Night #3: Army of Darkness (1992)
I won't spend too much time on this one. It's a classic, perhaps even more so than the original in the series, with more quotable lines than you can throw a boomstick at.
I remember seeing this in the Harmarville Cinema when I was twelve with my father and best friend, not sure what to make of it. I was a budding horror fan at the time and had yet to develop an appreciation for horror elements mixed with comedy. I didn't get the Harryhausen tribute or the genius of the humor until much later.
In retrospect, what Raimi and Co. deliver with Army of Darkness makes perfect sense given the progression of the series. We get our most assured, quippy Ash. (Seriously, there are so many famous lines most fans have the whole film memorized). Ash, along with his wit and some upgraded weaponry, also gets a host of new Deadite adversaries.
There are even two endings that both hint at a continuation of the series we would never see and still provide a sense of closure for our beleaguered hero, thus paving the way for a reinvention of the series more than twenty years later. And that will be the subject of the fourth and final installment of this celebration, because let's face it: there will always be a Cabin, a Cellar, and a Book with some schmuck to read from it.
Next up: Evil Dead (2013)!
