Art Design: Very graphic and well done five panel box art for the Army of Darkness' Evil Ash 12" action figure. Sadly, the last part of the Evil Dead movie series was heavy on the slapstick comedy. Sam Raimi, the director of the movie, has grew up as a fan of great The Three Stooges comedies, and his first love is comedy. Movie synopsis and cast information are provided, and the back cover has some stills from the movie and photos of the two action figures, Ash and Evil Ash.
The Headsculpt: The actual sculpting is excellent. The figure looks as gruesome as the movie character did, except that the paint application is kind of a bland greyish color. The rotting flesh holes are brown, and the skin does not have much in the way of variations of color for the different levels of decomposition of the flesh, and for the pus sores that the character had. If you look at the photo at the bottom right, the face was customized to add more red (blood) highlights and a couple of yellowish (pus) sores. The helmet is not removable from the head, and the hair is held down by the heltmet. The string that holds the jaw together was also a bland color and was repainted brown.
The figure and gear: The figure is a standard Sideshow body with hands that are decomposing very nicely to match the face. The sword has some blood spatters, and there is a ripped up cape provided. The shirt and pants are no big deal. The spiked shoulder armor is very effective in making the figure look meaner. The chest armor is a deviation. In the movie, the Evil Ash has his decomposing ribs showing through, and later it looks like a rubber rib cage. Either way, it looks fake, as rubbery bones are not "armor" and they are not very scary looking either. But that is not the fault of Sideshow Toys. The Army of Darkness movie was heavy on comedy, and the ribcage armor was probably some kind of Raimi humor.
Overall: The MSRP on this figure is $40. If you can get this figure mailed to you for under $30.00 it is an excellent deal. The face sculpt is hideous, and you can easily color in the face to enhance the gore if you want to. It is a unique horror figure from a popular cult movie series. It is a must have for any action figure collectors who are horror fans
Grade: A+
