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.

Using CGI to off set the terrible plot, bad acting, and poor non-CGI effects this movie is not very good. The Knights of the Sun arose to combat a malevolent evil and when blessed by a god won out. Now hundreds of years later the knights have fallen to a low level. None are being "blessed" when they are inducted into the fellowship. At an induction of the leaders son, who is not blessed either, the knights are attacked and wiped out except for the father and the son. The father is taken captive and the son goes after him. He runs into a hooker who spends her jewels (gems not the other) to help him out.(HA)! Any way the son hooks up with some really nasty adventurers, kill a dragon, go to a village with some rescued villagers and wreck some havoc. Just a badly done movie with the usual D & D crap and out come.

A young man tries to join The Knights of the New Sun. However it has been too peaceful for too long, and the knights have been corrupted. The Knights are massacred and only the young man survives. He and a band of morally questionable warriors must stop the reawakening of a great evil.

The characters are actually quite compelling. Most of them live by the idea of survival of the fittest. They have no time for the weak. It makes for an interesting group of heroes. And the actors play their parts very well. The scale of production and the effects are on the small scale but that's not unexpected. The movie is going well, but the ending is too convoluted. The action and the storypoints become too confusing and random. It was at least 5/10 if not for the ending.