# Jack Chick's Dark Dungeons Movie Trailer



## Morrus (Mar 18, 2014)

Many moons ago, I mentioned that there was a movie being made of Jack Chick's famous Dark Dungeons comic strip - the one which portrayed us gamers as evil devil-worshiping magic users. Anyone who knows me knows darn well I worship Doctor Who, not the devil. Anyway, that aside - there's now a trailer!

[video=youtube;jk2Pr9jXCr8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jk2Pr9jXCr8[/video]


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## Kramodlog (Mar 18, 2014)

Black Leaf, nooooooo!

This is a spoof of the comic strip, right?

Edit: From the official website it says this is not a parody, and it doesn't look like it, but is from the same companie that made the Gamers. Weird.


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## NewJeffCT (Mar 18, 2014)

an all-girl gaming group?  No way!


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## Sword of Spirit (Mar 18, 2014)

Looked like a parody to me.


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## Morrus (Mar 18, 2014)

Sword of Spirit said:


> Looked like a parody to me.




It is - kind of.  The comic strip is presented seriously - no jokes or comedy or anything - but it's by people who (obviously) disagree with its message.  So it's not a parody in the sense that it's comedic, just in the sense that its very existence is an absurdity.  But it's played "straight".


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## darjr (Mar 18, 2014)

I think the only way they could get 'permission' was to promise to play it strait. though that alone could make it hikarious


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## Morrus (Mar 18, 2014)

darjr said:


> I think the only way they could get 'permission' was to promise to play it strait. though that alone could make it hikarious




Ironically, parodies don't need permission.  They are excepted under fair-use.  So you only need permission if you're playing it straight.


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## Kramodlog (Mar 18, 2014)

After some digging, yup, this is serious. /wink


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## Wraith Form (Mar 18, 2014)

goldomark said:


> After some digging, yup, this is serious.




Seriously *hot*.

She can be my Dungeon Mistress _any_ day.


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## Umbran (Mar 18, 2014)

Sword of Spirit said:


> Looked like a parody to me.




To quote the makers of the film (from http://darkdungeonsthemovie.com/#updates)



> *Is Dark Dungeons the Movie a satire?*
> 
> NO!  Satire is, “a humorously exaggerated imitation.”  The most classic example is Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” in which he mocks the English aristocracy indifference to the rural Irish poor by suggesting they eat Irish babies.  This was an exaggeration as the English did not actually hate the Irish enough to eat their babies.  By contrast, Dark Dungeons the comic shows that RPGs can lead to suicide, joining a witches coven, and real life magical powers and Dark Dungeons the movie shows exactly those same things as well.  It is therefore it is NOT a satire.
> 
> ...




A few other salient points:



> *How much money did Dark Dungeons the movie pay Jack Chick for the rights?*
> 
> Jack Chick generously gave JR Ralls the right to make a movie based upon the Dark Dungeons comic book free of charge and without any request for a percentage of the films gross or net.  Their is no direct financial relationship between the film and Chick Publications, Inc.
> 
> ...


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## Umbran (Mar 18, 2014)

Morrus said:


> Ironically, parodies don't need permission.  They are excepted under fair-use.  So you only need permission if you're playing it straight.




Poe's Law (it is difficult or impossible to tell the difference between an expression of sincere extremism and a parody of extremism) becomes interesting with respect to Fair Use.


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## Wraith Form (Mar 18, 2014)

> Their is no direct financial relationship between the film and Chick Publications, Inc.




Likely because he doesn't want to be besmirched by their atrocious grammar.


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## darjr (Mar 18, 2014)

Morrus said:


> Ironically, parodies don't need permission.  They are excepted under fair-use.  So you only need permission if you're playing it straight.




This to was played strait.


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## jrralls (Mar 18, 2014)

JR Ralls here, writer of Dark Dungeons the movie.  If you have any specific questions you'd like to ask I'm here to answer them.

Also,  be sure to share and like the trailer!  We are an ultra-low budget film  and the only way we can get the word out is through fans like you.

Thanks!


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## darjr (Mar 18, 2014)

jrralls said:


> JR Ralls here, writer of Dark Dungeons the movie.  If you have any specific questions you'd like to ask I'm here to answer them.
> 
> Also,  be sure to share and like the trailer!  We are an ultra-low budget film  and the only way we can get the word out is through fans like you.
> 
> Thanks!




any chance of a theatrical release?


