Why does the film High Fidelity (2000) call Army Of Darkness "Evil Dead 2"?
In High Fidelity, Rob and Barry are talking about a film, and keep calling it Evil Dead 2. But they are clearly referencing Army Of Darkness, which came after Evil Dead 2 in Raimi's ED franchise.
Rob: (VO) What did Laura mean last night when she said, "I haven't slept with him yet"? Yet! What does "yet" mean anyway? It means you're gonna do it, doesn't it? Or does it? (At the record store)
Rob: Just come on. What would it mean to you, that sentence: "I haven't seen Evil Dead II yet"?
Barry: Well, to me it would mean that you're a liar. You've seen it twice. Once with Laura -- oops -- and once with me and Dick 'member? We had that conversation about that guy making Beretta shotgun ammo off-screen in the 14th century.
Rob: Right. But let's just say that I hadn't seen it. And I said, "I haven't seen Evil Dead II yet." What would you think?
Barry: I'd think that you're a cinematic idiot and I'd feel sorry for you.
Rob: All right. But from that one sentence, would you think that I was going to see it?
Barry: I'm sorry, Rob. I'm struggling here. You're asking me what would I think if you told me you hadn't seen a film that you have already seen. What am I supposed to say?
Rob: Just listen to me. If I said to you --
Barry: "I haven't seen Evil Dead II yet", yes!
Rob: Would you get the impression that I really wanted to see it?
Barry: Oh, uh...well, you couldn't have been desperate to see it, otherwise you'd have already gone.
Rob: Right. I'm not going to see that movie. (After a pause, Barry looks up again.)
Barry: But the word "yet."......Yeah, you know what? I get the impression that you wanted to see it...otherwise you'd have said you didn't want to go.
Rob: But in your opinion, would I definitely go?
Barry: How the f..k am I supposed to know? Probably.
Rob: Why?
Barry: Because it's a brilliant film! It's so funny and violent and the soundtrack kicks f..king ass. I never thought I'd say this, but can I go to work now?
(^ Source)
This seems unlikely to be just a mistake because it's repeated throughout the scene (not just a single reference), and the writers and producers (including Cusack) are real-life nuts for accuracy on this sort of issue, especially in a film where they are supposed to be obsessed, knowledgeable geeks.
I'm looking for answers that quote sources (writer, producer or actor), not mere opinion or Web Chatter.
Best Answer
I'm going to take a stab at this even though its been a long time since I've seen any of these movies.
First of all, Rob and Barry are two pop culture snobs geeks who pride themselves on being able to come up with the perfect playlist for any situation or topic. As such it is very likely that they are familiar with the fan debate over the topic of how Evil Dead 2 fits into the series of Evil Dead.
I'm fuzzy on the details of said debate, but basically what I remember from reading years ago is that the movie Evil Dead 2 is actually a remake of the original Evil Dead movie and NOT a sequel to Evil Dead. As such, Army of Darkness is actually the first sequel in the Evil Dead series and therefore would officially be "Evil Dead episode 2".
So by saying he hasn't seen Evil Dead 2 yet, I supposed he's trying to be ironic in the fact that there are, in a sense, two Evil Dead 2's.
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Why is Army of Darkness so different from Evil Dead?
While Evil Dead was a gorefest, Army of Darkness deals more with Ash's insecurities about leading the villagers effectively, as well as throwing in the bizarre element of his own clone springing from a mirror to lead the Deadite army against Ash.Why is Army of Darkness Not Evil Dead?
Raimi then wanted to naturally give it the title "Evil Dead 3: Army of Darkness", but the studio wanted the film to stand on its own from the rest of the series, so it was just titled "Army of Darkness". The film was called "Army of Darkness: The Medieval Dead" for its UK release.Is Army of Darkness referenced in Ash vs Evil Dead?
For legal reasons, the events of Army of Darkness could not be directly mentioned in Ash vs Evil Dead, although it had been confirmed by cast and crew that the events depicted in "Army" are canon.Is Army of Darkness canon?
Army of Darkness, in regard to the universe in which Ash vs Evil Dead takes place, is no longer canon.HIGH FIDELITY The Word \
More answers regarding why does the film High Fidelity (2000) call Army Of Darkness "Evil Dead 2"?
Answer 2
Evil Dead II ended with Ash, with his car and shotgun, landing in the middle ages. Strictly speaking, the existence of the Army of Darkness film does not appear to be required for this conversion in High Fidelity to take place.
Answer 3
I think you're looking at this the wrong way.
Evil Dead was the original. Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn was the direct sequel (beginning exactly where Evil Dead ended), and Army Of Darkness was the direct sequel to Evil Dead II, again beginning exactly where the previous film ended.
ED1 was released in 1981, ED2 was released in 1987, and AoD (aka "ED3") was released in 1992.
High Fidelity was released in 2000. As such, all 3 ED films were released in the past, in the High Fidelity universe.
It is most likely that the bit of the conversation about ED3 ("We had that conversation about that guy making Beretta shotgun ammo off-screen in the 14th century") occurred after they viewed ED3, or possibly after ED2 in speculation of the inevitable sequel due to the way the movie ended. There was no need for Barry to expand on exactly when he made that statement.
Also, the entire conversation relies on hypotheticals ("What would it mean to you, that sentence: 'I haven't seen Evil Dead II yet'?"). As such, the conversation revolves around that one movie, and there really is no need to specify the fact that ED3 had already been released. Barry was asked about one specific movie, and the majority of his responses (save that one line) were directed at that one movie. The conversation is meant to flow naturally, and not intended to be overly specific or detailed.
So, in short, I don't think you're going to see a "canon" answer to this, because there's really no need for anyone to have asked the question.
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