or “I Ordered Tron on Wish!”

Director: Steven Ford, Charles Band, Ted Nicolaou, John Carl Buechler, Peter Manoogian, Rosemarie Turko, David Allen
Cast: Jeffrey Byron, Richard Moll, Leslie Wing, Gina Calabrese, Phil Fondacaro, Anthony T. Genova III, Lonnie Hashimoto, Chris Holmes, Michael Steve Jones, Peter Kent, Blackie Lawlers, Paul Pape, Randy Piper, Randy Popplewell, Tony Richards, Felix Silla
Screenplay: Charles Band, Allen Actor, Rosemarie Turko, John Carl Buechler, David Allen, Jeffrey Byron, Peter Manoogian, Ted Nicolaou
73 mins. Rated PG-13.

I’m always curious to check out an unwatched Empire Pictures or early Full Moon Features movie. That time period contained some of the more risky and interesting films for these studios, and the finished products contained an infinite amount of care and heart to make up for some of the incredibly low budgets, so when I came across The Dungeonmaster, especially in the wake of losing Richard Moll (Scary Movie 2), I knew I had to watch it. If only the movie made good on the promise.

When the evil wizard Mestema (Moll) comes forth to challenge a computer programmer named Paul (Jeffrey Byron, Star Trek) to a series of quests in order to rescue his girlfriend, Paul is forced to use his technological prowess to defeat the wizard’s sorcery-laden foes in order to win the day!

I tried, y’all, I really did, but The Dungeonmaster was an endlessly disappointing film. After seeing the list of directors, I came to the conclusion that it was an anthology film, and it was…to an extent. Meaning that it’s the same lead character moving from short to short, encountering a wide array of evils on the quest to freedom. At the same time, I would’ve expected one of these shorts, any of them, to be memorable, but I’m just a few days removed from The Dungeonmaster and I could barely string together any real memory of any of the individual pieces. I had to research each one after the fact just to bring them back to my brain, not a great vote of confidence for my entertainment value.

If I had to pick the best bits, I would call to mind the Demons of the Dead segment from director John Carl Buechler (Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood) and the Stone Canyon Giant piece from David Allen (Puppet Master II) but we never really get to spend enough time to flesh out any of them. Considering this is a 73-minute film with 7 segments and a wraparound, there isn’t enough time dedicated to any one portion to feel like a cohesive narrative. I’m really not sure what to make of this film, and it seems like Charles Band (Evil Bong) didn’t really know how to bring this all together. Initially called Ragewar until the realization that D&D was becoming a big thing in the mid-80s. This whole narrative does seem like something cobbled together to look like a Tron movie and then a fantasy D&D-style yarn without actually giving anything of context or style of its own.

I can’t recommend The Dungeonmaster even with all the excitement I brought with me. It’s just a pretty soulless film banking off the success of other better ones. I’m sure there are viewers who will enjoy the cheese, but it never really worked for me. Well, at least it was short.

2/5
-Kyle A. Goethe

For my review of John Carl Buechler’s Troll, click here.
For my review of John Carl Buechler’s Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, click here.
For my review of Charles Band’s Blood Dolls, click here.