Army of Darkness, the board game ! part 1

Way back in 1993, the now "defunct" Leading Edge -  after publishing great games like the Aliens (1989) and Dracula (the one by Ford Coppola, 1992), released a board game and twelve 25mm miniature blisters related to the universe of Army of Darkness.

I'm a board games lover (and of The Evil Dead too :D) so I decided that I NEED IT ! In this post I'll talk only about the game because miniatures are so astounding that deserve a dedicated post!

I've bought it on the Ebay paying it about twenty euros, and if I have to review it as a board game lover well, this is not the best game: "poor" materials and the lack of attention to detail, at least in presentation and packaging of the game, are the main motivations. But if you look at it through the eyes of a fan of Evil Dead, this game is very good mainly due to the rules that are very close to the Army of Darkness background.

So, let's start from the beginning: the game has been developed to support one or more players (best played from 1 to 4, but you can also have 8 players) and recreates the siege at the end of the movie "Army of Darkness" when deadites attack Arthur's castle in order  to retrieve the Necronomicon. 

Here it is the board. It is characterized by three special boxes: Tower (containing the Necronomicon), Gate and Pit (if the Gate or the Pit are opened  the number of deadites that will come into play each turn increase). I don't like this board so much: if you look well this have to represent a castle, and with the background photo there is a little bit confusion... However it is so cooooool  :D

Players can choose 4 of 7 characters (good ones), each one with its own movement, attack and defense statistics. Ash is an absolute must, except in a Ash-less game variant, which clearly increases difficulty level and  basically represent a "parallel" reality  in which Ash is already back in the twentieth century.

Characters card (as well as those of the deadites  leaders) have two faces, one with the "healthy" character  and one with the "wounded" one.

4 bad guys come into play basing on drawn cards and are automatically handled by the game system, with rules that fans will love :D

• Evil Ash always moves towards the Necronomicon 

• Evil Sheila appears in the same square where Ash is and always follows him in its movement (until one of them is dead!). Evil Sheila also is the only invulnerable to the Deathcoster! 

• Winged demon always tries to move towards the Pit to open it!

Game turns have these phases:

1. Is the gate open or closed ? you throw a 10 faced dice to verify it.
2. Deadites move only one square, not diagonal moves are allowed
3. Deadites appear: a new deadite appears for each wall square ... and if Gate and pit are opened, other two appear !
4. Mortal soldiers attack: soldiers that move with a character can attack deadites
5. Mortal heroes activates moving, attacking and playing one or more cards (in the order they prefer)
6. Deadites attack!

Victory conditions are

• For good guys: all deadite champions are defeated
• For evil guys: Evil Ash take the Book and exit from the gate or all 24 deadites are on the board !!!

The game includes characters and bad guys card counters (they can be replaced using miniatures, but I'll talk about them in another post) and a lot of cards that "mortals" players  can draw when they move to a deadite-free square.

Well... I hope to play it soon and tell you if it is a good game or not !!! See you next post !!!

Army Of Darkness : il gioco da tavolo ! - parte 1

Nel lontano 1993 la ora "defunta" Leading Edge, dopo aver pubblicato chicche come il gioco da tavolo di Aliens (nel 1989) e di Dracula (quello di Ford Coppola, nel 1992), rilasciò un gioco da tavolo e ben 12 blister di miniature da 25mm dedicate all'universo di Army of Darkness.

Io, ovviamente, da amante dei giochi da tavolo e del modellismo (oltre che come potete immaginare della trilogia di Evil Dead :D ) ho deciso che DOVEVO AVERLO !!! In realtà in questo post parlerò del solo gioco e non delle miniature: sono così tante e belle che meritano un post dedicato !!!

Recuperato su ebay a una ventina di euro, se dovessi recensirlo esclusivamente come amante dei giochi da tavolo il voto che dovrei dare al gioco non sarebbe dei migliori. La motivazione principale è un utilizzo spropositato di materiali "scadenti" e la poca cura nei dettagli, quanto meno nella presentazione e nel packaging del gioco. Se però lo si guarda con gli occhi del fan di Evil Dead, questo gioco si riprende soprattutto grazie al regolamento molto aderente al background del film Army of Darkness.

