Bruce Campbell returns as Ash to stop the onslaught of deadites after accidentally releasing their dark, evil forces from the Necronomicon one drunken night. He hits the road with his trailer and two store clerk sidekicks, Pablo and Kelly to save the world. Ladies and gentleman, the chainsaw and shotgun are back!!!
It’s been a long wait for the proper return of Ash. But there’s no doubt that the demand has been festering. We’ve had graphic novels: Freddy vs Jason vs Ash and its follow-up The Nightmare Warriors. Even Campbell’s movie My Name Is Bruce (2006) doesn’t look so out of place. However, his imminent return didn’t become apparent until the utterance of a single word in a post-credits cameo of a certain 2013 remake, and that word was “Groovy”.
Two years later the world is blessed with the greatest comedy horror series of all time. Starting with a pilot directed and co-written by the original creator himself, Sam Raimi. This guy knows funny. He knows scary. He knows suspense. He knows gore. He knows action, and the true meaning of entertainment. Basically everything that Michael Bay doesn’t! He’s stirred it all in its wicked pot and what emerges is only just the beginning of a creepy, laugh-out-loud, blood-drenched, road-tripping, gore-laden extravaganza.
Led by the funniest man ever to carry a chainsaw and shotgun, Ash has a great supporting cast behind him. The handsome Ray Santiago is hilarious just to set eyes upon as his truly awesome hairstyle makes him look like a real-life Simpson character. The fact that Ash’s sidekick, named Pablo of all things, can’t get used to the blood and guts never fails to amuse. Pablo’s crush, and sidekick no. 2, Dana DeLorenzo oozes cool as a cross between Scarlett Johansson and Wednesday Addams. Hot on their trail is state trooper Amanda Fisher (Jill Marie Jones). Watch out for this one as she somehow works her way into your heart, and just might break it. Through it all, the gifted and enigmatic Ruby (Lucy Lawless) isn’t far behind. Bitch has got a secret…
Now where your Special Features are concerned: You will find a quick compilation of Ash’s funniest and coolest moments as well as his best one-liners from the season. I will admit, I was hoping it would feature clips from the movies series, but as they didn’t even have permission to reference Army of Darkness (1992) at the time, it’s just not worth it. For all you commentary hungry hell hounds there is one for each of the 10 episodes for you to guzzle on. Needless to say, there is the standard featurette, which adequately covers the entire series chapter by chapter despite only being 15-16 minutes long. And, of course, a brief but fun how to guide on taking down a deadite with the help of some comic-con goers for good measure.
LAST WORDS:
“Hail to the king, baby.”