Lord Of The Rings Trilogy: 16 Easter Eggs, In-Jokes & References You Need To See

5. Peter Jackson Loves Army Of Darkness - The Two Towers

The Lord of the Rings and Army of Darkness, the third and final flick in the Sam Raimi's horror comedy franchise The Evil Dead, don't appear to be linked, but there's a lot of evidence that points to the fact that Peter Jackson took a lot of inspiration from that movie when it came to rendering parts of his own; especially in the depiction of the Battle of Helm's Deep, which closely resembles the final castle siege in Raimi's own flick. Whilst the general premise of each sequence is similar (in The Lord of the Rings, Aragorn and the men of Rohan must face off against orcs from a walled fortress; in Army of Darkness, hero Ash and his medieval companions do the same against "deadites,"), it almost seems as though Peter Jackson purposely included moments to echo Raimi's film. Not only do several shots echo those of the Raimi film (several of the wide shots are uncanny), but the beats of the battle are similar, too; to the point where a newcomer would likely come to Army of Darkness and find themselves reminded of Helm's Deep. There's also a moment earlier in the film where Saruman is making gunpowder, and Wormtongue leans over it with a candle, and Saruman slowly edges him back. This also happens in Army of Darkness, when Ash does exactly the same thing with a wiseman. Did Jackson watch Army of Darkness during the pre-production stages or something?