Dungeons & Dragons 3: The Book of Vile Darkness

In 2012, a British dark fantasy adventure film titled Dungeons & Dragons 3: The Book of Vile Darkness was released directly to video. Gerry Lively directed this third entry in the Dungeons & Dragons movie series. Filming took place in Bulgaria during 2011. The movie came out on DVD in the United Kingdom on 9 August 2012, and later aired in the United States as a Syfy Original Movie on 24 November 2012.

Plot

The story begins with the evil sorcerer Nhagruul the Foul, who spread misery during his life. Nearing death, he traded his soul to demon lords of the Abyss. His skin became pages, his bones a cover, and his blood the ink, creating the Book of Vile Darkness.

Anyone who gazed upon it turned evil. The kingdom of Karkoth fell to this corruption until the Knights of the New Sun, armed with amulets from the god Pelor, used their pure hearts to channel divine light and destroy the ink. However, Nhagruul’s followers hid the pages and cover, and as people forgot him, the Knights’ power faded.

Two thousand years later, a new paladin named Grayson joins the Knights but, like all recent recruits, fails to receive the amulet’s power from Pelor. While he discusses this with his father, barbarians slaughter the Knights and abduct his father. To rescue him, Grayson joins a crew working with the barbarians to find a horn that leads to the Book’s cover. The crew includes Akordia, a Shadar-kai sorceress; Seith, a human assassin; Vimak, a Goliath barbarian; and Bezz, a human Vermin Lord.

The horn is guarded by a wyvern, which Grayson kills, saving Akordia and sparking her love for him. The group is hailed as heroes in a nearby town, where Grayson and Akordia spend the night together, Vimak enjoys many women, and Seith steals all the town’s treasure.

The mayor blocks their departure; Grayson negotiates a compromise to keep half the treasure, but Bezz murders the mayor, triggering a fight that kills the townspeople. Later, Grayson poisons Vimak with a purchased vial, stuffs his body and the treasure into a bag of holding, and throws it into a lake. Seith threatens Grayson for the horn but is killed by Bezz.

The horn leads the remaining three to an undead child called a Slaymate. To prove they are free of decency and worthy of the Book’s cover, they must let it feed on their negative energy. The morally bankrupt Bezz satisfies it easily.