Quindi, partiamo dall'inizio: il gioco è stato sviluppato per supportare uno o più giocatori (rende meglio da 1 a 4, ma si può giocare anche in 8) e ricrea la battaglia al termine del film "L'armata delle Tenebre", quando i dedites assediano il castello di Arthur per recuperare il Necronomicon.   

Ecco il tabellone di gioco. Questo è caratterizzato da tre caselle speciali: Torre (contiene il Necronomicon), Cancello e Pozzo (se aperti fanno aumentare il numero di deadites che entreranno in gioco ogni turno). Personalmente non gradisco molto la foto del film come background, anche perchè se guardate bene questo dovrebbe rappresentare le mura del castello, mentre la foto dal mio punto di vista mette molta confusione. In ogni caso è fighissimo :D

Il giocatore può scegliere 4 di 7 personaggi (i buoni), ognuno con le proprie caratteristiche di movimento, attacco e difesa. Ash ovviamente è una scelta obbligatoria, tranne in una variante del gioco Ash-less, che chiaramente fa aumentare il livello di difficoltà e rappresenta sostanzialmente una realtà "parallela" nella quale Ash è tornato in anticipo nel ventesimo secolo.

Le carte dei personaggi (così come quelle dei leader deadites) hanno due facce, una con il personaggio "sano" e una con il personaggio "ferito"

Invece i "cattivi" (4 per la precisione, che entrano in gioco in base alle carte pescate) sono gestiti in automatico dal sistema di gioco, con delle regole che gli appassionati riterranno assolutamente rievocative.

• Evil Ash si muove sempre verso il Necronomicon

• Evil Sheila compare nella casella dove si trova Ash e lo segue sempre nel suo movimento (fino a che non è morto lui o non è morta lei !!!). Evil Sheila inoltre è l'unica invulnerabile rispetto al Deathcoster !

• Il demone alato cerca sempre di muoversi verso il pozzo per aprirlo !!!

Il gioco è caratterizzato da queste fasi

1. Si verifica se il cancello è aperto o chiuso tramite un tiro di dado (da 10)
2. Movimento dei deadites: i deadites si muovono solo di una casella e non in diagonale
3. Comparsa dei deadites: ne compare uno per ogni casella rappresentante le mura. Se pozzo e cancello sono aperto, ne possono comparire fino a 4 in più per turno
4. Attacco dei soldati mortali: i soldati che accompagnano un eroe possono attaccare i deadites
5. Gli eroi mortali si attivano muovendo, attaccando e giocando una o più carte (nell'ordine che preferiscono)
6. Attacco dei deadites !

Le condizioni di vittoria sono 

• Per il bene: tutti i campioni deadites sono stati sconfitti
• Per il male: Evil Ash esce dal cancello con il Necronomicon oppure tutti i 24 soldati Deadites sono presenti sul tabellone

Il gioco comprende delle pedine di cartoncino (rimpiazzabili dalle miniature, ma di queste parleremo in un altro post) e un sacco di carte che i giocatori "mortali" possono pescare qualora muovano su una casella libera da deadites.

Che dire... Spero di giocarci presto e di raccontarvi se merita o no ! A presto con un articolo sulle miniature Leading Edge !

Evil Dead Fans: an interview with John Dowding !

Evil Dead is not only a movie, Evil Dead means even a lot of fans around the world that make the trilogy lives through the years. There are many kind of fan, starting from the collectors (here I am !!!), passing to the ones who know by heart every single gag, arriving to ones who documentate themselves in order to know more about their passion.

Today I would like to have a talk with John Dowding, a guys nearly 30years old who lives in London   and works in retail (no not S-MART :D LOL).  John has been an Evil Dead fan since his Uncle leant him the Army of Darkness directors cut bootleg VHS 20yrs ago but he was a BIG fan when he got The Evil Dead on dvd in 2002. 

John, who loves music, decides to research all music related about the Evil Dead Trilogy! So, here it is John! 

ME: What idea give you inspiration for this work ?

JOHN: I love music and searching for new tracks and artists and I am always making play lists and albums inspired by my geeky interests, especially comic books and horror.
When I heard about the Evil Dead remake I wanted to make an album up to celebrate its release as its my favourite movie franchise just to listen to with mates, but didn’t think there would be a lot of music for it other than the soundtrack scores and the musical soundtrack which I already had. So started digging around and found hell of a lot more than I thought I would.

ME: Where do you search tracks? and do you have any particular source?

