Jeux de rôles

I rented this film about a dozen times in the late eighties before my video store got rid of it. I wish I was the one to get it. Did I love the film? Yes. Because it is good? No. This film is so outrageously bad, even by bad movie standards. But it doesn't fall into the gray zone of boring bad. It's not bad like other bad films. A million typing monkeys couldn't have come up with a more disjointed script. After reading other reviews, positive and negative, I suspect that a lot of the people who watched it were too stunned to even remember how messed up the continuity was. This is like three bad films in one (at least parts of three bad films, randomly cut together) As far as I remember, it starts off with the story of the friends roll-playing, then they start to die, before anyone figures out what is happening- Adam starts killing some other people, for no apparent reason, then he goes to a party. I won't give away the ending, which comes rather out of left field. In the end I was confused.

Yes, put it out on DVD, it's been too long since I saw it. (I too used to inflict this film on others, watching it is like picking at a scab.) I can't cast a vote, it's awful and great. Please, recommended for weirdo's only.

Oh, Skullduggery, you horrible little cow patty of a film. Your actors are stiff and couldn't read the dialogue for an Ovaltine commercial with a sense of conviction, your plot is incomprehensible and filled to the brim with pompous symbolism no one buts its filmmakers could explain, and in the end, you just plain stink. But gosh darn it if I don't feel proud to have you in my collection of films. You are, without a doubt, the crown jewel in my cornucopia of crap. I threaten my friends with you and they cringe in fear. What power! And honestly, even though you still provide tons of laughs and potential riffing, one aspect of you keeps me coming back for more: your theme song! Oh, how brilliant is your theme song? I burned it onto a CD, for crying out loud! Does that not express my loyalty to you? I have no idea who was crazy enough to write the lyrics and put it to one of the worst tunes to come out of the '80s, but if I ever meet them, I will be sure to shake their hand (or tentacle) and say, "Thank you. Thank you."

Can you read what's in my mind? SKULLDUGGERY! SKULLDUGGERY! Tearing up my mind! Heavy breath, passion in your eyes SKULLDUGGERY! SKULLDUGGERY! I just found a clue, it's all gone! YEAH! I can see what's in your head SKULLDUGGERY! SKULLDUGGERY! Feeling just ahead (??) Killer's smile, now I understand SKULLDUGGERY! SKULLDUGGERY! Shattered hopes and dreams all fall down! YEAH!

Oh, good times, good times. 4/4 stars for sheer crapdom

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.

For the record, that was a rhetorical question. I don't know, and deep down, I don't wanna know. All I know is that recently, I experienced the single most dull 90 minutes of my life. You understand, this isn't "so bad it's good" (Criminally Insane), or even "so bad it's mind-blowing" (Troll 2). I'm talking about head-ache-inducing boredom. I don't care how far into the B-movie universe you've gone. You're not ready for this. Please, for the love of God, let this one be.

I sat there and observed the entire duration of this film. Looking closely for something, anything which might resemble entertainment value. But nothing ever happened. Not a thing. I mean, stuff happened. Conversations were had, people got killed. But why? Who were they? Did they deserve it? I just don't understand. Was I not supposed to? My questions are endless. But you know something? There are a lot of bizarre films out there that people joke about the director being on acid, or something similar (Horror House On Highway 5), but really, this is probably it. If someone was heavily into such a drug, and they just happened to get the idea that making a movie would be a swell idea, then I would imagine that their first attempt at art would turn out something like... you guessed it. Skullduggery!!

Just kidding. I'm pretty sure acid isn't to blame for this travesty. With that said, Let this be a valuable lesson to any Dungeons & Dragons geeks out there, who may get any ideas. Stay out of the world of B-cinema. You don't get it, and you never will. Just continue doing what you're doing, and don't try and be cute, by attempting to educate the world about you're favorite thing. I cannot specify enough that we are not talking about something so bad it's good. Skullduggery ain't ahead of its time, nor is it too deep to grasp. it's like watching Nascar, or C-SPAN. And really, how typical is it that this movie would be released on DVD by Substance. And what, may I ask, is up with Substance, anyway? How does a company that only acquires the most unwatchable obscurities go about staying in business? Skullduggery, I was warned about you. Every review I ever read turned out to be a warning, in one form or another. It was foolish of me for wanting you to be apart of my collection of obscure Horror. And now, I'm stuck with you. I realize that I'm the one to blame for my own misfortunes. But I won't let that stop me from despising you until my dying day. Hopefully, someday, I will learn to leave well enough alone when it comes to the unwatchables, but you will always be Skullduggery, and nothing will ever change that. And believe me when I say that I will forever warn other over-confident B-movie enthusiasts of your mind-numbing worthlessness. 1/10

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.