Army of Darkness: Evil Dead III (1993)

In this sequel to the Evil Dead films – The Evil Dead (1981) and Dead By Dawn (1987) – a sarcastic discount-store employee (“Name’s Ash. Housewares”) is time-warped – along with his immense ’73 Oldsmobile – to a medieval castle beset by monstrous forces.

Initially mistaken for an enemy, Ash (Mel Gibson lookalike Bruce Campbell) is soon revealed as the prophecised saviour who can quest for the Necronomicon, a book that can dispel the evil.

Unfortunately, he screws up the magic words while collecting the tome and releases an army of Ray Harryhausen-esque sword-fighting skeletons, led by his own Deadite counterpart.

What follows is a thrilling, yet tongue-in-cheek battle between Ash’s 20th Century tactics – he has his trademark weapons, a chainsaw and a Remington shotgun – and the minions of darkness.

The dumb and tunnel-visioned Ash is admired by a local lovely (Embeth Davidtz) and emerges as a genuinely tough foe when cornered. But all he really wants is to get back to his job selling housewares at S-Mart).

This infinitely quotable second sequel (and final instalment) abandoned its gore-laden roots almost entirely in favour of some truly unforgettable comic scenes.

Ash
Bruce Campbell
Sheila
Embeth Davidtz
Arthur
Marcus Gilbert
Duke Henry
Richard Grove
Gold Tooth
Michael Earl Reid
Linda
Bridget Fonda

Director
Sam Raimi

Video