Skullduggery

So I watched this film for probably the third time last night, and there was, of course, no shortage of laughing, MST-style mocking, and general merriment. This is certainly one of the absolute strangest movies I have in my bad movie collection (which is large). At the same time, the more I see this film, the more I'm convinced that there is something more going on here than is detectable prima facie. Now what that might be, I have absolutely no idea whatsoever. But I think there are some clues if we look closely.

To me I think we need to look at the film as engaging with multiple cultural time periods (as hinted at by the pseudo-philosophical conversation had by the enigmatic might-be-brothers early on at the part). It's engagement with the past and present are clear (medieval times & the goofy slasher obsessed 80's respectively) but I think what is more interesting is how it deals with the future. The notion of reality blending into fantasy (and more importantly, a game) is very interesting and something that I think is still very relevant in our society (e.g. people committing suicide over "relationship" problems in Everquest, the loss of a sense of the outside world (e.g. neglecting children, etc) with similar games). The fact that the Tic-Tac-Toe man (one of the most interesting and baffling characters in any film I have ever seen) is constantly wandering through the scenes, reminding us that the line between reality and non-reality has been crossed. Really the whole film deals with this line.

I also think that the image on the puzzle that is being put together over the course of the film is interesting. The image of Adam and Eve is one that is repeated a couple times throughout the film (during the play, on the puzzle, etc.) and so we might ask about what the significance of this is. I don't know, but maybe it has something to do with regression? The blending of reality and mythology? Who knows.

There is probably more to say here (especially about the Tic-Tac-Toe man, the weirdo magician and the party), but I'll leave it to others to say it. I'm not gonna vote on this because it just feels wrong. I don't know that a rating would help anybody with this movie. It's a freaky, freaky movie, and you ought to check it out. Watch it to laugh and mock sure, but also try to open yourself to this other layer that may or may not be there.

I don't even know where to begin. The Scooby-like music. The frumpy male lead who, apparently, was Johnny Depp before there was Johnny Depp. The stiff, wooden females. The guy making the puzzle (I mean, what the heck does that prove?) This movie makes me want to puke whenever I see it and for some reason I see it often. You have to wonder why it is that every woman in town is unaccountably attracted to Adam. The edges of this guy's mouth are turned down so far, that even when he smiles it looks like he's frowning. But what can I say? The theme song is very catchy. It sticks to you like painful, prickly brambles. Basically, the whole movie is like a bad high school play, and obviously had the budget of one. All in all, I recommend this movie to fans of truly horrible cinema. Like me.

No, seriously. It makes no sense. It's just a bunch of random nothing thrown together in as senseless as way possible. Pick up stock footage, assemble it at random, and release it as a feature film, and you'll have something easily better than this.

So bad, it's not even funny. The only thing funny is that I watched it, and you can laugh at that.

I was tempted to turn off during the awful opening theme song for Skullduggery, but if I had I would have missed out on one of the strangest films of the '80s. I suspect that the incredibly bizarre execution of this movie was deliberate, but what I fail to understand is why: Why put so much effort into making something so unintelligible? Why waste money filming a script that would surely struggle to turn a profit? Why put your name to something that is unlikely to help your movie career? So many questions...

The film begins in 1382 in Canterbury, England, where a wizard is betrayed by a nobleman, and so curses his offspring for generations to come. Cut to Trottelville, USA, 1982, where Adam (Thom Haverstock) and Barbara (Wendy Crewson) work at a costume shop. After hours, they join a few friends for a Dungeons and Dragons style board game, during which Adam starts to suffer strange hallucinations. From this point on, things get weirder and weirder, with an offbeat, logic-free storyline full of surreal elements that leave one feeling like they've just dropped acid.

Amongst the craziness on offer: a talent show at the Trottelville Junior College in which a variety of terrible acts are met with laughter and applause by the audience; repeated cuts to a man playing with a jigsaw puzzle; Adam killing people, including a fortune teller (not a very good one-she didn't see that coming!) and a woman in roller skates whose footwear is cooked in an oven; a man walking in an out of scenes with a Tic Tac Toe board on his back, which gradually gets filled in; a fat couple visiting the costume shop looking for rabbit costumes; a Punch puppet appearing in the background of numerous scenes; a doctor in a hospital wearing a gorilla suit; a policeman acting like Sherlock Holmes (and his assistant is called Watson); and an organist at a church dressed like Liberace.

The sheer randomness of the film outdoes even the most incomprehensible of French avant-garde cinema, and gives the most schlocky of '80s horror movies a run for their money. For many, this will prove unwatchable; for others, it might well prove irresistible. Whatever your opinion, there's no denying that it's a unique experience. As for writer/director Ota Richter's intent: the film's final shot is a big clue, a close-up of a character (I gave up trying to figure out who) flipping the bird! It would seem that the joke is on those who stick it through to the end in the hope of any kind of logical explanation.

This movie is pure, concentrated evil.

I acquired my copy from the dusty back bins of a video store which was going out of business back in 1987. Just to put things in perspectrive, it was on Beta--I had to dub it over to VHS. As a gamer, I tend to collect movies in the "Roleplayer Goes Crazy" genre. Most of them are pretty bad...but this one has them all beat, in terms of sheer deep hurting.

Nevermind the blatant anachronisms--such as the opening scene, set in 14th century England in an 18th century manor house where a 16th century nobleman is killed by a guy in a cheesy 1980's wizard costume. Nevermind the fact that the lead actor looks for all the world like he's dead, and was animated by black magic just for this movie. Nevermind the fact that the best actor in the entire movie is a puppet who just hangs there and doesn't do anything. Even without all of those factors, the movie would just be painful.

And yet, it holds a kind of sick fascination, not unlike a car wreck---you want to look away, but you can't. This movie has spawned an unwholesome and degenerate cult (at least two of the other comments on this list are from members.) Beware--this movie is CONCENTRATED schlock of the worst kind. Do not, do not, do NOT watch this movie and Mazes and Monsters back to back. The last person who did that wound up in the hospital a few hours later with an acute gall bladder attack. I kid you not.