JOHN: My main place to download music is iTunes. I will always look there first. They have a great catalogue of music especially unknown self released artists. Other than iTunes I used YouTube, Myspace and Google, searching every word, name, catchphrase, quote, character and actor associated with the Evil Dead movies. Looked for months, listening to hundreds of songs from, based on and/or inspired by Evil Dead. Checked loads of band sites, Horror inspired bands albums and then posted on Deaditesonline.com, Within the Wood: The Evil Dead appreciation site, The Ultimate Evil Dead Fan Club on facebook and various other Evil Dead pages and groups on facebook asking other fans if they knew of any songs.

ME: How do you choose the track order in the cd?

JOHN: I like to keep a good flow of pace with any album I make. I upload it on my iPod and listen to it over and over and re-arrange until I am happy with the flow of the album. I like to add in intro's, film excerpts and outro's to my albums as well. Really geek it up and make it more interesting and fun to listen to.

ME: Can you give us some example of track list?

JOHN: Here is the full track list's for each album so other fans can find these great songs.

Note: There was a couple songs that I found that I couldn’t find out the name of the artist so I put them down as 'Fake Shemp'

DISC 1

1. INTRO - Joseph LoDuca

2. BOOK OF THE DEAD - Prowler

3. HAIL TO THE KING - Holy Light Of Demons

4. "GROOVY" - Evil Dead 2

5. BEHEMOTH - Joseph LoDuca

6. CABIN IN THE WOODS - Evil Dead: The Musical Cast

7. A THING CALLED EVIL - Dead By 28

8. WITHIN THE WOODS - Killer Buddah

9. PROLOGUE - Joseph LoDuca

10. ARMY OF DARKNESS (GROOVY REMIX) - Fake Shemp

11. NECRONOMICON - Fake Shemp

12. CHOP OFF MY HAND - Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13

13. DEAD BY DAWN - Rezurex

14. EVIL DEAD - Esham ft. Daniel Jordan

15. MARCH OF THE DEAD - Danny Elfman

16. SWALLOW YOUR SOUL - Sorry For Nothing

17. EVIL DEAD - Liers In Wait

18. DRY HUMP (EVIL DEAD 2013 TRAILER MUSIC) - Randroid Music

19. WHO'S LAUGHING NOW - Skinny Puppy

20. LAUGHING SCENE - Evil Dead 2

21. THE MFF VS THE EVIL DEAD - The MFF

22. DO THE NECRONOMICON - Evil Dead: The Musical Cast

23. ASH HOUSEWARES GETS SAND IN HIS BOOMSTICK - Fake Shemp

24. DO THE BRUCE CAMPBELL - MC Lars & YTCracker

25. THE DIXIELAND RAG - Fake Shemp

DISC 2

1. NECRONOMICON INCANTATION - Evil Dead 2

2. I'LL RIP YOUR SOUL OUT - Roque Baños

3. BOOK OF THE DEAD - Genisis

4. EVIL DEAD - Stellar Corpses

5. RAPE OF THE VINES - Joseph LoDuca

6. DEAD BY DAWN - The Distorted

7. SAD BUT TRUE (AOD TRAILER MUSIC) - Metallica

8. DAWN/INCANTATION - Joseph LoDuca

9. JOIN US - Evil Dead: The Musical Cast

10. THE EVIL DEAD (REMIX) - The Vision

11. THE BOOK OF EVIL - Joseph LoDuca

12. THE EVIL DEAD - The Adorkables

13. THE BALLAD OF JAKE AND BOBBY JOE - Tim-O and Danny Hicks

14. THE FOREST OF THE DEAD/GRAVEYARD - Joseph LoDuca

15. EVIL DEAD 2:  DEAD BY DAWN - Guru Mediator

16. THINGS THAT WERE AND SHALL BE AGAIN (PREVIEW) - Exmortis

17. EVIL DEAD - The Spooky

18. I'LL SWALLOW YOUR SOUL - Evil Dead 2

19. LOVE? - Strapping Young Lad

20. JUST LIKE BRUCE CAMPBELL DID - Joe Hero

21. EVIL DEAD REVIEW SONG - JoBlo

22. HAIL THE.../END TITLE - Joseph LoDuca

23. EVIL DEAD 2013 END TITLE (WITH DIALOGUE)

DISC 3

1. ARMY OF DARKNESS INTRO

