Army of Darkness (Collector’s Edition)
Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert
Shout! Factory/Scream Factory
October 27, 2015
Reviewed by Brian M. Sammons
Yes, it’s that movie. The movie that if you like the Evil Dead series at all, you’ve already got in your home library. Probably more than once. So the question is, is it worth getting again? Well ultimately that’s up to you. How big of a fan are you for this movie? How important is it to have the absolute best looking edition available? How much do you love special features? All I can do is tell you about this three-disc, three-version set from Scream Factory. So without further ado, let’s do it, baby.
It’s Army of Darkness. Come on, don’t tell me you don’t know about this movie. What, really? Wow, okay…
Ash from Evil Dead one and two has really done it now, and traveled back in time to ye olden days to help some knights defend their castle against the scourge of the Deadites. To do so, he must retrieve for the good guys the evil book: the Necronomicon. Naturally, since Ash is only good at kicking Deadite butt, he screws it all up and then the titular military force is freed from their graves and soon march on the castle. Can Ash the badass bumbler save the day or is all lost to the Army of Darkness?
So you know the story, and you must also know that this third instalment of the Evil Dead franchise plays things far more for laughs than any small amount of horror. Yes, things are even wackier and zanier here than they were in Evil Dead 2, and that’s saying something. But that over-the-top wackiness really works here and makes this movie a big pile of silly fun. With cool action, some awesome practical effects, and more amazing one-liners than any other movie ever, while AoD isn’t remotely scary, it is a must have for any horror fan. And it is also one of the most re-re-re-re-re-released flicks on DVD and Blu-ray in the history of cinema. Chances are great you already have it, but should you get it again? Well that comes down to the details. So come on Mr. Fancypants and let’s get to them.
As previously mentioned, this new three-disc set from Scream Factory has three different versions of the movie. There’s the theatrical cut, the director’s cut, and the international cut. Each version comes on its own Blu-ray, and each has a more than respectable amount of extras. Disc one, the theatrical cut, has a brand new making of featurette with over 20 interviews that runs an impressive hour and 36 minutes long. It has the original ending, the original opening, and a collection of deleted scenes, with both of the latter with commentary with Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell. The trailer, TV spots, and an old video promo round out the first disc.
The second disc is the director’s cut and it has a commentary track with director Sam Raimi, star Bruce Campbell, and co-writer Ivan Raimi. There is a featurette on creating the deadites, a behind the scenes doc on the special effects masters at KNG Effects, a collection of interview snippets, and a short, vintage making of featurette.
The third disc has a new 4K transfer and…oh did I say there were three versions of this movie in this boxset? Well, I lied, there is four, with the forth one being the television cut which can be found here. The international trailer and a still gallery brings this army of extras and goodies to a close.
So yeah, this new Collector’s Edition of Army of Darkness, is it worth it? Well for me it is. I love this movie to bits, and I’m thrilled with how good all three versions of this movie looks and the ton of extras that can be found here. If you are a huge Army of Darkness fan, than this is the edition for you. So for the Evil Dead super fans, I say get it. And come on, there’s no way they could do another edition of this after this one…right?
