Directed by Peter Manoogian, David Allen …
A computer whiz is yanked into a twisted digital world by the sadistic wizard Mestema and forced through a gauntlet of wild, deadly trials, from mutant goblins to metal mayhem, with his girlfriend’s soul on the line.
Ragewar: The Challenges of Excalibrate, Herrscher der Hölle, O Mestre do Jogo, El amo del calabozo, Saatanan lunnaat, Le maître du jeu, Mestema, le maître du donjon, Il demone delle galassie infernali, ＳＦダンジョン・マスター／魔界からの脱出, Хозяин подземной тюрьмы, Mestema, le maître du Donjon, 黑暗大师, Władca podziemi
USA 
UK USAPG-13 UK USA 
Hooptober 9: It’s in Space Now
“I reject your reality and substitute my own”
Film couldn’t decide what genre it wanted to be so it chose all of them.
You’ve got an all powerful mage/demon that kidnaps a couple because… why not I guess, and makes the chad computer nerd boyfriend go through multiple challenges to save his girlfriend. And the heavy metal band W.A.S.P. appears as themselves but also as magic psychos. It’s certainly unique.
Each challenge is directed by someone else so that’s a cool idea but these challenges are so random and plotless it’s hard to appreciate any above the rest.
This is about as 80’s as you get. From the beginning we get obligatory nudity, aerobics…
Can’t decide if this a prequel to Her, a sequel to Electric Dreams or a new W.A.S.P. video. Charles Band, I reject your depravity and substitute my own.
"I'm not in love with my computer!"
Paul Bradford is a computer programmer (nerd!!) who lives with his girlfriend Gwen (not a nerd!) and X-CaliBR8 a super powered computer (nerd!!) Anyway one night they get sucked into a different dimension where a Demonmaster (not a Dungeonmaster to be a Dungeonmaster you need dungeons the first rule 1 of Dungeonmastering - caves don't count!) who's been seeking for a worthy opponent with whom to do battle with (obviously couldn't find one and just picks the first nerd to come along!)
"Your wrong Spitrat!"
An okayish 'what if google glasses were actual real' fantasy/horror/Electric Dreams (both came out the same year) but with the Phil Oakey and Giorgio Moroder hit song being…
After Hereditary crushed my soul last night (in a fun way of course) I've retreated back into my B movie cave to get my fix of wacky supernatural shenanigans before I inevitably watch Midsommer for another probable soul crush. And what a fix it was. One of those dream logic induced throw everything at the screen kinda gems that only could have been birthed from the zany 80s.
From the first scene this thing comes out swinging. Our nerdy protagonist wakes up to a heavily fog filled corridor where he begins to chase a woman with a flowing red dress. She eventually stops while the fog has created a whirlwind beneath her. She slowly removes her dress to reveal nothing…
This movie felt like when you wake up and try to explain to someone a dream you were just having..
I reject your reality and I substitute my own!
Some of the challenge segments were better than others and not a lot of plot or setup, but had some cool set pieces and awesome makeup & special effects. Low budget and fun, the Charles Band way.
Watching The Dungeonmaster (aka Ragewar: The Challenges of Excalibrate) feels like having a crazy fever dream after binge-watching the 80s.
I wanted to list all of the movies this feels like a mashup of but, a mere 10 minutes into this, the list grew too unwieldy to continue with that idea. I mean, there's so much 80s nonsense crammed into this thing that if I had to recommend just one movie to represent the entire decade, it might just have to be this one. Hell, there's even a scene where the 80s hair metal band, W.A.S.P., gets disintegrated, which is directed by Charles Band. Oh, did I forget to mention that, while this has an overarching narrative, it's basically an…
I really thought with this title it would be something more akin to a D&D campaign but not only was it not it has nothing to do really with the title at all. Don't get me wrong I think the cast "acted" in good faith to the material given but honestly what did they think computers could do in the 80's. I mean with what he was doing was even what Big Blue could have done at the time. unfortunately this material captured all the bad story tropes of the 80's and at best acted like a small forum for young directors to showcase there skills in which maybe production companies would pick them for future projects to suitably shoot but other then that this was poorly structured and I would only recommend to see as a lark or to see how not to make a cohesive story. FYI I did enjoy Richard Moll as always.
Total B-movie junk from Charles Band. The Dungeonmaster features an incomprehensible plot that has something to do with an athletic computer whizz who finds himself having to complete various tasks in some kind of alternate dimension at the behest of an evil wizard....for some reason. The film is put together like an omnibus, though none of the individual "stories" would work on their own. There's seven sections in total, each one directed by someone different. The quality of each really varies, although they are somewhat charming and feature those wonderful cheapo eighties practical effects. We've got segments involving little demons, a huge aztec statue, zombie things, frozen villains from the past, an urban slasher, a mad max inspired futuristic car…
I first saw this when scream factory blu dropped a few years back but I wish I’d seen this when I was younger, It’s the kind of crazy whacky adventure stuff I love getting lost in and tbh it would have made a great NES video game!
My inner 14-year-old gives this movie five stars, half of them for the stop motion giant and the other half for Gina Calabrese. He's embarrassed though at naming it's hero "Excalibrate" - combining masturbate with Excalibur hits way too close to home. It's a very prescient film, too, in which Satan feels like he's losing power to computers, which feels really prophetic. But alas, there's not even the slightest tingle of drama in any of the stories because his computer's power, once strapped on to his wrist, is completely undefined and completely magical. Satan summoned a light dragon? Fine! My computer summons a light dragon! Monsters attack? No worries, my computer shoots lasers and kills them! Stuck at a heavy…
Weird and mostly charming low-budget fever dream mix of just about every trashy 80s genre b-movie you can think of (sci-fi, fantasy, horror, etc) bridged together by an episodic (sort-of) anthology kid's adventure structure so that Charles Band could hire as many of his friends as possible and let them show off as many of their diverse and ambitious cheapo FX setpieces as possible. One minute there will be a sorcerer summoning zombies and then in the next, we'll be laser-fighting giant stone golems followed by a dune buggy chase shootout. How good they all are is up for debate but it's basically 7 movies in 70 minutes. What a deal! The new Arrow restoration of this looks quite nice too.
Finishing off this Arrow Empire set with my favourite of the bunch. A mystical fantasy odyssey of B movie perfection Dungeonmaster! Watched the "pre release" version as it included previously cut nudity. Yep I'm a perv. A film I enjoy more with every viewing it's essentially a highlight reel of everything I love about 80s shlock. An untapped imagination mixed with high ambition translates effectively well here. Buckle up for a cosmic trip into a fantastical world of wonder!
I love the underlying mythical 70s prog vibe going on. Mixed with a kitschy dungeons and dragons video game it's just so satisfying visually. An endless assault of lofi lasers, magical beasts, mischievous trolls, zombies and fog machine filled lairs of…