2. EVIL DEAD: HAIL TO THE KING TITLE SCREEN

3. EVIL DEAD - Demoni

4. WITHIN THE WOODS - Far From Alone

5. "GROOVY" - Army Of Darkness

6. BUILDING THE DEATHCOASTER - Joseph LoDuca

7. ARMY OF DARKNESS - Eddie Rotten Tnd The Zombies

8. DEAD BY DAWN - Dirty Wee Middens

9. HUSH LIL' BABY/PEE WEE HEAD - Joseph LoDuca

10. EVIL DEAD - Death

11. DR FEELGOOD (AOD TRAILER MUSIC) - Mötley Crüe

12. HAIL TO THE KING - Dead Trooper

13. "I'M A MAN..." - Evil Dead 2

14. HOUSEWARES EMPLOYEE - Evil Dead:The Musical Cast

15. "THIS IS MY BOOMSTICK!" - Army Of Darkness

16. BOOMSTICK - Professor Fresh

17. SHOP SMART, SHOP S-MART - To Kill A Monster

18. THE EVIL DEAD MAIN THEME - Roque Baños

19. NATUROM DEMONTO - EsDwa

20. LITTLE ASHES - Joseph LoDuca

21. "Get An Axe" - Army Of Darkness

22. IT'S A TRICK, GET AN AXE! - Archer Avenue

23. ASH'S DREAM/DANCING GAME/DANCE OF THE DEAD - Joseph LoDuca

24. EVIL DEAD 2 - Hard Rock Zombie

25. BRUCE CAMPBELL - Fighting Evil Is Cool!

26. "I'M THE GUY WITH THE GUN" - Army Of Darkness

27. BLEW THAT BITCH AWAY - Evil Dead: The Musical Cast

28. ARMY OF DARKNESS END TITLES - Joseph LoDuca

29. "HAIL TO THE KING BABY" - Army Of Darkness

DISC 4

1. WITHIN THE WOODS OPENING CREDITS

2. CREATION (INTRO) - Exmortis

3. BOOK OF THE DEAD (HEAVY HITTAZ REMIX) - DJ Vengeance

4. EVIL DEAD - Roadside Affair

5. DEAD BY DAWN - Showbread

6. FOUL THING - Joseph LoDuca

7. BRUCE CAMPBELL VS THE ARMY OF DARKNESS - Buzz 7

8. SCOTTIE - Subnation

9. "THE WOODS THEMSELVES" - The Evil Dead

10. ABOMINATIONS RISING - Roque Baños

11. BLOOD RED SANDMAN - Lordi

12. NECRONOMICON - The Rigormorticians

13. ALL THE MEN IN MY LIFE... - Evil Dead: The Musical Cast

14. BLUES CAMPBELL - The Great Luke Ski

15. EVIL DEAD - EvilDead (BRA)

16. EYE GAMES/CHARM - Joseph LoDuca

17. "WHY ARE YOU TORTURING ME LIKE THIS?" - The Evil Dead

18. BOOK OF THE DEAD - Certified Sickness

19. HE'S COMING - Roque Baños

20. THE DEADITE GIRLS GONE WILD - Lordi

21. MANLY MEN - Joseph LoDuca

22. "YO SHE-BITCH, LET'S GO" - Army Of Darkness

23. WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT - Evil Dead: The Musical Cast

24. THE BRUCE CAMPBELL SONG - Hulk's Pony

25. SEARCH (WITHIN THE WOODS END CREDITS) - Tangerine Dream

26. "GROOVY" – Ash

ME: How do you realize covers for your cds?

JOHN:  That was easy, as a huge Evil Dead fan I LOVE the Necronomicon (Book Of The Dead) and love Tom Sullivan's artwork in the book so wanted to do something similar to the Book Of The Dead DVD/BLU RAY releases but for a CD album. I couldn’t get it professionally printed due to copyright. Even though these are fan made albums and not for sale or distribution, the printing company would still be breaking the law because they are making money replicating copyrighted material so I had to make something myself at home.

I found these latex Necronomicon covers online with 4 different designs, so used those images and cropped them to fit a make it yourself card CD case and wrapped it around it as you would with the book cover. As no Necronomicon would be complete without the pages and artwork by the great Tom Sullivan, I used my favourite images from the first Book of the Dead to use as the inlay and then to finish it off I used a screen capture of the new Book of the Dead from the remake to use the stitches design for the discs so it was incorporated in a little way.

