***Army of Darkness*** is a dark fantasy adventure film from 1992 directed and co-written by Sam Raimi, co-written by Ivan Raimi, produced by Rob Tapert, and starring Bruce Campbell. It is the final installment in the original *Evil Dead* trilogy, this time following the reluctant hero Ash traveling to 1300 AD England, now battling Evil forces in Middle Ages. The music for the film was composed by Joseph LoDuca, who also composed music for both of the previous *Evil Dead* movies, with one specific track (*March of the Dead*) being composed by Danny Elfman, who Raimi previously worked with on [*Darkman*](https://www.reddit.com/r/BruceCampbell/comments/1usct7l/a_weekly_bruce_campbell_role_14_darkman_1990/) (and works with on many other projects in the future).

Raimi made *Army of Darkness* as a part of his deal with Universal Pictures, making it the only big budget studio production from the original trilogy. With the budget of 12 million dollars, *Army of Darkness* was more than three times as expensive as [*The Evil Dead*](https://www.reddit.com/r/BruceCampbell/comments/1t7e3fy/a_weekly_bruce_campbell_role_5_the_evil_dead_1981/) and [*Evil Dead II*](https://www.reddit.com/r/BruceCampbell/comments/1txcqgj/a_weekly_bruce_campbell_role_9_evil_dead_ii_1987/) combined. And even though this allowed the filmmakers to really push the envelope on their franchise, it also came with a very troubled and complicated shoot as well as studio interreference. The movie was originally supposed to be titled *The Medieval Dead*, but that decision was eventually vetoed by Universal who wanted to sell *Army of Darkness* as a standalone movie with little to no connections to the previous two films. The studio also demanded to cut or change several scenes as well as to completely rework the ending. However, Raimi was eventually able to put together a director's cut that adds or changes several scenes to their original state, as well as reintroduces the original ending.

*Army of Darkness* barely made its production budget back in the US theaters, however when it was released on VHS and later DVD, it started gaining international cult following that keeps growing to this day, making it a fan favorite not only as an *Evil Dead* sequel, but also as a standalone adventure movie.

A Weekly Bruce Campbell Role #19: Army of Darkness (1992)