4 out of 5

Director: Sam Raimi

…And we arrive here, some years after Evil Dead, with Raimi on the cusp of being Spider-Man, and the series now fully committed to its style of zany. Did you watch this one first? Possibly. Theres not a number in the title, and save the brief intro at the start – guy goes to cabin with girlfriend, opens portal to evil, banishes evil to the 1300s only to get sucked there himself and is now required to beat off The Army of Darkness (with his chainsaw hand) in order to get back home – save that 5 minute review, whatever, youd be forgiven for skimping out on Evil Dead 1 and 2. But by now, we all know how we got here, and after the blood / comedy mix of 2, Raimi is ready to deliver Evil Dead 3, which casts Ash as one-liner muscle-man and the badguys as incompetent Harryhausen marauders. This is not violent, its not scary, and if it were released nowadays, despite some minor swear-substitutions, could be PG. If you like 3 Stooges, youre in. If youve liked any Raimi-esque / Campbell TV productions – Xena, Brisco County Jr. – youre in. Parody? (…Real parody, like Airplane!…) Youre in. Its a little sloppy here and there, as this was a large scale / small budget production right before CGI became the new kid on the block, but it holds up mostly well and is charming as all get-out. More consistent than #2 in terms of genre, AOD is like an old-style monster movie written by a guy who loves pratfalls. There are better movies, but few shot with the truly original eye of Raimi. The most helpful reviewer on here said not to bother with Evil Dead 1 – perhaps they meant because that movie does actually classify as horror (w/ some black comedy), but since they didnt specify that, they can eat it in hell. Watch all 3 in order to get enjoyment of the full transition from creeps to laughs.