ME: Well done John! Are you planning something Evil Dead related in the next times ?

JOHN: Well I am hoping to build a replica of the Evil Dead clock this year. Found a clock that is similar in shape and size so going to have a go :)  I'm also hoping to make a short film this year which is an original idea, but going to hide a few Evil Dead references in there.

So here it is Jonn and his Evil Dead passion ! Hope this will be the first of a long series of fan interview, Stay tuned !!!

Originale o remake ?

In questo post vorrei analizzare quelle che secondo me sono alcune delle differenze / punti di incontro tra l'originale Evil Dead e il remake del 2013. 

SPOILER ALERT: per chi non ha ancora visto il remake, consiglio di non leggere il post !!!

Il protagonista

Partiamo dalle cose semplici :D Il protagonista del remake è una ragazza, non Ash! A differenza di Ash, Mia viene posseduta dai demoni per poi salvarsi e diventare l'eroina della situazione (anche Ash viene posseduto, ma in Evil Dead 2, non nel primo film). Punto di incontro con la versione originale è che Mia, come Cheryl, è sorella di uno dei protagonisti.

Il gruppo di amici

I due gruppi di amici protagonisti della vicenda hanno una composizione differente. Invece di due coppie (Ash e Linda, Scott e Shelley) e una ragazza single (Cheryl, che è la sorella di Ash), nel remake abbiamo una sola coppia (David e Natalie) e poi tre amici (Mia, Eric e Olivia).

Anche il loro fine è differente: mentre nel film del 1981 gli amici vanno in vacanza in un cottage (affittato), qui sono nel cottage di campagna (e di famiglia) per aiutare Mia a smettere di fare abuso di sostanze stupefacenti.

Il Necronomicon

Il Necronomicon del remake differisce molto da quello dell'originale. Non ha un "viso" e anche le pagine hanno un aspetto nuovo.

Il nuovo Necronomicon NON BRUCIA !!! E' sostanzialmente indistruttibile, mentre nell'originale Ash si "salvava" proprio lanciando il Necronomicon nel fuoco.

L'evocazione dei demoni

Nel vecchio film la parole erano registrate, e l'ascolto del nastro su Panasonic RQ-706s portava al risveglio delle forze del male. Nel remake invece è la troppa "curiosità" di Eric, che di sua iniziativa ricava le parole dal libro e le pronuncia, evocando così gli spiriti maligni.

Non solo le modalità, ma anche le parole sono differenti ! Nel remake sono semplicemente 4 (mi raccomando non mettetevi a leggerle in sequenza !!!  mica vorrete farvi del male !!!)


kunda
astratta
montosse
canda

mentre nell'originale - in lingua inglese per inciso - ben 17 (un caso o una scelta?)

Tatra amistrobin azarta, 

tatis manor manziz hounaz, 

ansobar saman darobza dahir saika danz deroza, 

kandar, kandar, kandar !!!

che in italiano sono diventate....

zamur cassamanda ora

damir u mar tu oss

camir tu amiss o mir dei

de miri u martu samanda ora

<qualcosa, non sono riuscito a capire e i sottotitoli del dvd non aiutano>

olen daar

olen daar

can daaar !!!

L'automobile

Nel remake la vecchia e cara Delta 88 Oldsmobile è protagonista di un piccolo cameo. Ed è sostituita da un meno "elegante" fuoristrada.

Non si può tornare a casa

Nessun ponte distrutto nel remake ! semplicemente l'allagamento da pioggia di un "torrente" guadabile.

Gli occhi

Invece delle vecchie e cari lenti sclerali (ovvero completamente bianche) il look della nuova versione di "deadite" comprende occhi giallastri iniettati di sangue, sullo stile di Regan ne "L'esorcista". Se vogliamo, look meno "caricaturale" di Evil Dead 2 e Army of Darkness, ma inquietante al punto giusto (seppur non possa essere messo in competizione con l'originale). 

Ho capito tutto... ma non mi ascolta nessuno !!!

Vita difficile per chi ha capito sempre prima degli altri che le cose non stanno andando proprio nel verso giusto ! Ma se nell'originale la (povera) Cheryl ha "poco" da soffrire, dato che è la prima a trasformarsi, Eric del remake è il classico sfigato che si becca coltellate, siringate, chiodi, sprangate e chi più ne ha più ne metta .... prima di diventare vettore del male !

