YMMV / Army of Darkness

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • An easy interpretation of Ash's character is that he is an idiot or a fool as evidenced by him constantly getting the words wrong and generally engaging in foolhardy behavior cloaked in a veneer of badass. Various comments by Sam Rami back this up, especially with the original ending where Ash screws up again and wakes up in the far future. However an alternate interpretation is that Ash is able to be hyper competent, but prone to laziness and generally doesn't care. This is illustrated by the various science text books in the trunk of the Delta 88 and his ability to construct a prosthetic hand, modify the aforementioned Delta 88 into a war wagon and lead King Arthur's men to victory. Most of his mistakes can then be attributed to his desire to get home with the minimum amount of effort. The revised ending gives weight to this interpretation as Ash goes back to his boring old job, but is still ready to kick ass when the chips are down.
  • While promoting the film Bruce Campbell said in an interview that Ash had one or more advanced degrees, but took the job at S-Mart because it was the only place he felt loved.
  • Ash's use of Deadpan Snarker is a coping mechanism to deal with the insanity around him.
• Awesome Music:
  • Series regular Joseph LoDuca returns to score the movie and thanks to the higher production budget, manages to compose arguably the most epic Evil Dead score of them all. The construction of the deathcoster is a testament to how much bigger the music is here.
  • March of the Dead, a perfect fist pumping piece for entering a battle courtesy of one Mr. Danny Elfman.
• Badass Decay: In the first two films, the Deadites require complete dismemberment to put down. Here, a few shotgun blasts is all it takes.
• Broken Base:
  • Which of the two endings is better?
  • Which cut of the film was better is its own debate:
    • The Theatrical Cut: Many dislike it for being overtly cut down from Raimi’s original vision, but is also loved by others for having a perfect pace to it with some much needed tight editing.
    • The Director’s Cut: Some claim it to be the superior cut for being the most complete and faithful version of the film, whereas others dislike it for some editing issues ^note  No music is present in the Little Ash scene at all and certain scenes drag on for much longer than necessary and slowed the movie down and the Downer Ending which made Ash’s struggles All for Nothing.
    • Some fans split the difference by accepting both endings, that Ash does end up in the future but is eventually able to return to S-mart in the present day. In the S-mart ending we see the whole story is being told by Ash to his co-worker explaining all the inconsistencies in the series. The Evil Dead TV series has Ash back in the present day but eventually ending up in a post-apocalyptic future.
    • The International Cut: It has its supporters who see it as a much faster paced movie compared to either cut of the film, but it also has its detractors who dislike it for some baffling editing decisions. ^note  the Little Ash scene is somehow cut down even more than in its Theatrical counterpart, and there’s times where certain actions aren’t explained or shown beforehand
    • The Television Cut: By virtue of being released for television, it’s been disowned by many for censoring certain words and violent scenes. On the other hand, it has its defenders that like it for having two extra scenes not featured in either cut. One expands on Ash threatening King Arthur with his own sword before he was imprisoned, whereas the other explains yet another editing mistake. ^note  It shows why Ash smashed the mirror spawning the Little Ashes to begin with
    • In the end, this has lead to a Fan Edit known as the Primitive Screwhead Edition which brings every cut of the movie together, bringing the best of both worlds.
• Complete Monster: See here (includes the comic).
• Critical Dissonance: Downplayed. Many critics still enjoyed it, but weren't as kind to this film as the first two, both of which scored over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. Fans love it.
• Contested Sequel: Definitely way more quotable and memorable than the original Evil Dead, but whether or not this is better than Evil Dead 2 is the subject of much debate. Downplayed, since both are beloved by the fandom.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Scantily-clad women? Hot. Being led in chains by undead while Evil Ash forces himself on Sheila in the background? Disturbing. A skeleton hustling them out of frame with the declaration "We've got plans for you, girly-girl!"? Funny.
