An Ode To The Army Of Darkness Skeleton Puppets

In Sam Raimi's 1981 zero-budget horror film "The Evil Dead," Ash (Bruce Campbell) is attacked by mysterious malevolent demons in a cabin in the woods, having been summoned there by an ancient evil book called the Necronomicon. All alone in the cabin, you start to think that Ash is not so much being beset by monsters, as Campbell is being beset by the movie itself. In the more comedic 1987 part-sequel, part-remake "Evil Dead II," the self-awareness is amped up to a slapstick degree, and the language of horror gives way to the timing of comedy.

At the end of "Evil Dead II," Ash flees into another genre altogether, finding himself in England circa 1300 CE. By 1993's "Army of Darkness" (which celebrates its 30th anniversary this week), Ash has transformed from an average college student into a really dumb, full-bore a-hole. He is hailed as a "chosen one" despite his crass dialogue. (At one point, he says, "All right, you primitive screwheads, listen up. This is my boomstick.") It comes as no surprise that Ash's quest to find the Necronomicon goes horribly awry and that he accidentally awakens an army of the (recent) dead. The climax of "Army of Darkness" features a skeleton fighting force, led by Ash's own undead doppelgänger (Campbell) staging a forward assault against a medieval castle.

But how were the skeletons in "Army of Darkness" brought to — pardon the pun — life? Using a mix of special effects techniques, including puppetry, rubber models, actors in masks, and stop-motion animation.

The skeletons in "Army of Darkness" reach a level of sublime comedy with their cheapness. They aren't terribly well articulated, with each one moving maybe its jaw, its arms, or — in one case — its flute-playing fingers. Some skeletons still seem to have scraps of mummified skin wrapped around them, allowing Evil Ash's lieutenant to speak out of a lipped mouth. Some of them have the remnants of beards still clinging to their skinless chins, while others still seem to have their eyeballs intact. The skeletons with eyeballs, however, may not denote the state of their decomposition, so much as Sam Raimi's quick filmmaking leaving the stunt performers' eyes visible through their masks.

In one hilarious shot, the skeleton in question is not articulated at all. It's clearly a rubber model being thrown at Bruce Campbell by an off-screen stagehand. Campbell picks up the skeleton and breaks it over his knee. Each one of the skeletons mutters comedically to itself as it makes an attack. From off-screen, you can hear lines of dialogue like, "I'll tear their bones out," "I'll cut your gizzard out," or, most frequently, "Aaaaaaahhh!"

In John Kenneth Muir's 2004 book "The Unseen Force: The Films of Sam Raimi," the director laid out his SFX process in making his skeletons come to rubbery life. Raimi, fond of the animation work of legendary stop-motion pioneer Ray Harryhausen, said he wanted to recapture the same uncanny look as in Don Chaffey's 1963 film "Jason and the Argonauts." Raimi used a front-projection system, having his live actors stand in front of an actual on-set film screen with pre-made skeleton effects on it.

The VFX for "Army of Darkness" are elaborate and fun for a low-budget production, but rudimentary enough that an observant audience member can plainly see how the effect was achieved. The aforementioned puppet skeleton lieutenant, for instance, rides up to Evil Ash on a horse. The skeleton is foregrounded, but sitting just next to him is another skeleton — a live-action actor — also on horseback. Quite clearly, the background ghoul was a horse handler, leading both horses around.

Many skeletons were dusted with a flour-like substance so that when they were smashed or exploded in battle, they'd leave a dusty "poof" behind. During an explosion sequence, you can see the small catapults — they are called air rams — that fling the stunt performers into the air. They aren't terribly noticeable, but a savvy viewer will spot them.

At the climax of "Army of Darkness" — depending on the version you saw — Evil Ash is set on fire, and his skin burns off. He re-emerges as a skeleton with eyeballs — and is now curiously voiced by Sam Raimi himself. In wide shots, Skeleton Ash is a composited stop-motion creation but a puppet in close-ups. When he freaks out, his skullcap flips back and exposes his brain. You can hear a Warner Bros. cartoon-style train whistle sound effect.

Raimi's voice in the role drives home the meta-narrative notion that the "Evil Dead" movies are not about Ash fighting evil skeletons, but about Bruce Campbell fighting a filmmaker, and the genre he's been forced to occupy. Ash's life is never in legitimate danger, but he does seem endlessly annoyed that undead creatures are always punching him in the face. Life is very, very hard for Ash. In a way, that's why "Army of Darkness" is sardonically funny.