La catenina

La catenina gioca sempre un ruolo importante in Evil Dead. Nel primo film è Ash a regalarla alla propria fidanzata, Linda. Nel remake è il regalo di David a sua sorella Mia. Le due catenine sono differenti (una in argento, l'altra color legno) però hanno entrambi hanno un pendente con una lente d'ingrandimento.

La differenza sostanziale è che, se nell'originale la catenina rappresenta uno strumento per la salvezza (Ash la usa per recuperare il libro prima di lanciarlo nel fuoco) nel remake la mano dell'Abominio si materializza proprio nel momento in cui Mia la raccoglie da terra !

Conclusioni

Sicuramente i due film non si differiscono solo per questi dettagli, ci sarebbe spazio per mille altre disquisizioni, a partire dall'aspetto della cantina per arrivare al (diverso) impiego della motosega (che è sempre la stessa HOMELITE XL).

Chiaramente l'originale vince in uno scontro diretto di "gradimento" personale per la maggiore naturalezza e per il fatto comunque che rappresenti non solo un bel film horror, ma anche un classico del genere. Il remake comunque non mi è dispiaciuto, forse perchè sono già partito dal presupposto che non potesse essere migliore dell'originale, ma anche perchè la tensione e mantenuta su buoni ritmi e "l'orrore" è sempre legato a scene gore/splatter.

Voi cosa ne pensate ?

Army of Darkness - The Card Game !

"Find the Necronomicon. Recite the words. Dispel the evil."


In 2004 (now 10 years ago) Eden Studios has published a nice and non-collectible card game based on the universe of "Army of Darkness". Being long out of production, I bought it on Ebay. It is possible to retrieve it without particular economical effort (and in particular I have found in the UK).

We start to describe the packaging: a small box that shows the movie poster on the cover and a quick explanation of the game in the back.

 

Once you've opened the box you will face a lot of beautiful cards which show pictures of characters and scenes from the film: groovy!

Rules of the game are quite simple. You can play from 2 to 4 players that choose a character, catch some cards and then start the game turn consisting of the following steps

• draw a card
• play one from your hand
• attack someone!

The game's purpose is to recover the Necronomicon and hold it for at least 2 turns (the one in which you recover it and the next one).

In the meanwhile we must fight against monsters (or against other players!) using a 6 faced dice (since you are forced to attack, it will be something that will happen many times).

Winning fights lead to draw a card, losing it to discard one. Cards in hand are even life points, so once a player finish his card... he have to turn side ! From "Good" the character will become "Evil" and viceversa: these cards  have two faces, each one with a different version of the character.

Here are the character cards "good" version

turning cards they become "Evil"!

To a lover of the universe Evil Dead these cards are hilarious, especially the "events" and "items" ones,  substantially cards that enhance the characters in their attacks. Note that each card contains a quote from the movie!

I have not played it yet but I think I will soon :) Next review will be about to the tabletop game, and it will require a little more study since that game is much more complicated: D

See you next time !

Steam Plant Operation and role of books in the trilogy

"We can take these deadites, we can take them... with science!"

At this point we can see the contents of the Oldsmobile' trunk, which contains quite a bit of stuff (you can see the frame 57 '24'' of "Army of Darkness", the full content can be found here) including two books, namely:

• Chemestry 101 by Bernard Garnell (a chemistry book)
• Steam Plant Operation - fifth edition - by Everett, Lammers e Woodruf (you can see it just below the first, a little bit hidden)

The books, and not just the well-known Necronomicon, play a very important role in the trilogy. These two are used for example to fight the army of skulls that otherwise would have an easy life in sieging and conquering the castle of humans (as well as their souls).

"Chemestry 101" is probably a school book, absolutely (and sadly) impossible to be found online. Ash uses it to prepare gunpowder, here's a frame of the scene where we see the content of this book (about 58' 15'')

As I said, unfortunately, this book is impossible to be found and so I had to be satisfied with this microscopic accessory of an action figure of Palisades.

"Steam Plant Operation" is used by Ash to build the Deathcoster's steam engine together with the blacksmith. On 57' 29'' we can have a full sight of the book cover:

and on 57' 34'' we can see the content of the book:

You'll notice, looking at the cover, that is the fifth edition of the book. Exactly, because now we got to the ninth! Fortunately you can find this book online. I found it through AbeBooks but even Amazon or Ebay are ok. I have not paid it so much, but ... The only thing, as usual, is the long time for shipping from the USA :) you can not have everything in life!

