User:Wildroot/Army of Darkness

Production

Development

During location shooting on The Evil Dead in 1979, director Sam Raimi conceived the idea for a sequel where Ash would be tossed through a time portal into the Middle Ages. Titled Evil Dead 2: Army of Darkness, the project entered development through 1983, but "it was too expensive to make at the time," producer Robert Tapert reflected, "so Sam wrote a new version of Evil Dead II that didn’t take place in the Middle Ages." However, Raimi retained the possibility of transporting Ash to the 13th century as the twist ending of the second film.^[1] Producer Dino De Laurentiis, who had retained sequel rights to The Evil Dead franchise, approached Raimi, Tapert, and actor Bruce Campbell to begin developing Army of Darkness^[1] in 1988, after De Laurentiis was impressed by the home video sales of Evil Dead II.^[2] De Laurentiis's planned $11 million budget for the third installment represented a step down from the $16 million budget Raimi received from Universal Pictures for Darkman, but De Laurentiis granted Raimi artistic control. "This is back to the kind of hands-on filmmaking that we grew up with," Raimi explained. "Dino gives us an incredible amount of freedom. That’s why we want to make this picture: we can tell any kind of story we want in as wild a way as we think the audience would like it. Therefore, we’re happier, and maybe the audience that really wants to see something wild is happier, even if it is somewhat smaller." De Laurentiis made a negative pickup deal with Universal Pictures to handle domestic distribution rights for Army of Darkness, then sold the foreign rights at the February 1991 American Film Market.^[1] Raimi, collaborating with his brother Ivan, continued writing the script for Army of Darkness while simultaneously developing Darkman.^[2] They used Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court as a literary model, while the windmill sequence was inspired by the opening chapter of Gulliver's Travels. The Raimis were further influenced by the slapstick humor and storylines of The Three Stooges shorts, primarily Fuelin' Around, Restless Knights , and Squareheads of the Round Table.^[3] Further key references come from The Day the Earth Stood Still, while the skeleton attack on Arthur's castle utilizes Joan of Arc and Jason and the Argonauts as visual models. Ash's weapon of choice, a chainsaw, represents the sword of Excalibur, heightening the Arthurian connection with Army of Darkness. Ash was also written to be a variation of the Charlton Heston image highlighted in films such as Planet of the Apes, The Omega Man, and Soylent Green.^[4] With the surprising success of Darkman in September 1990, Universal Pictures opted to co-finance half of Army of Darkness's $12 million budget, alongside De Laurentiis.^[2]

Filming

Principal photography on Army of Darkness occurred over a period of fifty-five days. Stage work stretched across thirty-seven days, while twenty-seven days were spent on location as a massive castle set. The castle set was built.^[2]

