SKULLDUGGERY (1983) ½ *

In Medieval Times, a sorcerer takes control of a castle and places a curse on a royal family.  Flashforward to 1982 where a Dungeons and Dragons nerd starts to feel as if the line between the game and reality is beginning to blur.  He picks a warlock character in the game and later, while at a local talent show, causes a snake to kill an actress with his mind.  The more grandiose his visions become, and the more the bodies begin to pile up.  At a big costume party, he dons a variety of disguises as he offs victims.  Is he in control of his magic powers?  Or is someone else pulling the strings?  

There are parts of Skullduggery that might remind you of Evilspeak, Fade to Black, Terror Train, and Mazes and Monsters.  It’s a mishmash of stock horror scenes (like a trip to a fortune teller), slasher clichés (like the masked stalking sequences), and out and out weirdness.  I guess there was some potential here, but none of it ever gels in a meaningful way.  

The long magic acts and stage plays eat up a lot of time and the stuff involving the boardgame just sits there like a stone.  It’s one thing if the plot and/or filler scenes fall flat, but even the supposedly horrific stuff is a total bore.  The stalking scenes go on far too long, and the part where the killer dresses up in a variety of stupid costumes (like an Easter Bunny) are lame.  

All this is more confounding than anything.  Any one of these elements might’ve made for a good movie, but Skullduggery can’t make up its mind what it wants to be.  Instead, it just plays like a mind-numbing puree of clichés.  Since the connecting tissue is so weak, it all falls apart.  The various side jaunts (like the horny nurse) are perplexing and silly shit (like the random Liberace impersonator) is more stupid than fun.  The occasional attempts at intentional humor land with a thud and only make the fractured narrative seem even more incongruous.

Many of the kills make no sense.  For example, there’s a scene where the killer holds a woman’s face under scalding steam and then, seconds later, he’s just holding a skull in his hands.  Did the steam decapitate her too?  You’ll go crazy trying to make sense of this movie.  

There are only two things saving Skullduggery from a No Star rating.  One is the creepy jester puppet that occasionally pops up.  The second is the hilarious theme song that sounds like a disco version of a Ren Fest ballad.  That’s about as good as the movie ever gets, which is sad because it’s the first thing we hear!

AKA:  Blood Puzzle.  AKA:  Warlock.