NOTE: According to Wikipedia, there are four different versions of Army of Darkness. This review is based on “Bruce Campbell vs. Army of Darkness: The Director’s Cut, Official Bootleg Edition.”

Another Evil Dead flick, another needless recap/retcon of the previous film. The damage this time isn’t so major: The only real casualty is the complete erasure of the last film’s ending from the time rift onward. Not so bad, really, though that last sequence was awesome.

I found the opening of this third movie to be very disappointing. Evil Dead II picked up all the crazy energy from its predecessor from the word go, multiplying it with every scene into a staggering phantasmagoria. After that, the opening to Army of Darkness is just boring. Aside from the brief and relatively minor madness of the pit fight, the opening scenes consisted of one-dimensional characters, cliched dialogue and plot points so old they had holes in them. Additionally, I’m taking points off for the disappearing/reappearing shotgun boomstick and the chainsaw hand that suddenly comes off as easy as Scotch tape when the need arises. Even by this series’ low standards, that is sloppy storytelling.

Also, the love interest kinda bugged me. She hates him, she loves him, he hates her, she slaps him, they both fall in love and have a gratuitous sex scene. I didn’t believe a moment of it and the whole thing seemed out of place in an Evil Dead movie. All the same, I’ll let it slide and I’ll tell you why: Because with the sole exception of Wile E. Coyote, Ash Williams may very well be the unluckiest son of a bitch in cinema history.

This entire franchise seems to be built around finding new ways to make Ash suffer. In three movies — all of which take place back-to-back — Ash has run and fought his way through so many unspeakable supernatural terrors that he could probably walk into hell itself and take the place over in a day (How’s that for a sequel idea?). Ash getting laid by this caricature of a woman is the first — and quite possibly the only — lucky break he’s gotten since this whole mess started. I wouldn’t have the heart to take it away from him, even if I could.

Words can do no justice to how unbelievably badass Ash is throughout this whole movie. He does lose some awesome points for briefly cowering out in the most cliched way possible at the end of the second act and for inexplicably trading his chainsaw arm for a relatively lame metallic hand, but Ash was still the only thing that got me through the opening of this movie. Even when he was chained and unarmed (so to speak), he still carried himself with chutzpah. He goes through the movie with a mixture of cluelessness, desperation and machismo that has been perfectly honed over the course of these three movies. It’s been a thrill to watch Ashley Williams develop from a plain college boy to a proven demonslayer.

In case I haven’t already made it clear, this third movie does get much better after its ho-hum opening. First, there’s a nerdy reference to The Day the Earth Stood Still. Not much, but it’s a start. Then we get one of the franchise’s trademark “swooping camera” chase sequences, now with trees that split open as the camera approaches to increase the sense of danger. We’re warming up. This sequence leads to a night in a windmill, in which our hero is tormented by Lilliputian demon copies of himself in ways that Tom and Jerry would be proud of. Now this is an Evil Dead movie!

Additional horrors ensue with all of the macabre comedy I’ve come to expect from the series. There’s much less gore and bodily mutilations here than usual, though the special effects look better than ever. Then the third act starts and it’s staggering. Ash Williams and his crew of medieval numskulls take on a huge army of undead skeletons. First of all, the creature effects here are easily the best in the whole series. Even by today’s blockbuster standards, it’s not at all shabby. Secondly, it’s a tremendous amount of fun to watch Ash do battle with an entire horde of the undead, utilizing explosives, swords and a little thing called the Deathcoaster (which has an awesome theme song, by the way). Most importantly, the scope of this fight is truly epic. The franchise started with a handful of people in a haunted cabin and it ends with two armies in a massive battle for the fate of the world. Sam Raimi inexplicably brings this whole sortie to breathtaking life on the screen while keeping the low-budget feel that Evil Dead is known and loved for. If Peter Jackson had directed The Lord of the Rings while he was still making films like Meet the Feebles and Dead Alive, I imagine it would’ve looked a lot like this last fight.

The film naturally ends with a cliffhanger, but who’s really surprised? If the improbable happens and a fourth film is made, I’m sure that’ll end on a cliffhanger as well. This is, after all, the story of Ash Williams and there’s absolutely no way that Sam Raimi or Joseph Campbell will ever let him rest in peace.

I had a great time with this trilogy and it’s easy to see why Evil Dead has won the hearts and minds of so many throughout the years. The films are funny, well-made and scary, starring one of the great badasses in modern cinema. Those of you who haven’t seen these movies are truly missing out. I can’t promise it’ll be your cup of tea (especially if you’ve got a weak stomach), but these films are absolutely worth watching.