The film shot on location in Acton, California from May 20, 1991 - August 16, 1991.It soon became apparent that the film’s ambitious action was more than could be accomplished on the limited budget and schedule. De Laurentiis was amenable to adding an extra week on location. However, even after extending the schedule and cutting money elsewhere in order to spend it on the climactic battle, Raimi still found himself coming up short. “Certain ideas had to be compromised for the lack of budget,” he said. “Instead of 200 extras on horseback, how about 100 extras and 50 horses?” “When they started shooting the battle, I think Sam realized he wasn’t going to get a lot of the shots that he wanted,” said special effects supervisor William Mesa, who suggested a cost‑saving alternative that allowed the principal action to be completed back on the Introvision stages. “We proposed that we go out there and shoot a series of plates, with all the extras fighting, from various angles. That way, when it came to the battle between the Good and the Evil Ash, in the upper area of the castle, then behind them could be all of this major battle going on, because you couldn’t afford to set up battles just to have close‑ups on actors.” Raimi managed to finish location work by late July and then moved to the Introvision facility for seven weeks to complete the bulk of shooting. In many cases effects shooting is a tedious post‑production process during which the director surrenders much of his control. The Introvision process, on the other hand, was actually part of principal photography, with Raimi directing the actors as if they were on set, the difference being that most of the sets were projected background plates. One sequence pushed so far back that it didn’t get made up, at least not during principal photography, was the “Temple Ruins” scene, wherein Ash was supposed to learn a crucial piece of information from a sorceress, who then mutated into an Evil Dead witch. The scene was to climax with the temple pillars toppling like dominoes, which had been filmed in miniature during pre‑production. “It was a crucial scene,” said production designer Tony Tremblay. “It was a transition from when Ash wasn’t interested in helping these people to when he knows he’s got to help them, whether he’s interested or not.” With no hope of filming live‑action pillars toppling on guards, Tremblay designed a new set, to be rebuilt and redressed from a standing set, in which the expository portion of the scene could be shot during post‑production. The sequence was reconceived as a scene set in a chamber where Ash is sitting on some furs and being fed grapes. There is a battle with a witch but no massive destruction: “We can get away with that,” said Campbell, “because it’s not the climax of the movie, which is where we put all the dough.” Renaissance Pictures’ original plan had been to finish at Introvision and then wrap principal photography with two more weeks on location, shooting prologue and epilogue scenes unrelated to the rest of filming. Instead, the filmmakers opted for a short breather in mid‑September, so that they could put together a rough cut and then regroup in November. “We were going to shoot those final two weeks at the end of our original schedule, but people were a little fried,” recalled Campbell. The delay had the additional benefit of allowing Raimi to pick up any missing inserts and transitional shots revealed by the rough cut. “The scenes needed a smaller crew, and they were completely unrelated to the rest of filming,” said Raimi. “So it made sense to take a break, cut a little bit, and then shoot those scenes. That way, we could make sure we didn’t need to pick up any other sequence as well.” The final two weeks included the film’s conclusion, in which Ash, having adopted a Rip Van Winkle approach for returning to his own time, awakens after sealing himself in a cave for several centuries. Also filmed was a new prologue of Ash’s trip to the fateful cabin, this time with Bridget Fonda as his girlfriend, Linda. During the two‑week pickup shoot, Raimi did manage to add some transitional shots of Ash riding through the forest from one scene to the next, but many scenes remained unfilmed. Raimi went back into the editing room throughout the end of 1991, with the hope of shooting an additional two or three weeks in January. “That was our intention, but we didn’t actually do that,” said Sam Raimi when the additional shooting in January failed to materialize. “We had to cut a lot of things out and…eliminate certain scenes from the picture.” Raimi planned spent January trimming his two‑hour rough cut down to an hour and a half – about ten minutes longer than EVIL DEAD 2. As of February, the plan was to deliver the finished film, with a score by EVIL DEAD 2’s Joe LoDuca, by May, with the hope of getting a big early summer roll-out if the film could secure a PG-13 rating without any re-editing or a late summer release (a la DARKMAN) if it was rated R. Unfortunately, neither release date materialized. Instead, the film fell into distribution limbo when Dino DeLaurentiis initiated a lawsuit against Universal Pictures.^[1]

Visual effects

Sam brought William Mesa, the visual effects supervisor from Darkman. Raimi, Campbell, and Taper took pay cuts to help the visual effects budget. Mesa used stop motion animation utilizing his Introvision process to blend the skeletons, which also included people in skeleton suits.^[2]

Mesa had to serve as cinematographer on some of the battle footage when Bill Pope could not be paid his standard fee over money problems. Tony Gardner, who created the make-up for Darkman, returned to create many of the creatures for Army of Darkness.^[3]

The film features extensive use of the Introvision front projection process, which combines the go-motion skeletons with their live-action counterparts and also provides numerous miniature settings that would have been too expensive to build full-scale.^[5]

a literal army of skeletal “Deadites,” brought to screen life through a combination of animation, mechanics and prosthetics.^[1]

Musical score

When reshoots were complete, Joe LoDuca returned to write the music score. For Ash's battle in the pit with a Deadite monster - Indiana Jones moment. "We considered treating Ash in a certain modernistic way and giving him some kind of Spaghetti Western moment sin terms of music. I think that ultimately , it just didn't fit." A much more convention of a fantasy or adventure score. Having scored the entire trilogy, LoDuca considers Army of Darkness his favorite contribution.^[6]

