Bruce Campbell: Dropping knowledge on original Army of Darkness ending

Bruce Campbell appeared at Mad Monster Party in Charlotte, North Carolina this past weekend. During his Q & A session with the audience, he dropped some knowledge on a fan about the original Army of Darkness ending and a special tie-in.

Bruce Campbell was in Charlotte, North Carolina this past weekend for Mad Monster Party. His final gig at the con was a question and answer session with fans. So, as you can imagine, there were quite a few interesting queries for the veteran actor.

One exchange in particular stuck out. An audience member asked Campbell about the original ending to Army of Darkness. For those who are unfamiliar with this tale, Sam Raimi shot a completely different sequence that never made the theatrical version of his film.

Unfortunately, Universal Pictures wasn’t enamored with Raimi’s vision. They wanted an upbeat, feel good Hollywood approach. Personally, Sam’s cut is my favorite and fits better with the storyline since the entire film is like a series of unfortunate events for Ash Williams.

In a perfect world, this is how Army of Darkness should have ended with Ash taking the incorrect dosage of the magical elixir that was supposed to transport him back to his century. Instead of awaking in the present day, Williams finds to his dismay that he is the only survivor in a post-apocalyptic scenario.

Think of the ending to Planet of the Apes when Charlton Heston finds the decimated Statue of Liberty in the Forbidden Zone and you have the right idea and tone. Here is Sam’s creative ending:

The studio cut is what audiences are familiar with and that has Ash resuming his life in Michigan. However, he emerges as a hero savior. When a Deadite follows him back in time and begins to wreak havoc in S-Mart, Williams vanquishes the demon and gets the cute girl co-worker that he evidently has a crush on.

It doesn’t get more Tinseltown than this, folks. “Hail to the King, baby!”

In Bruce’s panel discussion, he revealed that the original ending of Army of Darkness would have begun where Ash vs Evil Dead Season 3 ended. Which makes sense because the parallels are crystal clear when you view the finale of the STARZ series.

Notice the lighting and the way the entire scene is shot and it is obviously the direct descendent of Raimi’s earlier work and an extension of his Army of Darkness concept.

Here is the excerpt from Bruce’s appearance at Mad Monster Party:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BuUoSL7FrYo/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Thanks to @lesliebg on Instagram for this post.

Do you prefer Sam Raimi’s Army of Darkness ending or Universal Pictures version? Comment in the section below. We want to hear from you.