By Stephen Pytak 

     This project had so much potential. Even though 
I've gotten over it somewhat after 10 years, my heart 
still sinks when I think about it.
     This was supposed to be the concluding chapter 
of "The Evil Dead" trilogy. And it had the perfect 
set up.
     The twist ending of "Evil Dead II: Dead by 
Dawn (1987)" left our hero, Ash (Campbell), 
stranded in The Dark Ages with the demons that 
had killed his girlfriend and took his right hand.
     Those last shots were brilliant, thanks to low 
budget filmmaking wizard Sam Raimi, and they 
gave me the impression we were in for something 
really special.
     I was hoping "Evil Dead III" or "The Medieval 
Dead" was going to be the "Ben Hur (1959)" or 
the "Excalibur (1981)" of horror films.
     What we got, as someone from Monty Python 
would say, was something completely different.
     "Army of Darkness" wasn't an "Evil Dead" film. 
There was hardly any real deadite bashing here. 
No blood. No green blood even. And all chainsaw 
mayhem was kept off camera. The most we see Ash 
do here is beat up on skeletons. 
     It was geared up to be an action-adventure-
comedy with some scope. That's not the worst idea, 
but Universal Pictures or whoever was flipping the 
bill didn't give Raimi enough of a budget to film 
this crazy epic. I think Raimi got $12 million. It was 
the biggest budget Raimi had ever worked with at 
the time. But it wasn't enough to create an Army of 
the Dead worth a damn. Raimi ended up with a 
bunch of extras in bad rubber masks.
     What's worse is the theatrical cut was only 81 
minutes long. Universal cut the hell out of Raimi's 
96 minute version. They even made him change 
the ending.
     Here Ash returns to work at S-Mart after his 
adventures in the 13th Century. While pricing 
toasters, he finds the demons have returned to work 
with him. Not the best ending. Not the worst.
     I don't have many good things to say about the 
theatrical cut of this film. I remember I saw it twice 
on the first day it was released because I was in 
shock. I never thought I'd see the day I'd see a bad 
"Evil Dead" film. And I had to make sure I saw the 
damn thing right the first time. Even after I saw it 
the second time I still couldn't believe it.
     Who's to blame?
     The studio, of course. Raimi was in a tight spot. 
He wasn't as lucky as, say, Peter Jackson. Then 
again, Raimi wasn't making "The Lord of the 
Rings."
     Is there anything good about the theatrical cut 
of this crazy film?
     Campbell makes it bearable. He does his best 
with what he has to work with. Gotta give him 
that.
     There's only one other thing I like about this cut. 
Ash delivers one line in this version that didn't make 
it into Raimi's director's cut.  I think it works better.
     When the dead approach the castle, Ash says to 
himself: "Maybe my boys can stop them from 
getting the book. Yeah, and maybe I'm a Chinese 
jet pilot."
     The best version of this film is the director's cut, 
which is available on video thanks to Anchor Bay 
Entertainment.
     The best version of the story, however, is the 
three-part comic book series drawn by John Bolton.