I think I saw Army of Darkness first, when it first came on VHS. But around that same time, I saw Evil Dead when it aired on Sci-Fi channel during Halloween. When I saw it, I was blown away, and thought it was such a great kind of horror movie that connected with me way better than the more mainstream horror stuff that was out there. I watched ED2 a bit later on, when I managed to track down a tape of it at the rental place across town that had all the obscure stuff (anime, Peter Jackson's stuff, Cronenberg, etc.), and it was all I hoped it would be.
As I got older, I started thinking AOD was pretty cheesy, but I rewatched it a couple of years ago and could better appreciate what it was trying to do, and loved it. I need to watch it again one of these days. I can't imagine what it's like discovering these as an adult, but I'm glad you finally gave it a shot Khev. I think each movie succeeds in its own, distinct way. ED 2 is considered the height of the franchise, but like Turd, I think the original Evil Dead is a pretty special movie that's a bit underrated. Like the Thing, I think it does a really great job of establishing an effective and memorable atmosphere for the story it's trying to tell.
