Summary
Army of DarknessVFX supervisor William Mesa explains how theEvil Deadsequel made its undead army. Marking the third installment in Raimi’s cult horror franchise,Army of Darknesswas released in 1992, following Bruce Campbell’s Ash as he is transported back to 1300 A.D. where he must battle evil forces once more in order to retrieve the Necronomicon and return home. The film, even more so than its predecessors, features a great number of visual effects-driven sequences, especially since an army of skeletal monsters plays a large role in the story.
During a recent appearance onCorridor Crew’s “VFX Artists React” series, Mesa recalls his experience working onArmy of Darkness, in particular how challenging it was to bring the movie’s skeleton soldiers to life.
Mesa reveals that many of the skeletons in the foreground were filmed using stop-motion, but motion control and “mechanical rigs” were often used for skeletons in the background. The VFX supervisor agrees with co-host Niko Puerginger’s assessment that many of the background skeletons were essentially “little robots” that were designed to move their arms, wave a sword, adjust a gravestone, and other motions. Check out a comment from Mesa below regarding just how much time someArmy of Darknessshots took:
“We did have some of these shots that took 36 hours straight. They would marathon it. They would take a break and that sort of thing, but they knew it was a huge amount of pressure and work.”
This Unique Sam Raimi Tone Should Return
While each of theEvil Deadmoviesis unique,Army of Darknessis truly an outlier due to its setting and tone. The film’s medieval setting is a drastic change from the cabin in the woods of prior installments, and the action, in general, is less contained. After Raimi’s 1992 entry, the franchise ultimately lay dormant until 2013’sEvil Deadremake, which returned to the cabin in the woods setting.2023’sEvil Dead Risetook the action instead to an apartment building, but it was a similarly contained film.
Army of Darknessearned generally positive reviews from critics and currently has a 68% onRotten Tomatoes. The audience score is a much more impressive 87%.
AfterEvil Dead Rise,there are currently two projects in development in the franchise, one from director Sébastien Vaniček and another from director Francis Galluppi. While Vaniček’s film has been described as anEvil Deadspinoff, Galluppi’s is said to be an original idea. Plot details regarding both films are under wraps, but Raimi will seemingly serve as a producer on both.
Evil Dead Just Made Army of Darkness' Original Time-Travel Ending Even Darker
Dynamite’s Army of Darkness Forever comic book sequel to the Evil Dead series reveals the third film’s “happy” ending is in fact the darkest timeline.
So far, the strategy with the two recentEvil Deadmovies is to keep things contained to essentially one location, and both movies also lean more into horror than comedy. To keep things fresh for the franchise while also calling back to Raimi’s original work,it would be interesting to see one of the two newEvil Deadmovies try something a little wackier and a little more bold. It remains to be seen whether anArmy of Darkness-style tone will ever return to the franchise, but it would certainly be exciting to see an undead, skeleton army.
Army of Darkness
Cast
The third film in Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead trilogy, Army of Darkness, is a horror comedy film that sees Bruce Campbell return to the role of Ash Williams. Sucked out of his timeline and tossed to 1300 A.D., Ash is found and thrown in a pit after he is believed to be a spy against King Arthur. After proving himself and slaying a supernatural Deadite creature, Ash is freed and told to return home; he must find the Necronomicon and dance with the dead again.
