Deathstalker (2025) is, by design, completely ridiculous. It’s also a film which, if it weren’t ridiculous, would be a disappointment. Both an amalgam and an homage to the original Deathstalker trilogy of the 1980s (produced by Roger Corman), it’s respectful to the original low-budget fantasy madness of the originals, whilst coming smack bang up to date by, amongst other things, adding in an immense amount of gore FX – starting with heads being chopped off and pretty much continuing along that line throughout its runtime. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, because if it did, it would dash the fairly jovial, self-deprecating atmosphere which is there in spades from the very beginning. Get ready for a diverse array of sword-swinging monsters, mercenaries, thieves, magicians and…some sort of conjured flying hag thing, which quite rightly draws the question from the Deathstalker himself: ‘how does this help?’
I’d be a liar to myself if I said I grasped all of the finer points of the film’s plot, but here’s a rough rundown: the Deathstalker (Daniel Bernhardt) is a legendary fighter who’s not above a bit of battlefield pillage: on one such occasion very early on in the film, he happens upon a very expensive-looking amulet on the body of a knight (actually a prince) who, and let’s be clear here, isn’t even dead at the time it’s taken from him. It soon transpires that the amulet is cursed; of course it’s cursed: look at it. Deathstalker tries to fling it away, but it immediately finds its way back to him. So he tries again. No dice.
This isn’t good: he will need help to get rid of what is clearly a curse, and that ‘help’ comes in the form of a diminutive wizard called Doodad (voiced by Patton Oswalt), who himself needs to be freed from a situation before he can be enlisted to help. But you don’t just shift a curse so easily; it requires a journey through devastatingly dangerous territory (Deathstalker’s map, which he is seriously planning on using to navigate the wastes, is one of the most hilarious moments in this film) all whilst armies of creatures and demons come after him wanting to steal the amulet, which is of course linked to ancient forces, world-ending prophecies and the like. Nothing’s ever easy, but I guess if this turns into a moral lesson of any kind then it’s – stop robbing dead bodies, particularly on battlefields and particularly of things which have ominous inscriptions all over them. And evil faces. Things with ominous inscriptions and evil faces. Leave those where they are.
The tone throughout is very self-aware, but that doesn’t exactly mean that the film is making fun of the genre it belongs to. It’s much more of a ‘laughing with’ vibe, with a low-key script which contains plenty of genre-speak and language (complex prophecies and ancient evils need a certain vocabulary) but also contains plenty of modern phraseology – which doesn’t feel jarring, given the overall approach being taken – and surprisingly little bombast, giving a sense of a bunch of people somewhat annoyed and surprised by the batshit crazy events which are overtaking them.
That sense of ‘oh god, what’s next?’ makes things all the funnier, actually, and in a broader sense it shows that director Steven Kostanski – who has cut his chops on a number of well-received and deeply weird genre titles in recent years, such as The Void (2016) and Psycho Goreman (2020) – knows his audience, and knows just who he is making his films for. His work has a certain look and (depending on your preferences) a charm to it, all old-school SFX and gore-soaked rubber critters, so Deathstalker provides ample opportunity for more of the same, especially as it’s a remake (of sorts) and so gets a pass to be deliberately kitschy and retro, just like the trilogy which has inspired it. It’s nailed down as a solid choice for Kostanski to deliver.
Of course, watching this one with a receptive audience certainly helps to make it, and it’s one of those films which will likely always multiply in appeal the more people are sitting down to watch it, but as a well-paced, often ingenious effects-driven romp through a fun fantasy landscape with plenty of bizarre characters and scenarios, there is absolutely more than enough here to keep the interest, even if – largely speaking – you’re not ordinarily a fan of this genre. Horror fans will find plenty of pleasing splatter and attention to detail here, with great creature design; there’s also great action throughout. In a nutshell, it’s very hard to be bored here, as this is a very entertaining project which does exactly what it has set out to do.
Deathstalker (2025) received its UK premiere at Celluloid Screams.