a5c7b9f00b Live-action role players conjure up a demon from Hell by mistake and they must deal with the consequences. In a valiant but pointless attempt to cheer up their freshly-dumped friend and former Dungeons and Dragons legend, Joe, two enthusiastic Live Action Role Players--Eric, a 27-level Grand Sorcerer in the making, and Hung, a medieval Master Rogue--drag their sad companion to a large-scale LARP campaign in the middle of a forest. However, things will soon spin out of control, as a malevolently cryptic dark incantation from the pages of a seemingly innocent prop book of spells, inadvertently summons a demonic succubus bent on destruction. Now, try to stop a slaughterous extra-dimensional being with several foam sticks and a handful of plastic swords. I loved this movie. I'll admit, I'm exactly the target audience in that I'm a long time roleplayer, and a fan of horror comedies.<br/><br/>I've been waiting for this movie for what seems like a long time and at times it seemed like it would never be released. When I read some of the reviews on here, about bad acting and bad effects and the like, I was worried I was going to be sorely disappointed. <br/><br/>Well, I wasn't. I felt the movie was exactly what I expected it to be. The acting was deliciously over the top. The visuals (not talking about the special effects) were dead on. Moments where simply people in costume walking around in the background, with the cars in the parking lot contrasting with the medieval costumes, just gave me a chuckle of recognition. The "dragon" was very well designed and looked like something a bunch of guys could have created in their garage. It just all seemed to fit.<br/><br/>The special effects, while perhaps not big budget blockbuster quality, were very well done, for the most part. There was one scene that had a bit of a "Oh wow, that looks fake" feeling, but it was a pretty quick shot, and frankly I like this kind of movie to look a bit campy.<br/><br/>After all the negative things I'd heard, I'm glad I went with my gut feeling and watched it anyway.<br/><br/>I know I'm gushing a bit here, and I know I am the target audience for this, but if you are like me, you'll love this. So ignore the negative comments and enjoy this for what it is. Knights Of Badassdom exists in a mystical confluence, equal parts Monty Python & The Holy Grail, Animal House, Galaxy Quest and Friday 13th but never quite rises to the brilliance of its forebears.<br/><br/>Having just been dumped by his girlfriend, wannabe doom metal singer Joe (True Blood's Ryan Kwanten) is 'kidnapped' by his two best friends - hardcore LARPers Eric (Steve Zahn) and Hung (Game Of Thrones' Peter Dinklage) - to the site of their next big event, The Battle Of Evermore.<br/><br/>Joe is reluctantly talked into joining the Live Action Role Playing game - helped by the presence of the lovely Gwen (Firefly's Summer Glau) - but, unfortunately, in his quest for authenticity Eric has purchased a magical tome off eBay that turns out to be a long lost book belonging to the famous Elizabethan sorcerer John Dee.<br/><br/>When Eric reads a page at random as a mock spell, he unknowingly summons a succubus from Hell that proceeds to feed on the souls of the LARPers.<br/><br/>Soon after that Joe and Gwen realise that people are dying for real and take up arms to strike back at the monstrous demon and try to save their friends.<br/><br/>Knights Of Badassdom starts very promisingly, with plenty of loving nods to both LARPing and Dungeons & Dragons (this certainly isn't a mockery of geeks), but once the horror aspect enters the mix, the film doesn't really know where to go.<br/><br/>Now, I'm pretty certain that I read a ways back that this release of the film was not the director's vision of the story but a cut put together by the producers. This might explain the feeling that after a while the story is just spinning its wheels.<br/><br/>What starts off as belly-laughing funny (very much in the style of The Big Bang Theory, but with more swearing) that had me thinking this might one day equal The Holy Grail as geeks' go-to game quote movie eventually lapses into mildly amusing, by-the-numbers fare.<br/><br/>There are plot holes a-plenty and a lot of undeveloped characters (for instance, what was the deal with the redneck paint-ballers and their major hate-on for the LARPers? Outside of explaining why the police didn't turn up at the camp site when the slaughter began, they were totally redundant to the plot), which again suggests to me to retrospective re-cutting of the film for whatever reason, making do with what footage was on-hand.<br/><br/>Don't get me wrong, it's good and certainly clever in parts, but there's an inescapable feeling that it could have been much better. There are some great characters, and great "in-story" world-building by the LARPers, but it all degenerates into a big slug-fest with a rubber-suit monster.<br/><br/>Depending on your mood - and your attitude to random absurdity in movies - the climax of Knights Of Badassdom will either have you smirking at its ridiculousness or reaching for the remote control to turn off the television.<br/><br/>It's such a shame because I genuinely believe this could have been - if done right - a cult classic. As it is, I fear it will simply be swept under the carpet as a missed opportunity and promptly forgotten about.<br/><br/>Of course, the film's biggest mistake: not enough Dinklage. It’s hardly a masterpiece, but then, it shows no signs it ever wanted to be, and sometimes that’s a relief. Knights of Badassdom is a action horror comedy starring Summer Glau and Peter Dinklage in which all hell breaks loose for a group of dungeons and dragons roleplayers, during a dungeons and dragons enactment in the woods, when they discover that a spell book they bought online, is a book that summons demons and they unwittingly unleash a demon from medieval legend, that goes on a rampage in the woods.