Few Actors Have Ever Been As Entertaining As Bruce Campbell In Army Of Darkness
Throughout the course of Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead" trilogy, Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) has been through the wringer. As if it wasn't enough to chop off his own arm and attach a chainsaw to it to fight ghastly Deadites, Ash is sucked through a time portal that lands him in the Middle Ages in "Army of Darkness," the delightfully slapstick final installment in the series. Right after Ash flails around the portal with exaggerated despair, the title card flashes BRUCE CAMPBELL vs. ARMY OF DARKNESS — not Ash Williams, but Bruce Campbell, who embodies the boomstick-wielding anti-hero to such perfection, that his name precedes the actual title of the film. In the event of celebrating the 30th anniversary of Raimi's "Army of Darkness" this week, I want to talk about Campbell's defining performance as a badass, wisecracking a-hole who is thrust into becoming a hero without ever craving the mantle.
When one dives deeper into Ash's personality in "The Evil Dead," it becomes clear that part of the reason why the original's ending hits so hard is that Campbell plays Ash with nuanced sensitivity — an empathetic everyman who undergoes unimaginable horrors. Ash becomes more hardened in "Evil Dead 2" because he has to: there is no space for softer emotions as the undead will be sure to use them against you. Keeping this in mind, Campbell's rendition of Ash in "Army of Darkness" is a part of this natural evolution, which devolves into slapstick, campy humor mixed with a brand of physical comedy that demands incredible skill and range. And by god, Campbell delivers, to the point that the film would have completely fallen apart without him making its wild genre-hybridity work. And he absolutely serves while doing so.
Selling the premise
Borderline-campy, highly-improbable moments are peppered throughout Raimi's "Evil Dead" films, which expertly amalgamate lighter, slapstick moments with genuinely terrifying, spine-chilling horror. "Army of Darkness" embraces these campier aspects and turns up the notch to 100; no matter which version of the film you end up watching, there are some unforgettably hilarious moments that add to its appeal. Bruce Campbell's Ash is obviously the heart of the film, frenetically alternating between a heroic slayer of the undead to a goofy idiot who messes up the phrase "Klaatu Barada Nikto" after confidently claiming that he's committed it to memory.
The cemetery scene unfolds in a manner that subverts the expectations one attaches to your standard horror protagonist, especially one who has successfully survived the harrowing events of two installments. After being physically attacked by decoy Necronomicons, Ash zeroes in on the real one and forgets the phrase that is key to this medieval-style quest. In an attempt to find a loophole in his deal, he fakes the incantation by dramatically coughing out the final word. This, of course, brings an army of skeletons to life, who taunt, harass, and drag him across the ground rather disrespectfully, dismantling his heroic status. Rather than coming off as unbearably camp, the sequence is hilariously dumb, thanks to Campbell's incredible ability to pull off ridiculous facial expressions in extreme close-ups.
Raimi, who was heavily inspired by Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court," constructs a premise that should technically derail his setup for the franchise so far. The sheer idea of Ash traveling back in time and being forced to fight a skeleton army while protecting Lord Arthur's men should not work even on paper. But it does, thanks to Campbell's dedication to Ash, who manages to sell an extremely unlikely premise.
Cementing character legacy
Before diving deeper into Bruce Campbell's rendition of Ash, can we talk about how good he looks in "Army of Darkness?" Not to be shallow, but Campbell's evolution as Ash from a pretty boy trying his best to survive, to a devilishly handsome man who won't hesitate to kill, helps trace the character's arc convincingly. In fact, Ash's beefed-up physique is the highlight of the film's poster, which lends to his romantic chemistry with Sheila (Embeth Davidtz), whom he effortlessly woos with corny one-liners like "Give me some sugar, baby." The effectiveness of this line is subverted when Evil Ash abducts Sheila and he uses it on her: what was once sexy is now a source of horror.
Circling back to Campbell's ability to command the screen, one has to talk about the Lilliput Ashes sequence. This particular chunk is fascinating like a fever dream, where Ash has to contend with multiple tiny versions of him who run around torturing him, sticking rakes up his butt, and taunting him with a "London Bridge is falling down" comeback. Campbell owns this sequence with the power of physical comedy, which he seamlessly blends with reactions to disorientingly funny events. The tone shifts quickly and verges on body horror when one of the Ashes dives into his open mouth and protrudes from his shoulder as an eye. What follows is a disentangling, where "good Ash" and " evil Ash" separate — what drives the scene home is Campbell's ultra-cool delivery of "Good. Bad. I'm the guy with the gun," which still remains endlessly quotable.
There are several Campbell-isms in "Army of Darkness" that are purely entertaining, cementing the legacy of Ash as the unconventional, no-nonsense final dude who both excels and fails at being a hero.
Hail to the king, baby
"Shop smart, shop S-Mart," remarks Ash, when he recounts working at the supermarket before being sucked into a time-travel portal. While this line is delivered in the suavest manner possible, Ash repeats this as a threat after he kills a pit Deadite and asserts dominance over the folks who captured him. This version of Ash is menacing and unbearably cocky, someone who is not afraid to brandish his boomstick like it's King Arthur's Excalibur or call an undead "she-b****" mid-fight. He also fights extremely dirty, as he kicks, screams, lops heads, and fires his gun backward over his shoulder without even looking back. For every scene where Ash looks appropriately heroic while beating up skeletons, there is a scene that inverts this heroism and humiliates him by literally making him fall headfirst into mud.
Also, one of the reasons why I prefer the original ending in the Director's Cut over the S-Mart ending in all the other versions is that it perfectly encapsulates the essence of Ash as a knuckleheaded badass. Here, he accidentally messes up the ratio of the potion that is supposed to send him to his timeline, hence he lands in a post-apocalyptic landscape. In truly dramatic fashion, Campbell sells the comic tragedy of the situation by sinking to his knees and shouting "No! I slept too long!" which is a perfect way to conclude a horror trilogy, at least in my book.
Nevertheless, Campbell finishes strong even in the canon ending, where he shoots the undead in a highly-stylized fashion and gets the girl, bringing the trilogy to a feel-good, cheesy finish. From start to finish, Campbell drips with the frenzied charisma of a cult hero, making "Army of Darkness" a truly special, oddball experience. Hail to the king, baby.