Editing

As conceived by the brothers Raimi, Army of darkness's climax would have set up a sequel. Instead of returning to his time, Ash "overslept" and awakened in futuristic London, a post apocalyptic world where he would again face Deadites. The climax fit with the idea proffered in Evil Dead 2 that it was Ash's destiny to serve as perpetual opponent of the Deadites throughout time. However, Universal hated the concept, feeling it was "negative."^[3] "They made us change it because of some political issues," Doyle explains. Instead, a more upbeat ending was deemed necessary. The S-Mart sequence was shot one month after principal photography had ended. The new climax involved Ash returning to Housewares, but bringing the Deadite scourge along. Campbell performed much of his own stunts, including the moment when Ash jumps atop a moving cart and blasts Deadites with a rifle. "We put him on a cart and pulled him, with people next to him so he wouldn't fall off," Doyle notes. "We pulled the cart through the shot as he was firing up at the roof." Two months after the film was deemed finish, a round of reshoots began in Santa Monica. These were interior sequences involving Ash's stay in a windmill. Other reshoots occurred in the hills north of Glendale, depicting Ash's tumble into a puddle, as well as scenes with Bridget Fonda.^[3]

Though De Laurentiis afforded Raimi with great control while filming, Universal conflicted. The studio was unhappy with several edits of the film, the ending and other elements. The original opening, which would have dramatized more of Ash's "real" life, was deleted because it slowed down the action. Subsequent cuts, some by Raimi and some by film editors outside of Renaissance, came in variously at 96 minutes, a scant 81 minutes, and the theatrical version that lasted approximately 87 minutes. Basically, everything not related to the central plot, including a sex scene with Campbell and Davidtz, was trimmed. Other deleted scenes included Arthur's funeral scene.^[6]

Release

The Silence of the Lamb's was 1991's most celebrated motion picture, released with both critical and financial success. Universal wanted to continue the franchise, but De Laurentiis owned the rights to the Lecter character, having produced the Michael Mann thriller Manhunter, a prequel Lecter story in book form, Red Dragon. When Raimi needed $3 million to complete Army of Darkness, Universal held up the picture's release. "They were using Army of Darkness as something between a hostage and a bargaining chip." - interview with Fangoria. The matter was finally resolved, paving the way for 200's Lecter adaption Hannibal, co-produced by Universal and De Laurentiis. Darkness was released in February 1993 - would have made a perfect summer movie.^[6]

ARMY OF DARKNESS' release was delayed while the legal wrangling was sorted out. Ultimately, Universal prevailed, earning the rights to produce the sequel to Silence of the Lambs – a right they were unable to exercise for nearly a decade, because it took author Thomas Harris so long to write his next novel, Hannibal, which was filmed and released in 2001. In the meantime, ARMY OF DARKNESS sat on the shelf for nearly another year. During that time, several things happened. In an effort to generate interest in the languishing project, the 96-minute director’s cut was screened at the DeLaurentiis building in Hollywood. Unfortunately, this version is too slowly paced to hold interest for its entire running time. The silly jokes wear thin; the action during the final battle goes on too long; and the ending features an arbitrary twist that serves little purpose besides setting up a hoped-for sequel (which never materialized). With input from Sam Raimi, Universal Pictures cut the film down to an 81-minute running time, which included a brand new (and much improved) ending, wherein Ash is seen back at his old S-Mart job, telling his tale to a skeptical co-worker (played by Raimi himself). Unfortunately, it turns out that Ash has once again forgotten to speak the correct magical words, allowing a Deadite to launch an attack in the store – leading to a brief but exhilarating fight scene that captures much of the exuberance missing from the rest of the film. Despite the changes, the film was not a big success when it opened in February of 1993. ARMY OF DARKNESS earned $11.5-million in North American theatres. In other territories, the 96-minute cut did not fare any better, earning approximately another $9-million.^[1]

October 10, 1992 at the the Sitges Fantasy Fest for world premiere.^[7]

The toy licensing was released by McFarlane Toys.^[8]

Army of Darkness was released in the United States on February 19, 1993, opening at #6 with $4,424,535 in its opening weekend. The film eventually grossed $11,502,976 in domestic totals.^[9] Army of Darkness is the highest-grossing film of the Evil Dead trilogy.^[10]

Won the Saturn Award for Best Horror Film and was nominated for Best Make-Up (K.N.B. EFX Group Inc. and Alterian Inc.)

