The LA Beat

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“Dungeonmaster” (1984, Arrow Video) I covered this more-or-less anthology film from Charles Band’s Empire Pictures when it was released on Blu-ray by Shout Factory in 2016; it’s now featured in a vastly expanded presentation from Arrow Video as part of its sizable and enjoyable “Enter the Video Store: Empire of Screams” box set, which features many of the company’s ’80s output. Regarding the movie itself: it’s a collection of shorts helmed by many of Empire’s in-house directors, including John Carl Buechler, Ted Nicolaou, stop motion animation legend David Allen, and Band himself, all anchored by a framing story involving computer jockey Jeffrey Byron’s attempts to retrieve girlfriend Leslie Wing from the clutches of evil wizard Richard Moll (“Night Court”). The stories are hit-and-miss – Allen’s segment naturally features a stop-motion giant, while Band pits Byron against the band W.A.S.P. (!) and Steve Stafford drops him in LA to hunt a serial killer – but never skimp on energy or special effects, no matter how compromised by budget. Arrow’s Blu-ray presents no less than three versions of the film: a pre-release cut titled “Ragewar,” which adds a racy opening sequence and features a different arrangement of the segnments, as well as the Stateside theatrical cut, which adopts the “Dungeonmaster” title, and a “Ragewar” international edit, both of which drop the opening bit, rearrange the segments, and reduce a lengthy riff on cat torture (really) by Moll. Their 2K remaster of the film is paired with commentary by and an interview with Byron, who drops a wealth of info on the film (such as the use of his own apartment and an uncompleted sequel).

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