Here it is in all its glory!

Page with the schema showed in the film is 9. Here it is:

About the book, unless you're a lover of the study of steam, it is not an easy read :D

These are not the only books in the trilogy, another that deserves to be quoted is "A Farewell to Arms" by Hemingway that makes its appearance in Evil Dead 2 and is used to lock the jar containing the Ash's sewered arm.

The edition you can see in the picture above is a "fake" version. Let me explain: I read here (one of the most interesting sources if you are a fan of the trilogy) that essentially, to avoid trouble of copyright, the jacket of the book have been recreated for the movie! The original edition it looks like this:

For now this is not part of my personal collection... for now !!! See u next time !

ps: the "The Army of Darkness" edition that I've used is this one, the "Director's Cut" disc!

Army of Darkness - Il gioco di carte !

"Find the Necronomicon. Recite the words. Dispel the evil."

Nel lontano 2004 (oramai 10 anni fa) la Eden Studios ha pubblicato un simpatico gioco di carte non collezionabili basato sull'universo de "L'armata delle Tenebre". Essendo da molto tempo fuori produzione, l'ho acquistato su Ebay. E' possibile trovarlo a cifre modiche e anche in Europa (io in particolare l'ho reperito in UK).

Partiamo a descriverlo dal packaging: una piccola scatola che riporta in copertina la locandina del film e sul retro una rapida spiegazione del gioco.

 

Una volta aperta la scatola ci troviamo davanti un sacco di belle carte che riportano foto di personaggi e sequenze del film: groovy !!!

Le regole del gioco sono abbastanza semplici. Da 2 a 4 giocatori si sceglie un personaggio, si pescano un pò di carte e poi si passa al turno di gioco composto dai seguenti passi

• pescare una carta
• giocarne una dalla propria mano
• attaccare qualcuno !

Lo scopo è recuperare la carta del Necronomicon e riuscire a tenerla per almeno 2 turni (quello in cui lo recupera e quello successivo). 

Nel mentre però bisognerà combattere con i mostri (o contro gli altri giocatori !!!) a suon di tiri di dado da 6 (dato che si è obbligati ad attaccare, sarà una cosa che accadrà spesso). 

Combattimenti vinti porteranno a pescare una carta, persi a scartarla. E dato che le carte della mano rappresentano anche i punti di vita del giocatore, una volta esaurite il giocatore ... cambierà sponda!!! Da "Good" diventerà "Evil" e viceversa: le carte dei personaggi hanno due facce su ognuna delle quali riportano il personaggio in uno dei due schieramenti.

Ecco le carte dei personaggi "Buoni"

girandole diventano "Cattivi" !

Che dire, per un amante dell'universo di Evil Dead queste carte risultano spassosissime, in particolare gli eventi e gli "items", ovvero gli oggetti che potenziano i personaggi nei loro attacchi. Da notare che ogni carta riporta una citazione del film !!!

Non ci ho ancora giocato ma credo che lo farò presto :) La prossima recensione sarà dedicata al gioco da tavolo, quello necessiterà un pò più di studio dato che è decisamente più complicato :D

A presto !  

Panasonic RQ-706s - "epic" adventure of an italian deadite part 1

“I believe I have made a significant find in the Kandarian ruins, a volume of ancient Sumarian burial practices and funerary incantations. It is entitled "Naturum De Montum", roughly translated: Book of the Dead. The book is bound in human flesh and inked in human blood. It deals with demons and demon resurrection and those forces which roam the forest and dark bowers of Man's domain. The first few pages warn that these enduring creatures may lie dormant but are never truly dead. They may be recalled to active life through the incantations presented in this book. It is through the recitation of these passages that the demons are given license to possess the living.”

The tape playback was interrupted by Cheryl , scared to death by the words of Dr. Knowby .

The recorder used in this famous sequence is a Panasonic RQ- 706S . This is an old-fashioned model of " Reel to Reel Tape recorder" , or those here in Italy much more simply referred to as registratori a bobina" . As I am a (mad) collector, once retrieved information about the model in question , I need to have absolutely one !