Reception

Critical response

Adding to audience confusion over the film was its title. Hardcore fans wanted Evil Dead III, or the long-rumored title, Medieval Dead, or even Evil Dead 1300 AD. The film also went through a grueling ratings battle with the MPAA, and emerged in deranged terms, rated a light R. For fans of the unrated predecessors, this represented a shift in the content of The Evil Dead series from horror, to horror laced with comedy, to comedy laced with thrills> "A lot of people who were squeamish and who hadn't even seen the others thought that was fun. But three real hardcore fans were like, 'you sold out,'" Campbell told the San Francisco Examiner. Received mixed reviews.^[4]

Based on 37 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, 73% of the critics enjoyed the film with an average score of 6.9/10.^[11] By comparison, Metacritic calculated an average score of 57/100, based on 18 reviews collected.^[12]

Bruce Campbell’s Ash is a perfect parody of the archetypal mythic hero: a self-centered, loud-mouthed jerk who happens to be good at fighting monsters, as long as he relies on instinct rather than intellect. Too often in movies we are presented with white male heroes who can do no wrong and thus are allowed to act like a law unto themselves as they interfere in situations that have nothing to do with them; therefore, it’s nice to see a film that finally calls bullshit on this concept. You just wish uber he-men like Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger would get a clue.^[1]

Home media

DVD review of Screwhead Edition in September 2009 by Chris Nashawaty. Gave the film a positive review, but criticized the releases.^[13]

Both the 96-minute director’s cut and the 81-minute Universal cut of ARMY OF DARKNESS are available on DVD; in fact, they can be purchased together on the so-called two-disc “Boomstick Edition.” The title is also available on various other editions, most of them including the samebasic set of bonus features (give or take one or two) with different packaging. Perhaps the most distinctive of these is the “Bruce Campbell Vs. Army of Darkness: The Director’s Cut – Official Bootleg Edition,” which –true to its name — simulates the look of a cheap brown paper wrapping, suggesting a booglet copy. This version includes the 96-minute director’s cut, plus several bonus features: an audio commentary; four deleted scenes; a gallery of production artwork; and a feature that allows you to view the film’s extensive storyboards in the lower right-hand corner of the frame while watching the film. The deleted scenes (which feature optional audio commentary) are:

An Alternate Opening Prologue: This features Ash, photographed in closeup against a nebulous black background, suggesting an unidentified limbo. This was meant to tie in with the original ending, which had Ash winding up stranded in the future. The sequence has a bit more of the feel of the previous EVIL DEAD films, but it goes on too long. In the audio commentary, the filmmakers admit they were never sure how much recapping from the previous films was necessary, so they ultimately chose to trim this down.
Ash Confronts Arthur: This snippet was to take place in the middle of the longer sequence in which Arthur’s men find Ash at the beginning of the film and put him in chains. Ash thinks he has come to an understand with Arthur, who has him arrested anyway. “We probably didn’t need it,” according to the audio commentary.
The Original Windmill Sequence: This is a much longer version than seen in either the theatrical cut or the director’s cut. There is lots of waitingwhile light shifts, shadows loom, and gears grind, but the pay off is not worth the build up. After a nifty tracking shot, Ash goes outside (we see some unfinished blue screen shots), finds his horse, and runs back into the mill when he sees an intruder – actually his own refelction in a full-length mirror. Campbell regrets the truncating of this sequence, because it sacrifices logic to speed up the pace: “The shorter a movie gets, the less sense it makes.”
Ash Recruits Henry the Red: Ash talks Henry into joiningforces with Arthur against their common enemies, the Deadites. This would have provided a stronger sense of continuity, so that the last-reel appearance of Henry and his men would not come out of nowhere.

The major cuts and alterations discussed are:

The bloody death of the first ghoul is trimmed down to avoid an X-rating.
The backlit love scene in front of the romantic, roaring fire was removed entirely: “It’s a little too heavy,” says Raimi. “I didn’t mind losing this. It’s too serious for the picture.”
In the director’s cut, Evil Ash’s taunting Ash for beinga “Goody Two Shoes” goes on much longer. Aftera fed-up Ash blasts his evil twin in the face with a shotgun, he says: “I’m not so good.” In the theatrical print, an alternate take was used: “Good, bad – I’m the guy with the gun,” which Raimi admits he prefers.
The director’s cut contains more shots of Ash riding from place to place, giving a sense of geography.
Ash’s speech to rally the troops for battle was cut from the theatrical version, and the montage that followed was trimmed.
The scene of Evil Ash kissing Shielagoes on longer in the director’s cut, and there is more interplay between the two after Sheila turns evil.
According to Bruce Campbell, “About ten minutes of battle was removed to get the 81-minute version.” Raimiadmits that it was hard to argue that nine shots of exploding skeletons were necessary in this sequence, as opposed to four.

