#ivan raimi

We get a quick recap on what happened in the Evil Dead II but they change vital details like how Ash never shoots and kills a creature in front of all the people in this new land so they immediately take him away as a prisoner. Ash is sent to the pit of no return but the Wiseman gives him his chainsaw hand back and he is able to kick Evil Dead ass. When he escapes the pit, everyone is so impressed/scared they let him live and instruct them! The Wiseman says they need the Necronomicon if Ash wants to have any chance of being sent home. Ash continues to be really good at killing off The Evil Dead and is now being outfitted to quest for the Necronomicon. 

He sees an evil reflection of himself in the mirror so he breaks the mirror to bits, this does not stop the evil reflection, however, it just makes the one big reflection into a bunch of tiny Ash’s that are running around causing a muck. It is very good fun watching the little Ashley’s all scurry here and there and everywhere making tiny faces while big Ash makes his big faces. There is even a Gulliver’s Travels moment where Ash is tied down by all the wee folks but he gets back up again, don’t you worry. Actually, you should worry, because all of a sudden Ash splits into “Bad Ash” and “Good Ash” which is wack on all accounts, the man literally grew a second head and then split off into a separate person who looks like him. WACK. Good Ash subdues Bad Ash, chops him up and buries him. This should be enough to keep the so-called “Bad Ash” at bay (right?)

Then when Ash gets to the Necronomicon he forgets the words he needs to say to safely secure the book so he awakes ancient demons or whatever. Lame! Ash was all flippant about the magic words he needed to say and he got himself and the realm into quite the pickle, and he just wanted to vamoose! The folks at the castle were pretty disappointed by this choice but when a flying Evil Dead monster comes in and swoops up Ashley’s new lady love, Sheila, he has no choice but to spring into action!

Bad Ash comes back from the dead even though he was dismembered and buried as outlined in Evil Dead 2013 which comes directly after this movie but what am I supposed to do, believe in the things the movies tell me? Technically Bad Ash got struck by some lightning which is what brought him back to life (A Frankenstein situation) but still he is a gnarly looking mother fucker right now and I would not want to run into him, Good Ash or no. The Wiseman informs Ash that because he failed to say the proper words while collecting the book of the dead he awoke the Army of the Dead (or the Army of Darkness). Time to gear up for the final battle when all the spooky, scary, skeletons will make their way to the castle and try to get the book back (like a bunch of possessed librarians).

It isn’t long into the battle before Ash breaks out this Mad Max style car that he just starts taking out skelly boys with it left, right, and center. Skeletons are being ripped apart by his souped up car and it is pretty fabulous. The whole battle scene is pretty cool, lots of explosions, lots of skeletons doing silly war things, a whole lot of action too. The Reds come to help out, just like Ash had suggested in the first place! The enemy of your enemy is your friend after all! We met them at the top of the film since Ash was mistaken for an “Evil Red” but the real threat is The Evil Dead! Duh!

Bad Ash who looks nothing like the Ash we have come to love is trying to take down our boy, Good Ash. Ash burns the big baddie but this doesn’t kill him either, it just makes him into a spooky scary skeleton (but burning is also a way to kill The Evil Dead as outlined in Evil Dead 2013). Through sheer will, grit, determination, and a big bag of gunpowder, Ash is able to defeat the big bad! By the end the two feuding powers make friends, no longer are the Reds seen as evil but as equals. Ash is finally going to be sent home, sorry, Sheila, but he has to go work retail! While working said retail an Evil Dead bitch roars her ugly head and Ash takes her down. Ash triumphantly plants a smooch on a babe and the credits roll.