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## jrralls (Mar 18, 2014)

For our small budget we got a tremendous level of quality.  Our hope is  that it plays far and wide.  While a theatrical release is unlikely, we  will be playing in a few select theaters.   

Dark Dungeons the movie will make its world premier at Gen Con, Indianapolis, the heart of gaming's evil dark heart.


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## darjr (Mar 18, 2014)

jrralls said:


> For our small budget we got a tremendous level of quality.  Our hope is  that it plays far and wide.  While a theatrical release is unlikely, we  will be playing in a few select theaters.
> 
> Dark Dungeons the movie will make its world premier at Gen Con, Indianapolis, the heart of gaming's evil dark heart.




What would it take to get a local screening?


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## jrralls (Mar 18, 2014)

Enough fans requesting it and a theater willing to show it.  When we get closer we'll be setting up an service that makes it easy for fans to request a screening.  Sign up on the webpage and you'll get an update when we release that.

Thanks,
JR


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## Kramodlog (Mar 18, 2014)

jrralls said:


> JR Ralls here, writer of Dark Dungeons the movie.  If you have any specific questions you'd like to ask I'm here to answer them.
> 
> Also,  be sure to share and like the trailer!  We are an ultra-low budget film  and the only way we can get the word out is through fans like you.
> 
> Thanks!



Have you considered submitting it to a film fest? This one is pretty awesome and every year there is or two filsm related to gamers.

Will there be any online viewing?


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## Kaodi (Mar 18, 2014)

This is possibly going to be the funniest Dungeons & Dragons movie ever made and it is based on an anti-Dungeon & Dragons comics,  . I sense a disturbance in the Force, as if a million ironies cried out in anguish as they realized they were about to be pwned.


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## Xethreau (Mar 18, 2014)

JR Ralls, a few questions!
- Is this / are you guys on Twitter?
- To what degree are the characters and, dare I say, _lines _from the comic retained in the film?

As a side note, I am really excited about the theoretical hashtags #blackleafisdead #andwekilledher


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## L. Gabriel Gonda (Mar 19, 2014)

***


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## Janx (Mar 20, 2014)

Let's cut to the chase shall we.

In practical terms, Jack Chick hated D&D.  he thought it was evil, satanic and led it's players to bad ends.

You guys are making a movie exactly like his comic as best as you can, in the spirit of that comic.

Therefore, what are the writer/director's position on D&D, given that they are giving Jack Chick's views a new voice.


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## Kramodlog (Mar 20, 2014)

Janx said:


> Let's cut to the chase shall we.
> 
> In practical terms, Jack Chick hated D&D.  he thought it was evil, satanic and led it's players to bad ends.
> 
> ...



Tone is also important, not just text. 

Context is also important. In the trailer the "What can go wrong?" comment is rather well placed, don't you say? Deadpan humor seems to be the norm here. 

Not a first degree kind of film.


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## L. Gabriel Gonda (Mar 20, 2014)

The director's job is to execute the script, in this case an excellent screenplay written by JR Ralls. The writer, producers, and I were all in agreement that we'd be translating the comic as sincerely as possible, and letting the views presented therein stand on their own. 

The film is not quite finished yet, but based on the rough cut, and some test screenings, I think we achieved our intent. It's up to the audience to interpret as they will.  

I'm a professional. I would never let my views on D&D influence my dedication to my work.


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## Zander (Mar 20, 2014)

Please disregard my message asking if anyone had a mint condition of Jack Chick's _Dark Dungeons_ comic for sale.


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## L. Gabriel Gonda (Mar 20, 2014)

You can buy them on Chick's website.


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## Zander (Mar 20, 2014)

L. Gabriel Gonda said:


> You can buy them on Chick's website.




Thanks, Gabriel 

They used not to sell them in small quantities, but now they do. So I just ordered a few.

Thanks again,

Zander


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## NewJeffCT (Mar 20, 2014)

L. Gabriel Gonda said:


> You can buy them on Chick's website.




I'm guessing you can't buy the ones with the MS3TK comments added in there?


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## DMZ2112 (Mar 21, 2014)

NewJeffCT said:


> an all-girl gaming group?  No way!




This was always my favorite part of the old Chick tract.  Verisimilitude _fail_.

