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I have to admit, when my friend Craig called
me and told me that we had
to go see this movie, I was dubious. Craig is
the one who dragged me to
see American Werewolf in London ("it's
FUNNY!" he said. Well, kinda,
yes. Unfortunately, Jack also scared the
living crap out of me, and I
didn't sleep for THREE NIGHTS. And it was
weeks before I could look in a
mirror calmly...but I digress.)
So anyway, Craig's credibility on this point
was, to put it mildly, not
good...but I didn't have anything else to do
that day, and it was
playing with Groundhog Day, which I did want
to see, so I thought, what
the heck, I can watch it through my fingers
like I did with The Shining
if I have to...and what do you know, Craig
was right. It was way, way
funny.
Now, what you have to know about this movie
is, it's sort of the third
in a series...although really, it's the
second. Bruce Campbell and Sam
Raimi made the first Evil Dead movie in 1982.
This was a straight horror
movie, buncha college kids in a deserted
cabin in the woods, most of
them are killed horribly, saw it once and it
was far too oogie for me to
ever see again.
So five years later, Raimi and Campbell have
more money and decide to
make another movie...but they REMAKE their
first film, Evil Dead, and
improve it. Evil Dead 2: Dead by
Dawn is amazing. It's a really well done
horror film, with all the
usual plot elements and many of the same
actors as the first movie...but
it's got GREAT special effects and, much
rarer in this genre, a sense of
humor.
This one, Army of Darkness, is a true sequel
to Evil Dead 2, and takes
up exactly where the first one lets off: Ash
has just been transported
(with rifle and chainsaw) to medieval
England, where the Deadites are
about to attack the castle...and it gets more
and more outrageous.
Short and funny, way violent, great lines
("Yo, she-bitch! Let's go!"
and "Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun" are
two of my favs), and a
plot line that just won't quit. Oh, and the
magic words will have you
in hysterics on the floor, as well.
One hint: if you haven't seen either of them,
watch this one BEFORE
Evil Dead
2...trust me, it just
works better that way.
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