From the Shelf: Army of Darkness (1993, Sam Raimi)
Acquired: In 1998 from some now-defunct online retailer - part of the first batch of DVDs I ever bought.
Seen before?: A whole bunch of times. Can’t remember the last time, but it’s been a while.
Is there anything as painful as revisiting something you love and finding it’s not as good as you remember? I know the manic ramshackle nature of this is really part of its charm, but Jesus is that first act ever slack. Evil Dead II probably would have had the same issues if it didn’t basically cheat by kickstarting itself with a rehash of its predecessor. Because of this, Army of Darkness can’t really pull the same trick, so it condenses the whole thing into a four-minute prologue, and the cold open does it no favors. Raimi’s the kind of guy who needs a minute or two to settle himself into a comfortable groove before he can effectively cut loose, so the opening act of Army is awkwardly paced in a way I’d never really noticed before this. (Granted, that also likely stems from the film’s notorious editing/studio interference woes.) That said, most of this is still absolutely fucking golden. From roughly the old mill on, this thing is as unstoppable as the granite-jawed bumbler/hero that Ash has grown into. But I’d be lying to myself if I continued to ignore how bloody flawed it is.
Up next: Bergman + Bergman…
