Shout! Factory
One of the trends that ruled 80s mainstream entertainment was sword and sorcery, with Arnold Schwarzenegger leading the charge in Conan the Barbarian on the silver screen, while He-Man and the Masters of the Universe ruled the small screen as a staple of the Saturday morning cartoon circuit, and while they were not the first sword and sorcery titles to enter the pop culture canon of the decade, they remain among the best remembered by most, as the trademarks bulkily outlined by these two muscular men of barbarian aptitude became responsible for spawning an onslaught of similar content.
Filmmaker Steven Kostanski is no stranger to creating films in the style of yesteryear’s fondly remembered schlock.
Horror fans will recognize him as the man behind the likes of The Void and PG: Psycho Goreman.
Both films showcased an unadulterated love for such genre movies, as well as a thorough understanding of which filmmaking elements have to be present in order to sincerely recapture what made such titles capture the imagination of a generation in the first place.
With so many barbarian films to choose from, Deathstalker may seem somewhat random, however, this choice does make particular sense, not so much because of the inaugural feature in the franchise, but rather because of the second film, Jim Wynorski’s Deathstalker II, which approached the genre with a refreshingly tongue-in-cheek approach bordering on parody, but nonetheless still worked exceedingly well thanks to a strong narrative structure, fun leads with great chemistry, and an utter refusal to take itself seriously.
Leaning heavily into the vein of the 1987 sequel, Kostanski’s take on the franchise is saturated by the same heart and humor that made Deathstalker II a particularly worthwhile bit of Conansploitation when it was released in the subgenre’s second wave towards the end of the 80s, making Konstanski’s effort stand out as a particularly enjoyable low budget love letter to a genre that has been all but relegated to the past.
Where the 80s barbarian movies tended to keep things family-friendly in terms of bloodshed, Kostanski has significantly dialed up the gore here, which not only showcases his affinity for practical effects once more, it also gives the film a memorable edge because it goes to places drenched in blood, goo and gore to an extent one could only have dreamt of during the heyday of barbarian action adventure flicks, resulting in Kostanski’s Deathstalker having as much in common with its namesake as Sam Raimi’s Army of Darkness.
As such, while Kostanski’s Deathstalker is undoubtedly a nostalgia trip, it avoids becoming yet another tired cash-in in the same, diseased vein as the largely uninspired dreck the big studios keep churning out, instead proving that independent filmmaking is still alive and well, and how having a genuine understanding of a genre is integral to recapturing it decades after the fact.
Similarly important to Kostanski’s understanding of the genre is how it is portrayed by the people in front of the camera, and Daniel Bernhardt, a household name among action nerds, clearly relishes dialing up the hamminess as the titular protagonist, with the other players also having understood the assignment thanks to Kostanski’s writing and direction, with both the character design and Patton Oswalt’s voice acting for magical sidekick Doodad hitting every campy note needed for such a character to stand out.
As for Bernhardt, his charisma is not the only thing he utilizes well here, as his experience and physicality also ensures that the action scenes are better than they have any business being for something this purposefully silly, once again imbuing this low budget caper with competence and commitment of an unusually high standard for something this frivolous.
Originally Roger Corman productions, the Deathstalker films were but some of a myriad of cheap but terrifically terrible shlock that defined a generation of film fans and filmmakers, and now that some of those fans have themselves become filmmakers, unabashedly embracing the filmmaking principles outlined by the King of the B-Movies and proving that heart, humor and commitment do indeed go a very long way in creating something that may not be the shiniest product on the shelf, but still does exactly what it says on the tin.
Extras include Audio Commentaries, Interviews, Featurette, Music Video and Trailer.
Verdict: 7 out of 10.
