Mazes and Monsters sound like a knock off Dungeons and Dragons doesn't it? I mean there are always copycats of new innovations. I mean Dungeons and Dragons (the game) was pretty revolutionary in tabletop gaming. Basically no game pieces and a bunch of guidelines for the dungeon master(referee as they were called then) it was different and , to quote Cool Runnings, people are always afraid of what's different.
Mazes and Monsters is a TV movie based on the book by Rona Jaffe about a bunch of college students who play a D&D style game. The book had home clout back in the day because of the Satanic Panic surrounding Dungeons and Dragons. What is the “Satanic Panic” I hear you say? Well according to the fountain of internet information, Wikipedia “The Satanic panic is a moral panic consisting of over 12,000 unsubstantiated cases of Satanic ritual abuse (SRA, sometimes known as ritual abuse, ritualistic abuse, organized abuse, or sadistic ritual abuse) starting in the United States in the 1980s” A bunch got attributed to a fantasy RPG. I mean think about it… Geek culture was held in basements and behind closed doors by the social outcasts, the nerds, the geeks. It was uncool and people were suspicious of a bunch of kids playing a game where you roll dice, cast spells and fight demons. The USA has always had an unusual relationship with religion so hearing the kids downstairs summoning a lich priest demi-demon would raise a few eyebrows. So of course D&D got a target on its back, so much so that game co-creator, Gary Gyax, went on TV to tell people it's just a game of make-believe.
Anyway… This movie takes that idea and runs with it. I mean there are real cases regarding suicide and disappearances, and this movies says what if a player lost their mind to the game and started to believe that they are the character they are playing. In this case, a fresh faced Tom Hanks is that player. Yep, in what may be his first starring role, two time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks plays Mazes and Monster and starts to believe he is his character.
See… Hanks has changed college to finally graduate but has got sucked back into the world of Mazes and Monsters (M&M? No, that's the chocolate). So he plays and one of the other players decides to go further with it.
Seemingly out of nowhere Jay-Jay, who wears an assortment of different hats (i was actually disappointed when he wore the same hat twice or didn’t wear one at all), decides he is going to attempt suicide in the local caves. However, on a reconnoitre of the caves he realises it is the perfect place to host a game of Mazes and Monsters. So he does and every one dresses up as their character for a real life game. It's more LARP (Live Action Role Playing than Role Playing Game). But this triggers something for Hanks who sees a rubber suited minotaur. Hanks officially loses his mind to his character and goes on a mission to complete the game, ending up on top of the World Trade Centre New York.
Look, the movie is not a good movie. I switched off a bit here and there. It becomes a hunt for a missing person and not a very good one at that. Hanks isn't the powerhouse he would later become and it is a TV movie after all.
So, Mazes and Monsters… it has an interesting idea attached but didn't have the execution to be a good movie (TV in the 80s people). Not great like.
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