• Cult Classic: A mainstream flop that (perhaps even more than its predecessors) allowed for the creation of comic books, video games, a major film remake, and a spinoff TV series. This film was instrumental in cementing Ash as a wise-cracking, slapstick blowhard who never-the-less kicks butt in later incarnations.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: People tend to like the blacksmith and the Wise man for their competence and helpfulness. It's likely one of the reasons The Blacksmith was eventually added as a DLC character in the game.
• Evil Is Cool: Evil Ash after he stops goofing around.
• Fountain of Memes: It seems that everything that comes out of Bruce Campbell's mouth has undergone Memetic Mutation. Except for maybe those grape seeds.
• Harsher in Hindsight: When Ash is trying to remember the magic words and gets stuck on "nikto," he starts muttering, "It's definitely an n-word!" Since the film's release, the term "n-word" has now become widely used as a euphemism for the infamous racial slur, making this scene a little awkward for reasons entirely unrelated to the original joke.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Bad Ash performs a battle cry similar to a certain warrior princess. Even funnier when you consider "The Quest." Lucy Lawless was among those who were horrified by The Evil Dead, and, according to The Evil Dead Companion, wondered what kind of people could make such a movie. Not only would she end up working with them, since Raimi and co. created Hercules and Xena, she'd go on to marry one of them, executive producer Robert Tapert. And then she had a role in Ash vs. Evil Dead.
  • Bruce Campbell voiced a primitive screw-head in My Life as a Teenage Robot.
  • Ash's iconic "Hail to the king, baby" comment, considering that he went to play the man widely regarded as "The King" in Bubba Ho Tep.
• Parody Displacement: "Klaatu Barada Nikto" is sometimes associated more with this film than it is with The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951).
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • The Wiseman is played by Ian Abercrombie, the future voice of Chancellor Palpatine. Or if you prefer, Mr. Pitt.
  • Though you probably wouldn't recognize her, Patricia Tallman plays the Possessed Witch. Tallman had already starred in Night of the Living Dead (1990) but would still largely go under the radar as a stunt performer until her main cast role as Lyta Alexander in Babylon 5.
• Sequel Displacement: The first two movies were certainly beloved by horror fans, but they also featured a lot of Gorn (making it hard for them to be rerun on basic cable) and suffered from poorer home video releases (until Blu-ray at least). By contrast, this movie could easily be aired with minimal edits and was readily available on home video (due to being produced by a major studio). Also, it's this movie that fully established the characterization so many associate with Ash, and it features the franchise's most quoted lines.
• Signature Line: So, so many. Duke Nukem has managed to nick some of them for himself, much to Bruce Campbell's displeasure.
  • "This is my BOOMSTICK!"
  • "Yo, she-bitch! Let's go."
  • "Good. Bad. I'm the guy with the gun."
  • "Gimme some sugar, baby."
  • "Groovy."
  • "Name's Ash. Housewares."
  • "Honey, you got real ugly!"
  • "Come get some."
  • "Hail to the king, baby!"
  • "Lady, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to leave the store."
  • "Shop smart, shop S-Mart!"
  • "Oh god, I slept too long!"
• Signature Scene:
  • Ash introducing his boomstick to the knights, gifting the franchise one of its most iconic lines.
  • Ash and the knights battling the army of darkness, due to the wacky hijinks that ensue and some of the memorable quotes within the battle itself.
  • Both of the endings count. However, the theatrical ending is generally more well-known due to the heroics displayed by Ash, and the Signature Line that follows.
• Special Effects Failure: Part of the film's charm is its very low-budget effects.
  • The green screening during the "Tiny Ash" attack is pretty unconvincing, particularly the shot of the two Ashes pushing the real Ash's nostrils closed.
  • The skeleton puppets couldn't possibly look more like puppets. Some are obviously flung at Ash from just offscreen in one sequence.
  • The undead soldiers who are portrayed by human actors in zombie/skeleton suits, you can see the faces of some of the extras beneath the skeleton masks, so their eyes are visible within the "empty" eye sockets and their noses poke out from underneath the nostril holes.

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