Mazes and Monsters

Remember that controversial participation game of the 1980s called "Dungeons and Dragons"? Remember how sociologists warned us that the game was potentially dangerous to those who couldn't altogether separate fantasy from reality. This is the premise of Mazes and Monsters, a made-for-TV film based on the best-seller by Rona Jaffee. Future Oscar-winner Tom Hanks portrays one of four college students who become so deeply involved in a Mazes & Monsters session that the results may turn fatal at any moment. Despite its potential for silly sensationalism, the film is based on a believable premise, and arrives at a logical conclusion. When first aired December 28, 1982, this Canadian-American production was titled Rona Jaffee's Mazes and Monsters.