31 Days of Drafts and Darkness:

"Army of Darkness" (1992)

When putting this list together, I wanted to please as large an audience as possible. Not everyone's a scary movie fan, after all. But seeing as we're in the Halloween season, the films I feature still need to be suitably creepy.

While "Evil Dead", the horror classic from Sam Raimi, and its sequel "Dead by Dawn" fall more into the horror camp, the third installment is notably more lighthearted than its brothers. Despite being related to gore-fests, "Army of Darkness" is a Halloween movie I'd actually recommend for family night.

The Plot:

Oddly, for a film that departs from the darker atmosphere of the "Evil Dead" films, "Army of Darkness" is completely in-canon and picks up right where "Dead by Dawn" left off. Our meek store-clerk turned demon-slayer Ash has successfully vanquished a deadly and demonic beast, but in doing so, opened up a portal in time. Warped back to medieval Europe, Ash must adjust to his new environment, unite a kingdom against the evil Deadites, and find a way to return home.

Along the way, Ash Williams will face off against witches, monsters, an army of skeletons, and perhaps most deadly of all, his evil-twin. Thankfully, his trusty sawed-off shotgun and chainsaw have followed him through the time portal.

And so our sarcastic hero begins his noble quest. Does he desire adventure and glory, to be written into the legends of yore? 

Not really.

The Flavor:

Though "Evil Dead" and "Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn" both had plenty of twisted humor, "Army of Darkness" is the true comedy of the trilogy. The first two films were far more about terrifying and grossing you out than they were about trying to make you laugh. They're horror classics, no doubt, but "Army of Darkness" has a different agenda in mind.

Taking more after sword-and-sorcery adventure flicks rather than horror, "Army of Darkness" packs much of its violence into goofy fun. You won't see bodies torn asunder so much as you will knights clash with skeletons. Even when the bits of gore show up, they're handled lightly and with a cartoonish sort of vibe that cuts through most of the nastiness. Heck,  most of what violence does occur is played for slap-sticky laughs.

Among horror fans, "Army of Darkness" is considered a great film, but not really a true horror film. Oh yes, there are plenty of the undead that need vanquishing, and more skeletons than in a crypt, but the tone is primarily comedy-adventure. 

The legendary Bruce Campbell's larger-than-life yet still sarcastic screen persona as Ash is played up even more grandly here than in the first two films. Ash's sanity has been through so much by this point that he's sort of become numb to all the horrific happenings and is thus able to face them stoically. I guess having your girlfriend get possessed by a demon and try to kill you, only to then have to dismember and bury her, will do that to you. Grim, sure, but the swagger with which Bruce Campbell handles the role lightens up the pitch-black proceedings into genuine fun.

Another interesting carry-over from "Evil Dead" and "Dead by Dawn" is the frequent use of slap-stick humor. As gory as these first two films were, one could easily see the influence of "The Three Stooges" as Ash suffered injury after injury at the hands of the Deadites. In "Army of Darkness", things are no less brutal, as Ash is made to suffer abundant bodily trauma before the day is out. It's here again that Bruce Campbell illustrates his talent for comedy, this time in the physical sense.

Best Paired with:

Yea, I know the movie's got an R-rating, but I'm going to say it anyway: "Army of Darkness" is a good Halloween family film. Sure, I wouldn't let very little kids watch it, but anyone over the age of 10 will utterly eat up all the creature effects and epic adventure. Heck, the skeletal army Ash and his band of knights face at the climax is more a nod to "Jason and the Argonauts" than it is horror fare.

With plenty of laughs and just the right amount of scares, "Army of Darkness" makes for spectacular seasonal viewing among family, friends, or for a fun date-night at home over pizza. While the film's marked as a horror flick, I'm guessing it's the affiliation with its more splattery older brothers that earned it the R-rating.

Accompanying Brew:

While each film in the "Evil Dead" trilogy carries with it a nutty sort of chaos, "Army of Darkness" lacks the sheer brutality of the others and ups the zaniness to compensate. As such, I picked tonight's brew to reflect the film's attitude.

Coming only in the Fall seasonal variety pack, Sam Adams Hazel Brown packs all the sweet and rich flavor of a typical brown ale. Then it explodes with so much toasted hazelnut flavor you'd swear you were eating a batch of chocolate-free Nutella. Yes, Hazel Brown doesn't shy away from liberal use of hazelnut flavor. Fans of the flavor in their coffee will likely be quite pleased by how upfront the nuttiness is here.

For the casual drinker or those less-fond of hazelnut flavor, Hazel Brown is refreshing enough to stop itself from getting too overpowering with its flavor. If you only sorta-like hazelnut, you'll enjoy one or two of these brews, but I doubt you'll want much more than that at a time. The malts and slightly roasted notes from the brown ale do help to smooth things out, so Hazel Brown doesn't become too nutty during your first bottle or two. After that though, you may want something to cleanse the palate.

Still, I applaud Sam Adams for offering up something that so powerfully features its titular flavor. Much as "Army of Darkness" unabashedly throws all manner of slapstick into a world that's supposed to be dark and gritty, so too does Hazel Brown wear its nutty heart on its sleeve among a sea of pumpkinheads. For daring to be different, and seriously succeeding at it, I recommend both "Army of Darkness" and Sam Adam's Hazel Brown.