Army of Darkness: Screwhead Edition – Blu-ray Review

The Film:

Army of Darkness was my first film seeing Bruce Campbell on the big screen. The B-movie hero doesn’t appear to many times on the silver screen, but after my uncle exposed me to the Evil Dead series, my anticipation was high on seeing what is essentially Evil Dead III. To me, the film delivered, and in hindsight, and this might be controversial, it isn’t a good film per se, but it remains a fan favorite for one simple reason: Bruce Campbell.

The Chin rules, and Army of Darkness is the definitive Bruce Campbell performance, even though he was better in Bubba Ho-Tep (obviously) and in Burn Notice. It’s the tour de force performance that we get occasionally, and it’s so outrageous, that only a ham like Campbell could pull off. Having worked with Sam Raimi before, and while Evil Dead II created the star of Bruce Campbell, it’s the gung-ho, wild, bonkers Three Stooges one-man show, that iced the cake for The Chin to be a star. Raimi gives Bruce plenty of hero shots, from low angles, to the thrilling climax. The film is a bit clumsy in its storytelling, but again, Bruce saves it. Without him, the film would have been one of those odd, sort of fun film you’d forget. Instead, it’s one of the most released DVDs of all-time.

As if Bruce does not shine enough in the anti-hero role of Ash, he doubles, or triples the role in Evil Ash, as well as the mini-Ash’s. Evil Ash is a fun villain. He’s just as bubbling as Ash, but Bruce revels in the duality of the good side and bad side of the Ash character. Once again, Army of Darkness is Bruce’s show, and he never for a second disappoints. He’s funny, and for a brief time, a solid action star. It’s a shame studios never saw what we did in this film, and what Raimi saw too in casting him. Sure, they’re friends in real life, but Raimi is a goof, and Bruce visualizes the goofiness of Raimi. Good. Bad. I’m the guy with the gun. We all love Bruce, and this is his finest effort.

Back when Army of Darkness hit VHS, I remember renting it and I invited my buddy over to watch it. I don’t know if we watched it or worshiped it. We watched it three times back-to-back-to-back, reciting every one-liner, every scare, laughing and hollering. I was just in junior high, but this was such a great movie to me. I think, even though now it’s pretty campy (part of its charm), scenes like the Pit, where we see a geyser of blood, the hero shot of Ash reclaiming his famous chainsaw, and the Pit Witch, remain a lot of fun still. The whole graveyard sequence with the flying Necronomicons and of course, the Mill scenes are just a blast, and one of the key reasons we as fans have re-watched it so many times. The film is not a lick of scary, but it’s a blast from start to finish. Clatto Verata N… Necktie… Neckturn… Nickel… It’s an “N” word, it’s definitely an “N” word! Clatto… Verata… N- [coughs] There’s just one final question you have to ask yourselves: how many times have you watched Army of Darkness? I’m nearing the 100,000 mark.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: Like most of you, I imagine you’ve owned Army of Darkness a few times on VHS and DVD. So the big question is if this new Universal Blu-ray is worth the upgrade. Well, at least in the visual department, the high def transfer is noticeably improved. It’s not awe-inspiring, but the age and the low budget nature stalls it from being a superb transfer. But don’t yet that deter you either. Details are high, contrast is sharp, and colors are accurately reproduced. Don’t let the opening Evil Dead II recap worry you, all in all, this is best the film has looked on home video.

The DTS track is decent too. Full, bass heavy, and some good directional activity. This is the biggest improvement over the countless DVD incarnations.

Creating the Deadites: This all-new featurette shot in 1080i, runs about 20 minutes and it a loving look at KNB Effects who did the creature effects for the film. Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger are always good sports in talking about their work, and you can see the passion in their voice for what they do. They interviews are new, and they show some old behind-the-scenes work too. Fans should dig this.

Alternative Ending: Sadly, in 480p, but this was an interesting deleted ending idea. Fans have seen this before, but it’s a nice inclusion.

The fun Trailer and Universal’s U-Control feature round out the extras.

Conclusion: So do you need another Army of Darkness disc? Up to you, but I was pleased with its first Blu-ray release. This would have been a prime time for an end-all-be-all edition, so fans wanting more extras will be disappointed.

The Film: Rating:

The Blu-ray: Rating: