| The Dungeonmaster | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Dave Allen Charles Band John Carl Buechler Steven Ford Peter Manoogian Ted Nicolaou Rosemarie Turko |
| Produced by | Charles Band |
| Written by | Allen Actor Dave Allen Charles Band John Carl Buechler Jeffrey Byron Peter Manoogian Ted Nicolaou Rosemarie Turko |
| Starring | Jeffrey Byron Charles Moll Leslie Wing Phil Fondacaro Anthony T. Genova III Lonnie Hashimoto Chris Holmes Michael Steve Jones Peter Kent Blackie Lawless Paul Pape Randy Piper Randy Popplewell Tony Richards Felix Silla |
| Music by | Richard Band Shirley Walker |
| Cinematography | Mac Ahlberg |
| Release date(s) | 1984 (Great Britain) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Dungeonmaster, (originally, Ragewar: The Challenges of Excalibrate and Digital Knights), is a 1984 low-budget science fiction/fantasy film, rated PG-13, starring Jeffrey Byron, Charles Moll and Leslie Wing. The film is produced by Charles Band, and is split up into seven distinct story segments, each written and directed by a different person: Dave Allen, Charles 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. Principal filming 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.. A sequel segment was planned for the anthology Pulse Pounders, but the unfinished film was never released due to the collapse of Empire Pictures.
A computer engineer/enthusiast Paul Bradford (Jeffery Byron), and his girlfriend Gwen (Leslie Wing), get sucked into another world where a demonic sorcerer named Mestema, known as "The Dungeonmaster" (Charles Moll), has them interact in seven different scenarios/riddles to see who can survive. They must figure out how to escape from each scenario; in most cases the riddle's solution involves zapping things with Bradford's wristband computer X-CaliBR8 (a name reminiscent of the mythical sword Excalibur).
The movie begins with Paul, a skilled computer programmer who uses a neural interface he has developed to link his mind with his advanced home PC called X-CaliBR8. He uses X-CaliBR8 to scam money from ATMs and do other tricks like change traffic lights. The computer has been given a female voice and a jealous Gwen thinks Paul has become more interested in his computer than her.
It appears that some dark intelligence has been observing Paul and Gwen's difficult relationship and pulls them both into a computer-generated world. The being then puts Paul to the test to see if he is worthy of Gwen. If he wins the game, they will both be freed, but if he should lose, he forfeits Gwen's soul. Offered nothing more than a wrist-mounted version of his trusty computer X-CaliBR8, Paul has little choice but to accept the challenge.
Throughout the movie's various segments, Paul must avoid a rock-throwing giant and some evil dwarves, enter a "land of the dead" to destroy zombies, save Gwen from a murderous heavy-metal band during the making of a twisted music video, enter a strange world to fight ice people, battle a cave monster, save Gwen from a night-stalking serial killer, race against post-apocalyptic mutants in a road-warrior battle, then face Mestema for a final showdown to save Gwen.
The quote "I reject your reality and substitute my own!" (said by film character Paul Bradford) was later popularized by Adam Savage of MythBusters.