My name is Ash and I am a slave. Close as I can figure
it. The year is thirteen hundred a d. And I'm being a dragon
my death. It wasn't always like this. I had a real life at
once a job hardware all twelve shop Smart Shop Smart. I had a wonderful
girlfriend, Linda. Together we drove to a small cabin in the mountains.
It seems an archaeologist to come to this remote place to translate and study his
latest fine Acranamicon ex mortis, the Book of the Dead. Found in human
flesh and inked in blood, This ancient Sumerian text contained bizarre burial rites,
funerary incantations, and demon resurrection passages. It was never meant for the world
of the living. The book awoke something dark in the woods. It took
Linda, and then it came from me. It got into my hand and
it went back. So I locked it off at the rest, but that
didn't stop it. It came back big time. In nineteen eighty one,
a little heralded independent supernatural horror film about a group of college students camping in
rural Tennessee that find the Necromonicon, otherwise known as the Book of the dead
and unwittingly bring forth demons from al that take their lives. Captivated audience is
However, at the end of that film there was one survivor. That survivor
would go on to star in two additional sequels and a cable television series.
It is the third film of the series that is most known and our subject
for this week's Classic film review. Directed by Sam Raimi, released in nineteen
ninety three, Army of Darkness is the third film in the Evil Dead series.
The film continues directly where nineteen eighty seven's Evil Dead two left off.
Our everyman hero Ash Williams Bruce Campbell, in his career defining role, is
transported through a demonic portal to medieval times. We're in order to get back
home, he must retrieve the Necromonicon, but in doing so unwittingly Unleash's demons
of hell on the land and must help the Kingdom ward them off in a
climactic final battle. Our opening clip was the voiceover that starts this film.
Ash explains the story of the past two films and where he is at now.
Our next clip sets Ash up as an unlikely hero of the Kingdom after
defeating the infamous pit Witch, where he was thrown into a pit to die.
He uses his unknown technology to the people a shotgun lovingly known as his
boomstick, to ward off the Witch and gets the people of the kingdom to
rally behind him and get him home. For that arrogance, I shall see
you dead. Yeah, all right, you primitive screwheads. Listen up.
See this. This is my poodstick, the twelve gage double belled Remington s
Smart's top of the line. You can find this in the sporting goods department.
That's right. This week baby was made in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Retails for about one hundred and nine to ninety five. It set a walnut
stock, cobalt blue steel and a hair trigger. That's right, Shop Smart,
Shop s Smart. You got that now, I swear the next one
of you primates even touches me. Now, let's talk about how I get
back home. It could be argued, and I would even get behind the
argument that the original Evil Dead is one of the greatest cult classics ever.
A great deal of the credit has to go to Campbell and his performance of
Ash. This is because, in a way, like many great movie characters,
Ash can be seen as all of us. We have all been in
positions where situation of possible heroism or the requirement to help have been thrust upon
us, and we have to accept it against our own intuition. That is
Ash in a nutshell. Our next two clips show this. First is a
short clip that has Ash being given specific instructions on what words to say by
the village wizard, the great Ian Abercrombie better known as mister Pitt from the
great TV series seinfeld In. The words are a homage to the original The
Day the Earth Stood Still. Ash proclaims he will remember those words. But
then our next clip shows us that despite Ash's best intentions, he once again,
through his own inability to do things the right way, brings deadites unto
the world, and that is due to his own dim witted nature. This
path will lead you to an unholy place, a cemetery. They're the necronomica
that waits when thou retrievest the book from its cradle. You must recite the
words platu verratackto clatu verrata nto. Okay, well repeat them clatu verrata nickto
again. I got it, I got it. I know your damn words.
All right now, Ash attempts to recite the words when he retrieves the
n acromonicon o. Wait a minute, the words right, right right,
say the words plato, mm hmm, necktie, nectar, nicol, nodle.
It'said word, it's different in word, it's definitely inward, clato,
rada. Okay, then that's it. Hey, wait a minute, everything's
cool, I said, I can't. This film is such a phenomenal array
of genres. It has comedy, This is largely due to Ash and his
many quotable one liners. It has horror, science fiction, fantasy, action,
and even old style special effects that will even warm the heart of the
most hardened cinemaphile. With so many elements of film at play, it's easy
to see why so many, no matter what they are a fan of,
simply adore this film. To this day. This film lives on you.
Hear Ashes quotes regularly. Hail to the King, baby, groovy, you
got really ugly really quick, that was only pillow talk baby, and this
is my boomstick, among many others, are a part of pop culture vernacular
to this day. Campbell is one of the most highly regarded and best beloved
b movie actors of all time, a role he relishes and welcomes at comic
book and film conventions to this day. That is why this film is a
classic. It doesn't take itself too seriously. It doesn't allow itself to get
put into one genre. Forget about talking about awards, box office numbers,
or even critical analysis. If you want a great film that serves anything you're
in the mood for, this is that film that will do that for you.
It is one of the best films to watch, and much like all
the films covered this month, the time of year does not matter. I
hope you join me next week when we conclude our Halloween slate of films,
within my opinion, the greatest slasher film of all time, John Carpenter's Halloween.
To close this week's review and a rarity for classic film reviews, I
want to share the final scene of Army of Darkness and let Ash have the
final word and for you the audience to hear how once again Ash is Ineptness
brings doom to the world. For WMNH and Matt Connorton unleashed, this has
been a classic film review with Eric Culture. I thought about staying they offered
me the chance to lead them, to teach them to be king. Uh
huh, but my place is here, So I swallowed the Jews said the
words, and here I am. Did you say the words right this time?
Well maybe I didn't say every single, tiny little syllable no, but
basically I said him, yeah, basically. You know that story about how
you could have been king. I think it's kind of cute. Yeah,
lady, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to leave the store HOODI
name's that Housewares. I'll swallow your soul, come get some m hm.
Sure I could have stayed in the past, could have even been king,
but in my own way, I am king. Hail to the King, baby m