, The Fly II, you get the idea. Next year probably won't be all-out like this year, but one never knows where the Month of Horror takes you. Now then, onto other things.

Night of the Living Dead (1990).

Review #2138: Night of the Living Dead.

Cast: 

Tony Todd (Ben), Patricia Tallman (Barbara Todd), Tom Towles (Harry Cooper), McKee Anderson (Helen Cooper), William Butler (Tom Bitner), Katie Finneran (Judy Rose Larson), Bill Moseley (Johnny Todd), Heather Mazur (Sarah Cooper), and Russell Streiner (Sheriff McClelland) Directed by Tom Savini.

Review: 

If you remember, George A. Romero and John Russo wrote a film called Night of the Living Dead in 1968. Russo was the one who came up with the idea to make a narrative about a runaway that sees aliens harvesting corpses for food in a cemetery that Romero combined with ideas of a flesh-eating ghoul and some stuff "inspired" by Richard Matheson's book I Am Legend (1954). When the original intended title of "Night of the Flesh Eaters" was changed to what you see today, the copyright notice was accidentally removed. The Dead series went two ways: Romero did his first follow-up with Dawn of the Dead in 1978 while Russo wrote a novel called Return of the Living Dead in the late 1970s that got turned into its own film in 1985. Anyway, Romero wanted to make a remake of the film in part because of the worry that someone else might do one first because of the lack of copyrights and such; a five-year battle had been spent in lawsuits with Continental Releasing that saw them get the rights but little money because the company had gone out of business. The fact that he was approached by Menahem Golan of the 21st Century Film Corporation made it all too easy, and he is credited as the sole screenplay writer (as based on the 1968 film by Romero and Russo) alongside executive producer while Russo served as a producer with original producer Russell Streiner. The film was the first (and so far, only) theatrical effort by Tom Savini, who had thought about being the one for effects work for this film but was instead drawn to serve as director (his previous experience in that field was episodes of Tales from the Darkside). Calling it an apparent nightmare where the producers only let less than half of his ideas come through (combined with cuts made to avoid an X rating), the result was a minor flop with audiences. Nine years after the release of this film, Russo came up with his own revised version of the 1968 film and called it the "30th Anniversary Edition" that saw a handful of new scenes to try and give a "more modern pace." 

The movie follows the original for a good deal of its beats, whether that involves the opening sequence of the cemetery that leads to a character dying at the hands of falling onto a gravestone, the confrontation in trying to get a car running with a fiery end, and a character being "another one for the fire." There are a handful of differences, with probably the easiest being the fact that the character of Barbara is given something to actually do in this one after the graveyard sequence. Granted, there were interpretations that called the original some sort of subversive film within 1960s society. Sure. I think that is people just trying to dance around just not saying "oh look, zombie film, what a fun one". The splatter film had its innovators, and Romero is right there at the forefront that made it great exploitation. The remake doesn't exactly improve on anything done, but I was fine with the overall result because its familiarity works to the advantage of being something I like to see rather than just loud noise. Todd asserts a confident presence just as much as one had seen with Duane Jones twenty years prior, even if the conflict between him and Towles is probably more hotheaded than before to moderate results. Tallman fares better because there is more reason portrayed here (look, if you want catatonic, Judith O'Dea did exactly what was to do back then) that gets to go through the wringer with weary timing that gets to handle the climax with useful results. The effects were meant to not be overblown in gore (so as to respect the original), which basically means one gets stuff that was inspired by such events like an autopsy or death camp footage that works about on the level one would hope for 1990. The 88-minute runtime is slightly shorter than the original film that may or may not be as cynical as the original depending on how you interpret the ones who stand in the presence of hunting the undead that didn't get killed in the first days. As a whole, it stands firmly in the middle: it doesn't do anything great with this familiar material, but as a remake that managed to be moderately entertaining (and a cash grab attempt for Romero and company), one can't go wrong here with a decent time here.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Next: Sisters.