...With all respect to female gamers, of course.  I'm sure this has happened somewhere, at some time, in the history of the game.  I do know a few female D&D players.  It's just that the emphasis in that sentence is world-crackingly heavy on the word _few_.


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## NewJeffCT (Mar 21, 2014)

DMZ2112 said:


> This was always my favorite part of the old Chick tract.  Verisimilitude _fail_.
> 
> ...With all respect to female gamers, of course.  I'm sure this has happened somewhere, at some time, in the history of the game.  I do know a few female D&D players.  It's just that the emphasis in that sentence is world-crackingly heavy on the word _few_.




I'm sure it has - I was just recalling the old MS3TK parody of Jack Chick where one of them commented on how the gaming table had 4 women and 3 men, and therefore was not realistic... (I think they also commented about the lack of chips and Mountain Dew making it unrealistic as well.)


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## Scorpio616 (Mar 21, 2014)

It is satire. Just because something is done with a straight face does not exempt it from being satire. 

One not need to add a nod and a wink when saying "Let's go roast some poor Irish children for supper."  to make it satire.


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## GMforPowergamers (Mar 23, 2014)

if this movie ends up better then the 3 D&D movies I may cry...


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## Tom Strickland (Mar 23, 2014)

[Per request by the author who has deleted his post, I have removed the full quote and associated attribution--referencing only the proposed term.]

Mockery of religion is unfunny to decent-minded folks.

I posted months ago my horror and dismay over the "Chick tracts" in a forum discussing that judge smeared in the media over his D&D hobby.

Showing people how ridiculous [note my qualifier] religious proselytizing can wreak harm can be amusing, beneficial, etc. 

But, "#RPGesus" is offensive. The "Chick tract" example does not automatically besmear all practitioners of a major world religion that I understand teaches love for each other rather than hate and violence.

Far too many movies these days are filled with numerous "Jesus" and/or "Christ" statements in the same breath with screams, violence, curses and expletives [f-bombs, etc.]. That is not creative license--just plain purposeful offense. I notice there is not the same frequency--or even single examples--where other religious names are so used.

I personally am uninterested in any contact whatsoever with media and groups that find it acceptable to perpetrate or innovate mockeries of any religion's sacred names and themes.


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## Tonguez (Mar 23, 2014)

Wraith Form said:


> Seriously *hot*.
> 
> She can be my Dungeon Mistress _any_ day.




Yeah well it does look like its going to degrade into fetish porn so that may be a bonus

I love the nerd girls at the door and the dice tumbling into blood....


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## Morrus (Mar 23, 2014)

No religion, please folks.  You know the rules!


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## NewJeffCT (Mar 23, 2014)

GMforPowergamers said:


> if this movie ends up better then the 3 D&D movies I may cry...




You're not exactly setting a high bar for your tears, are you?


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## Joker (Mar 23, 2014)

So...any nudity?


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## Tonguez (Mar 23, 2014)

Scorpio616 said:


> It is satire. Just because something is done with a straight face does not exempt it from being satire.
> 
> One not need to add a nod and a wink when saying "Let's go roast some poor Irish children for supper."  to make it satire.




So true, thats the reason I like the movie 'Jennifers Body' (besides the girls kissing bits), if this Dark Dungeons movie is stylistically similar I'll be happy...

I mention Jennifers body because of the similar Satanic themes and that despite the gore and very 'sexual' plot there is in fact no nudity


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## Raunalyn (Mar 25, 2014)

Dice being rolled amongst pouring blood?

Sold!!!

Seriously, I think this may be one of the most unintentionally funniest movies ever made...even more-so than the Twilight movies.

Or it could be intentionally funny...Yay Poe's law!


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## Zombie_Babies (Mar 25, 2014)

Tom Strickland said:


> Mockery of religion is unfunny to decent-minded folks.
> 
> I posted months ago my horror and dismay over the "Chick tracts" in a forum discussing that judge smeared in the media over his D&D hobby.
> 
> ...




EDIT: D'oh!  Clicked quote before I saw Morrus' red text.  Hopefully this edit hits in time.  Anyhoo, suffice it to say I disagree and would be happy to explain why via PM if you're interested.


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## Henry (Mar 30, 2014)

This might have been the only kickstarter in the world where contributing would give a person street cred simultaneously with Chick supporters and D&D fans. I regret not donating now.


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