Raimifest #3: Army of Darkness (1992)

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Army of Darkness title screen “They’re small films with a small and twisted group of people that like them.” — Sam Raimi

Army of Darkness “Humor is just another defense against the universe.” — Mel Brooks

Army of Darkness “Sanity calms, but madness is more interesting.” — John Russell

Army of Darkness “…when it came time to shoot, the rigors of running up and down steps, fighting with both hands, and flipping skeletons over my head was too much to pull off without cuts. After ten takes, I knew Sam was pissed off, because he yanked the bullhorn from John Cameron.

“‘Okay, obviously, this is not working, and it’s not going to work, so we’re going to break it up into a thousand little pieces.

“When Sam gets upset, he lets you know it, and he’ll torture you for days afterward because he’s one of those guys who never forgets. The first ‘little piece’ of the sequence was a shot of me ducking as a sword glances off the stone wall behind me.

“‘So, you think you can do this, Bruce?’ he’d say, loud enough for the entire crew to hear. ‘Or should I break this one shot into three more shots?'” — Bruce Campbell, If Chins Could Kill

Army of Darkness “I had originally written a story for Evil Dead 2 that took place in the middle ages, but when it came time to make Evil Dead 2, we realize there was no way to make a period piece for $3.2 million. So we put the medieval story on hold and decided to tell another story that took place back in the cabin. That’s why Evil Dead 2 was set where it was: we couldn’t afford anything else.

“With Army of Darkness, we finally got the money to tell the medieval story; Dino [DeLaurentiis] sold the American rights to Universal and sold off the foreign rights territory by territory. … Dino and I had a very good relationship on Evil Dead 2.” — Sam Raimi


Army of Darkness “I like guys who are understandable and good guys who are flawed.” — George A. Romero

8 comments

  1. This is THEE movie that started me down the long and treacherous path of bad movies. Army of Darkness has everything I love in movies…action, one-liners, general silliness, more action. I love it.

  2. I first saw the movie because I had embarrassed myself in front of a fellow student. Oh yes, I was a HUGE newbie once. I had seen a horror movie montage on TV back in the mid 1990s, and they paired something from “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” with the “Honey, you got REAL ugly” line in AoD. But I didn’t realize the “ugly” line was from AoD, and asked out loud if “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” was a comedy.

    After everyone stopped laughing and explained it to me, I quietly went out and rented AoD. The rest is history.

  3. This film has an insane number of quotable lines and if EVIL DEAD II hadn’t cemented Bruce Campbell has cult film icon then this film surely did it. I really like the screengrabs you used.

  4. Wonderful article! I just finished watching “AoD” and found your slected quotations enlightening.

    If I’m thankful of “Raimifest” for one reason, beyond the sheer pleasure of watching many fun films in short order, it’s that I’ve been introduced to your blog as a consequence.

    You’ve got a good thing going here.

  5. Thanks JD! I agree that this is the film that made Bruce Campbell the king of B movies. Not only had his acting greatly improved, but he was unbearably handsome and showed a really surprising gift for comedy.

    Thanks to you as well, Stuart! I confess I was not 100% happy with these quotes, but it was difficult to find anything substantial in interviews about AoD. Most interviewers ask about ED or EDII rather than AoD.

  6. I should be banned from visiting your fine blog as I have been watching “Carry On” movies all week.

    Voluntarily, I might add.

  7. I just came across your blog and s soon as I saw this entry, I knew I had to follow! BEST So-BAD-IT’S-GOOD MOVIE EVER (aside from Westworld)! The screencaps you chose are brilliant!

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