Army of Darkness is the campiest and zaniest installment in the original Evil Dead trilogy, spotlighting Ashleigh “Ash” J. Williams (Bruce Campbell) as he hams it up and saws ‘em down in a world of theatrical old English, chain-link armor, and the same evil that’s plagued him twice before. After fighting the evil forces of an ancient book called the Necronomicon—the Book of the Dead in English—in both The Evil Dead and Evil Dead II, Ash gets thrown into a 1300 A.D. battle charged by legendary British monarch, King Arthur (Marcus Gilbert). Getting confused for one of Lord Arthur’s enemies, Ash gets captured and sentenced to death via a pit of unknown brutality. However, a prophecy-believing Wise Man (Ian Abercrombie) insists that Ash is the foretold leader of Arthur’s people against the Necronomicon’s madness. The Wise Man throws Ash his chainsaw and “boom stick” (shotgun) to easily slaughter the pit’s savage source—a corrupted soul called a Deadite—convincing Arthur and the walled village of the prophecy’s truth. With help from Arthur’s army and a woman, Sheila (Embeth Davidtz), whose brother died in battle, Ash faces his now old-time foe one more time in his most self-deprecating, unserious form yet—for better or worse.

For those familiar with director-co-writer Sam Raimi’s film work (and particularly his trilogies), Army of Darkness feels like to Evil Dead what Spider-Man 3 feels like to the Tobey Maguire-led Spider-Man trilogy: cornier, less intense, and generally sillier than the others, Army of Darkness is by and far the weakest of this 1980s-’90s horror-comedy trio. That’s not to call Army a mediocre film, though, or even as weak as Spider-Man 3 by any means. Army of Darkness is funny, scary when it needs to be, and—at least for fans of the first two—deservingly corny, as if Ash is coping with his seemingly endless fight against the world’s fate. Even so, Army can’t help but feel like it’s lost the Evil of its Dead soul; Sam Raimi’s style—shaky, crash-zoomed action, mesmerizing set pieces matched with colorfully hellish CGI and makeup, and an all-encompassing sense of dread—bleeds through in what is otherwise a thin fantasy comedy.

None of the characters evolve; dynamics, aside from that of Lord Arthur and his human enemies, scarcely build tension. Army’s narrative has little value, or any real Darkness, beyond watching Ash be an idiot regardless of circumstance—”Groovy,” he says every fifteen minutes; “Ugh god,” he mutters to himself as skeleton hands wrap him only to pick his nose and goofily contort his face. Heart-filled moments splatter this medieval adventure here and there, but for the most part, gags, gore, and Campbell are the only elements keeping Army moving. Ivan Raimi, Army of Darkness co-writer and Sam Raimi’s PhD-holding older brother, is credited by the director for most of the film’s comedy. Unfortunately, it goes now without saying—even though the trilogy has an intriguing tonal evolution, transforming from The Evil Dead’s pure horror and Evil Dead II’s horror-comedy balance to Army of Darkness’s hilarious rush with chilling undertones—that more fright is needed for the wicked to feel morose, or at least threatening.

That being said, Army of Darkness has just enough laughs, Bruce Campbell-led satirization, engulfing world-building and visual palettes, consistently fun delivery, and vague beats of righteousness over villainy—especially with the villain being a clone of Ash called Evil Ash (Campbell)—to pass. For Evil Dead fans, Raimi-Campbell fans, ’80s thriller fantasy thriller fans, and those looking for barebones, medieval delight, Army of Darkness is an undeniably enjoyable ride. It’s just unrefined and way less frightening than the rest of Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead trilogy.

Screens Wednesday, 1/21, 7:00 p.m. @ Kendall Square Cinema
Part of the month-long series: Filmmaker Focus: Stanley Kubrick & Sam Raimi