10 Shocking Movie Twists That Nearly Happened
6. Ash Sleeps Too Long - Army Of Darkness
Before Fede Álvarez and Lee Cronin got their magical mitts on the franchise, Evil Dead was a trilogy, crafted lovingly (if, at times, unevenly) between director Sam Raimi and his star Bruce Campbell.
The concluding chapter, Army of Darkness, sees Ash (Campbell) unwittingly sent back to the Middle Ages to help the very olde timey Lord Arthur and Duke Henry fight off a legion of Deadites who seek to overthrow humanity and perhaps change the course of history for good. All's well that ends well though, and our chisel-chinned hero whacks the baddies, gets the girl, and arrives back in the present in time for his next shift at the S-Mart department store.
But happy endings weren't always on the agenda. Raimi's original vision, in a last-minute, audience-baiting twist, was to have The Chin overshoot his journey back to the present, wind up in a post-apocalyptic future where humanity has been wiped out, and go crazy, laughing maniacally into the credits. Needless to say, the studio didn't take to this version, and ordered the filming of a more positive conclusion to the trilogy.
'Hail to the king, baby.'