This article was originally published in the Winter 2016 issue of Cottage Life magazine.
Photography by Liam Mogan
If you’re a Monopoly fan, you’ve surely heard by now that Hasbro and Lionsgate have plans to produce a film based on the old cottage favourite (though there’s no release date yet). Can’t wait? Do not pass Go, do not collect $200. Here’s the lowdown on four other game-based movies, available on DVD.
Clue (1985)
Genre
Mystery/Comedy
Plot
Six guests are summoned to a mansion, where they spill drinks on each other, eat soup, and then are given weapons and encouraged to commit murder. Worst dinner party ever.
Hey, it’s that guy!
Christopher Lloyd plays Professor Plum. And holy youth, he looks 12.
True to game-ness
Characters have the same names and weapons; as in the game, the identity of the killer varies. (Three different endings were filmed and shown in differ- ent theatres. All are on the DVD.)
Play the game or watch the movie?
Both.
Dungeons & Dragons (2000)
Genre
Action/Fantasy
Plot
An empress (good) and a mage (evil) search for the magical Rod of Savrille that will give them power over the Red Dragons and ultimate control in the Empire of Izmer. Or something like that. There are also elves and dwarves and talking skeletons and alien-like tentacles that burst out of a character’s head—and a man who wears electric blue lipstick.
Hey, it’s that guy!
Marlon Wayans plays a bumbling two-bit thief.
True to game-ness
Not much. But good (?) news: there’s another D&D film in the works, potentially hitting theatres in 2018.
Play the game or watch the movie?
Play the game. Or do anything, actually, other than watch this movie.
Battleship (2012)
Genre
Action/Sci-Fi
Plot
Oh no they didn’t: alien spaceships land in Hawaii during a Navy-run marine exercise. Also, Rihanna in her big-screen debut!
Hey, it’s that guy!
Brooklyn Decker, the former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, plays a physical therapist.
True to game-ness
The movie is “loosely inspired” by the game. There are ships. There is battling.
Play the game or watch the movie?
Game, all the way.
Ouija (2014)
Genre
Horror
Plot
Before there was 2016’s Ouija, there was…this other Ouija. Things get spooky when a group of friends use a Ouija board to summon the spirit of their friend Debbie, who died after trying to burn the board in her fireplace. Why didn’t she just put the thing on Freecycle?
Hey, it’s that guy!
Actually, we’ve never seen any of the people in this movie before.
True to game-ness
Well, the characters use the Ouija board. Frequently.
Play the game or watch the movie?
Watch the movie—at least stuff happens. Playing the game mostly involves a lot of sitting around, accusing each other of moving the planchette.
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