Although not an immediate favorite as far as made-for-video flicks go, I will admit this has gained a small spot in my viewing collection. Likely would not spend money on the DVD unless I just wanted to have a reference so as pen a sequel based off events from this third adventure. With the wonder of YouTube posting, anybody can watch this online for free basically. The movie has its pros and cons like any other feature. I appreciated the diversity in characters in the main group, although typical of classes: barbarian, thief, spell-caster and knight. The "knight" of the group, Grayson I could not truly get behind due to his immaturity throughout most of the quest (nothing personal against the actor himself, his character was just simply annoying). I might have appreciated Grayson more if he had a shred of cunning and direction in his personal mission to save his father, but seeming painfully too green to take seriously as a growing hero. The others in the party, were decent in their roles. Misses with this one would be the back-and-forth direction of attitudes among the party members, particularly between Grayson and Akordia (whom I know every male viewer absolutely could not get enough of. And I'm not saying I could deny the appeal either). Her character struck as being almost bipolar as one minute she's darkly-sweet, the next she turns on her own allies, including lover boy Grayson. This brings me up to my next point of the alleged love story. It too had a bipolar feel to it I could not (imo) get behind. And in the end, it ultimately did not amount to anything. Action quality was spotty, with perhaps the best improvement being the town fight, special effects were hits and misses, presenting blatantly C-quality CG imagery on the screen that nods obviously to the budget parameters. The ending indeed as one reviewer stated appeared rushed and that ma also attest to the budget of the film, being unable to produce a more elaborate ending that truly tied events together. I won't go as far to say this film outshines the previous sequel or the first film as being the very best, but it has its place. As far as features shown on the SyFy channel this might actually be one of the better ones. Comparing sequels, this shared some lack of development particularly with characters, yet that is expected with lower-budgeted projects. This has been described as being darker than the first two predecessors, hailed as being a refreshing change (perhaps only complemented for the film's graphic violence and sexual indulgences). The climax was lackluster as its rushed outcome suggested either a self-conscientious mind for the budget, or a mind for on-air television scheduling as though it had only two minutes before an important commercial was to play. Overall, The Book of Vile Darkness has seemingly pleased most D&D fans with its effort to return to the essence of the D&D world and all its game-play and story-telling elements. Fans of fantasy and adventure movies may well enjoy watching this every now and then for a change of pace.

If you haven't watched this movie, Don't do it. I did it, trusting on a positive review here, and it was a complete waste of time. Spoilers are marked on this review.The characters were bland. The professional assassins were just sociopaths. The ONLY black person in the movie was "coincidently" the only character whose skin was all painted over. The only female character who isn't a whore, decides that one day after meeting the hero that "her body belongs to him" for his pleasure, and from then on she's just madly in love with him for no reason. This of course, was after she was the one who needed saving from a dragon, and the knight had to go save her. Not clichéd at all, of course.*SPOILERS* The plot was so weak. If one of the Knights of the New Sun code was to not have sex, how come Grayson even exists? His father clearly broke that vow. And why would it be needed a Knight of Light's blood to make the ink for the Book of Vile Darkness? It wasn't said at any point that it had to come from a "good guy", and it'd be way more logical to come from a bad one. Was it for the irony? It just didn't make sense.And then the move just ends with him them saying goodbye. It was badly done, it just seemed like they ran out of things to say so they called it a stop. I was expecting a conclusion made like the introduction was, telling us how Grayson destroyed or hid the book parts again, but apparently the future of the book is irrelevant for the movie called The Book of Vile Darkness.

I liked this movie a lot more then I thought I would. I've been a D&D enthusiast for many years so I might be somewhat biased but trust me, like you, I think I have an idea of what makes a bad movie. Terrible wooden acting...well, we can check that off because the people in this movie can act and could only be held back by their respective scripts and/or directors. Cinematography is thought out and enhances the movie well enough. I also liked the costumes and while acceptable I think Bezz's make-up could have been done a little bit better. Many D&D references were threw out without being totally obvious and it really added to the lore. This is not your average sci-fi channel garbage. Groundbreaking it is not. But, what it does it does well. Acceptable script, capable actors, decent costumes and good cinematography in a genre that is starved for something even half-way decent. Thank you to everyone involved in this movie. I give this movie a solid 7. But, most importantly its in my personal collection.

This low budget title is the third film of the D & D series. In terms of budget, storyline and effects it matches what we got with the second title. I would probably compare it with Armageddon 2 as the style is a close match.The acting is not great but not terrible either. The plot and formula is very loyal to the D & D world, and it was cute to see some stereotypical elements being thrown in :) The lead actor makes for a perfect Paladin, and the rest of the characters portrayed their D & D roles quite faultlessly.The ending could have been better and could actually have been engineered for a sequel.