The Dungeonmaster

The Dungeonmaster (originally Ragewar: The Challenges of Excalibrate and Digital Knights) is a 1984 American anthology horror-fantasy film produced by Charles Band, and is split up into seven distinct story segments, each written and directed by a different person: Dave Allen, Band, John Carl Buechler, Steven Ford, Peter Manoogian, Ted Nicolaou and Rosemarie Turko. The film's theme was influenced by the popularity of Disney's 1982 film Tron and the roleplaying game Dungeons and Dragons.

For other uses of "Dungeon Master", see Dungeon Master (disambiguation).
The Dungeonmaster
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Produced byCharles Band
Written by
  • Allen Actor
  • Dave Allen
  • Charles Band
  • John Carl Buechler
  • Jeffrey Byron
  • Peter Manoogian
  • Ted Nicolaou
  • Rosemarie Turko
Starring
Music by
CinematographyMac Ahlberg
Distributed byEmpire Pictures
Release date
  • 1984 (1984) (UK)
  • February 1985 (1985-02) (U.S.)
Running time
73 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Principal photography began in 1983 but the film was not completed until 1984. The film features an appearance by the heavy metal band W.A.S.P.. The film is known for the line of dialogue "I reject your reality and I substitute my own."[1] A sequel to the movie was shot and edited in 1988, but never completed.[2]

Plot

Paul Bradford (Jeffrey Byron) is a skilled computer programmer who lives with his girlfriend, Gwen (Leslie Wing), and "X-CaliBR8," a quasi-sentient personal computer that Paul programmed and which he interacts with via a neural interface. Gwen is jealous of Paul's unusually close relationship with X-CaliBR8, to whom Paul has given a female voice, and fears that their relationship will be destroyed by Paul's reliance on X-CaliBR8 for his various day-to-day activities.

One night, Paul and Gwen are both transported to a Hellish realm presided over by Mestema (Richard Moll), an ancient, demonic sorcerer who has spent millennia seeking a worthy opponent with whom to do battle. Having long defeated his enemies with magic, Mestema has become intrigued with technology, and wishes to pit his skills against Paul's, with the winner claiming Gwen. Arming Paul with a portable version of X-CaliBR8 (which takes the form of a computerized wrist band), Mestema begins transporting Paul into a variety of scenarios in which he must defeat various opponents. Most of the challenges involve Paul using his X-CaliBR8 wristband to shoot people, monsters, and objects with laser beams.

After Paul completes Mestema's various challenges, the two engage in a final battle, which takes the form of a fist fight in which Paul kills Mestema by throwing him into a pit of lava. After Mestema dies, Paul and Gwen are transported back to their house, where Gwen expresses her acceptance of X-CaliBR8 and suggests that she and Paul get married.

Release

On October 29, 2013, Scream Factory released the film on DVD for the first time, along with Contamination 7, Catacombs and Cellar Dweller as part of the second volume of their Scream Factory All-Night Horror Marathon series.

On December 15, 2015, Shout Factory released The Dungeonmaster on a double feature Blu-ray along with Eliminators.

References
  1. Nicholas Bitonti (March 24, 2015), "On using Meetup to play D&D with a group of strangers", Detroit Metro Times, retrieved July 31, 2019
  2. The Evil Clergyman, Full Moon Streaming, archived from the original on January 4, 2019, retrieved July 31, 2019
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