The horror comedy ‘The Army of Darkness’ (Army of Darkness, 1992) turns 30. Some don’t know that Sam Raimi made as many as four different cuts. The one released in theaters in the United States was 81 minutes and was rated R. The version that reached television was 88 minutes, the same as the international release of the film, which kept some of the bloodiest scenes of the film, as well as like its original ending. The longer version is a 96-minute director’s cut, which includes its star’s preferred original ending.Bruce Campbell.
His character Ash went from being a mild-mannered college student to a goofy and comically rude idiot over the course of the saga, so audiences don’t mind seeing him being manhandled by walking skeletons. The theatrically released ending in the US was a very funny and memorable ending, featuring Ash in an action sequence and ends in a moment of triumph. Ash, having been displaced to the 14th century, finds himself back in his shop and battles a monstrous witch and kisses a companion in victory. “Hail to the King“, says.
In the darkest ending, Ash receives a magical elixir that would send him forward in time a century for every drop he swallowed, but he miscounts the number of drops and swallows one too many, waking up with a long beard and covered of dust and sees that the world has been completely destroyed. The final shot is Ash, completely desperate, crying out to the sky because he slept too much. ‘Evil Dead IV’ would have potentially been a post-apocalyptic thrillerwhich is what season 4 of the series ‘Ash vs Evil Dead’ also raised.
The original ending was Campbell’s favorite and in the film’s audio commentary, the actor explained his preference:
“In many cases, this was called an ‘alternate ending,’ but there’s no such thing. This is the original ending… I’ll stand by this ending to the end of my days, because it’s not about it being depressing. It’s about it being depressing. It’s appropriate. I think the ending is appropriate. And I think this sequence is great. It’s very sci-fi and it gave a good introduction to what would or wouldn’t become part IV. Also, this is where it comes back to being your character, Sam [Raimi]. The idiot who is so easily distracted that he miscounts six lousy drops. The poor fool He slept too much.”