- Directed by James Sbardellati as John Watson
- September 2, 1983 (US)
A warrior finds himself the unwitting participant in a tournament set up to wipe out potential challengers to the reign of an evil wizard who took the rightful king’s throne.
Deathstalker is one of many sword and sorcery films that appeared during the ‘80s following the success and cultural impact of Conan the Barbarian. Deathstalker (Rick Hill) is a cynical anti-hero who kinda stumbles into his current adventure.
Like all the ‘finer’ low-budget schlock of the day, there is gratuitous nudity throughout. Some of it makes some sense like slave women or concubines but other examples like the warrior maiden Kaira (Lana Clarkson) that’s Deathstalker’s love interest that doesn’t make any sense. She’s traveling to a tournament with her boobs hanging out. Why? Though in other scenes where she can’t pull cloak over herself, she has the barest bits of fabric strategically covering her body.
Barbi Benton was probably the most famous person in this movie at the time but as Princess Codille, daughter of the true king, she is a rather minor figure though being the most famous here does not prohibit her from engaging in being barely clothed. Then again she appeared in Playboy and was involved with Hef himself. Even her father King Tulak (Jorge Sorvik) is a non-factor. The witch that gets Deathstalker moving? She gets left out of things well before the credits too.
The music we get from Óscar Cardozo Ocampo is distinctly Spaghetti Western from the heyday of the genre over something that might be from ANY fantasy film. All you need is a dusty stranger in a poncho and it would be complete. It all creates a different vibe for the movie though not sure it is a good one.
I’m not exactly sure what drives Deathstalker to confront the evil wizard. He seems to be an opportunist out for himself and then, well, he’s not. In a movie that careens from start to finish like a person tumbling downhill, Deathstalker has no idea where it is going but gets there anyway. The story is set in motion by a contest held by the immortal wizard Munkar (Bernard Erhard) to find an heir amongst the mightiest warriors of the land. His immortality is not a state secret because Kaira mentions it and the assembled characters all wonder why an immortal wizard needs an heir. That should be a huge red flag.
Turns out this is a plot by Munkar to find the mightiest warrior in the land to eliminate them so there will be no one left to oppose him. Basically you’re giving a soldier thousands of opportunities to perfect their craft before they confront you. Sounds smart. Did he not think about all the free training he was giving out?
Smartly Deathstalker never reaches beyond its grasp in the realm of production values. Visually it never tries harder than the available cash appeared to have allowed. Narratively it offers a lot but either because they encountered budget issues or Corman as producer removed pages as he was want to do.
Yet there is some enjoyment to be found. The cast and crew tried their best with what they had and it still came out bad but that very effort at quality is what makes it good. It’s that divine magic which makes even a bad movie watchable. They weren’t trying to cash in but set out to make something good that was similar to or even an homage to something that was popular that they enjoyed. There is real effort put in by the performers even if they can’t do the job.
That’s why I ultimately kind of liked it. It found a place in my heart. A highpoint reminder of the days of direct-to-video and foreign knockoffs. It may not be great or classic, but it deserves to be a cult classic. It is fun and never thinks it is something it is not. It is an adventure story meant to appeal to the kid that likes fantasy who will then tell his friends about the boobs he saw.
Deathstalker has a very niche appeal. If you like purposely bad or accidentally bad movies and have an affinity for knockoffs, this will appeal to you.