Of the director’s cut, Universal “said it’s too long and the ending’s a downer,” according to Raimi. “So we reshot an ending, and they pretty much cut out fifteen minutes – although I did have input on that. I can’t just claim it was them.”
Sam Raimi on the credibility of the supporting cast: “It was not the greates script. We really needed that crediblity, because we were taking our low-budget antics and trying to drop them into a real world, as much as possible.”
As the film moves into its final act, Sam Raimilaments, “Ivan and I have talked about where we went wrong withthepicture. […] We agreed that afterthis point, we lost a lot of the characterof Ash beinga coward. That’s why for us it didn’t work as well. Just battle scenes are empty. What Ivan and I loved was the characterof Ash beinga coward, a blowhard, a braggart, a liar… His character disapperas, and it becomes about cool skeleton battles, like a Ray Harryhausen movie, which we’ve seen Harryhausen do, so it’s not that interesting. We should have put in more pieces of Bruce interacting.”
Bruce Campbell defends the original ending, in which Ash winds up in a devastated future: “It’s appropriate…. It gave a very good lead in to what would or would not become Part 4.”^[1]

References

John Kenneth Muir (2004). The Unseen Force: The Films of Sam Raimi. New York: Applause: Theatre & Cinema Books. ISBN 1-55783-607-8.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Steve Biodrowski (2008-10-15). "Army of Darkness – Review & Retrospective". Cinefantastique. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Muir, pp. 152-155
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Muir, pp. 156-159
^ ^a ^b Muir, pp. 163-170
^ Daniel Cerone (1991-01-13). "Voyage to the Next Dimension". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
^ ^a ^b ^c Muir, pp. 160-162
^ Peter Besas (1992-10-11). "Belgian pic tops Sitges prizes". Variety. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
^ Sarah Baisley (2003-04-30). "McFarlane Toys With Matrix Figures". Animation World Network. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
^ "Army of Darkness". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2010-11-07.
^ "Franchises: Evil Dead". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2010-11-07.
^ "Army of Darkness". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2010-11-07.
^ "Army of Darkness". Metacritic. Retrieved 2010-11-07.
^ Chris Nashawaty (2009-09-09). "Army of Darkness: Screwhead Edition". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2010-11-10.

External links

Official website
Wildroot/Army of Darkness at IMDb
Wildroot/Army of Darkness at AllMovie
Wildroot/Army of Darkness at Rotten Tomatoes
Wildroot/Army of Darkness at Metacritic
Wildroot/Army of Darkness at Box Office Mojo
Add info from The Evil Dead Companion, DVD info, stuff from the actual article, and the fan websites

[retro-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Steve Biodrowski (2008-10-15). "Army of Darkness – Review & Retrospective". Cinefantastique. Retrieved 2010-11-10.

[castle-2] Muir, pp. 152-155

[Stooges-3] Muir, pp. 156-159

[hardcore-4] Muir, pp. 163-170

[5] Daniel Cerone (1991-01-13). "Voyage to the Next Dimension". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-10.

[score-6] Muir, pp. 160-162

[7] Peter Besas (1992-10-11). "Belgian pic tops Sitges prizes". Variety. Retrieved 2010-11-10.

[8] Sarah Baisley (2003-04-30). "McFarlane Toys With Matrix Figures". Animation World Network. Retrieved 2010-11-10.

[9] "Army of Darkness". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2010-11-07.

[10] "Franchises: Evil Dead". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2010-11-07.

[11] "Army of Darkness". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2010-11-07.

[12] "Army of Darkness". Metacritic. Retrieved 2010-11-07.

[13] Chris Nashawaty (2009-09-09). "Army of Darkness: Screwhead Edition". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2010-11-10.

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