Finding a Panasonic RQ- 706s is not easy because even if you can find one on Ebay , it is difficult to find someone that offers shipping in Italy at a good price . The first vendor to whom I applied for information I have explicitly stated that, since the recorder extremely big and heavy , he feared that I would not have received intact . Too bad, because his model , in addition to cost very little (under 20 U.S. dollars) was even complete with original microphone  …

The second attempt went better : device in good shape and (probably) tested. Paid under  $30 , shipping was certainly more challenging economic value of the real object. However, the past 3 weeks canonical shipping U.S. - IT, I received a box in the office over- heavy with the technological gem inside ... Take it home , honestly , it was a hoot , but what you are not willing to do in order to recite evocations of Kandarian demons sitting comfortably on your couch?

Here's where the fun starts . How can you run in 2013 an object produced in the 1970 without knowing anything about  it, except that it has been used in a horror movie ? Good question , I have not the answer: D

           

Well, first of all I've tried to find documentation. I bought on Ebay a "Service Manual", I suppose what today would be the technical manual for repairers.

Here are the specifications of this jewel:

and look at this beautiful image that explain the components

Ok , a lover of Evil Dead at this point have to be excited. But I’m speaking aboug a lover of Evil Dead and not of technology , because after reading the specifications you come quickly to the conclusion that to make work this lovely device you will need to jump through hoops : D

Let's start with the simple things : what kind of tape we have to use ? Good question ! Luckily, there are forums with lot of people ( very kindly indeed ) who love vintage players like this and are able to answer questions of an absolute beginner like me ! So to run the tape recorder I need a tape reel and an empty spool ! 

There we can get away with these http://www.datatex-italia.com/it/audioprodotti/bobine-serie-sm-911-rmgi/b-1-dettaglio-prodotto.html or 7 inch (18 cm) 1/4 . Not sure what the "1/ 4" means, but fortunately the forums were kind enough to tell me this specific :) 

Now the trickiest part will be power on the Panasonic. I discovered that a voltage transformer is not enough  (220V - the Italian - 117V to - the American one) : being so old, the legendary RQ-706S does not support multiple frequencies (before this episode I admit my ignorance on the subject, but I was not particularly well documented even though I had passed 2 exams in physics at the university), but only 60 Hz. And because In Italy we have 50 Hz ... ok guys, we have a situation here :D

If you give power to something that need 60Hz with 50Hz, not only the recorder could go faster (not being digital, the speed of the mechanics is related to the frequency), but you might even blow it up! So, thanks to the fantastic suggestions from the vintage forum, I just tested the recorder turning on the transformer and then I turned it off (I did not want to make it burn, and because I would like it to work, either because they do not use blow up objects at home). Here's an excerpt of the forum post that has saved me from the explosion

Just out of curiosity, what is the rated mains frequency of your reel to reel? You say you are buying a drop-down transformer to go from 220 to 117. I believe it is 50hz in Italy and if the reel to reel is rated for 60hz, the tape speed won't be correct and the motor could overheat. However, I'm not familiar with your model so I don't know if it has dual freq operation etc... If is says, 50hz you're fine. Just thought I would bring it up just in case.

 I have a few reels that sound like they were recorded in Vietnam, they have radio recordings from AFVN (American Forces Vietnam Network). The speed should be 3.75IPS but it sounds like it is too fast. They were either recorded on a machine brought from home (the US) or on a machine bought there running off a 120v 60hz generator.

Now you will think the same thing i tought: surf on ebay and look for somithing to do the conversion... Well dear friends , IT DOESN’T EXIST ! if you want to convert the frequency , you need a power generator that starts with that frequency. Put at home a power generator goes against my ethics ( more than anything else, as well as occupying a lot of space , will cause my sudden death or, in the best of cases, expulsion from the settlement ) .

Fortunately, there is a fantastic american kit, designed to " allows you to use your favorite American-Made Corded Electric Shavers & Trimmers to shave while traveling internationally without compromising the performance of the shaver " (yes, you read right , the shaver!) that permit to convert the voltage and even the frequency ! It looks like two phone ac adapter hooked one to each other ! It is also compliant with the RQ-706s power specifications, supporting up to 75w ( the toy it requires 45). Ok , it will be mine, even if it costs more than $ 100 ! 

http://www.shavinghouse.com/servlet/the-43/International-Integrated-Power-Supply%2C/Detail

Stay tuned, I will update you soon on developments !

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Update: it works !!! Click here for video !