Backflip reaches for its boomstick with iOS movie-based castle defence Army of Darkness: Defense

For various reasons lost in the midst of time, I was never a watcher, let alone an acolyte, of Sam Raimi's Evil Dead films.

Still, such has been their cultic tendencies that Bruce Campbell, his character Ash, his boomstick, the Deadites etc have entered the canon of popular culture.

And now they're getting their first iOS game thanks to US developer Backflip Studios.

Based on the third film in the Evil Dead series, slapstick comic horror flick Army of Darkness, it's described as 'a fun castle defense game'.

Of course, the point is you get to control Ash with his chainsaw, super boomstick, iron glove and various spells etc - also placing troops and other weapons - stopping the seemingly end flow of the undead.

Units include upgradeable peasants, swordsmen, spearmen, archers, armoured guards, wisemen, and horsemen, while items include wall archers, wall catapults, the smithy (to produce iron faster), the Pit, and the Necronomicon.

You'll be defending your castle from the likes of horseback skeletons, witches, flying Necronomicon, driads, pit monsters, evil Sheila, and evil Ash.

As you've probably gathered, Backflip is making full use of its access to the licence. The game will include 150 lines of dialogue.

Of course, this all means it's a game heavily targeted towards fans of the Evil Dead, although newbies like me should be able to enjoy the experience - 50 levels long with an unlockable Endless mode - too.

At least, Backflip's games are usually pretty fun, although interestingly in this case, Army of Darkness: Defense won't be free to pay as most of its output is.

The iPhone version will be 99c, €0.79 or 59p, while the iPad version will be $2.99, €2.39 or £1,79.

The game will also include the option to buy more gold if you want to access better weapons quicker, but the design is more like Infinity Blade than FarmVille in this respect, so there shouldn't be any grinding.

Evil Dead will be released on May 12. You can see how it plays in the following video.