‘Deathstalker’ Review: A Blood-Soaked Adventure Driven by Glorious Practical Effects [Beyond Fest 2025]
I’m not a fan of James Sbardellati’s original Deathstalker (1983). Of the sword and sorcery film’s 80-minute runtime, over half of it is brawny men feeling up half-naked women. It plays like a soft-core porn where none of the ladies consent, a few sword fights thrown in to change things up now and then. Not for me. So, I’m thrilled to report that writer/director Steven Kostanski’s Deathstalker reboot, which just played during Beyond Fest at American Cinematheque, eschews all of that. This is the gory, creature-packed, wildly entertaining adventure that the 1983 film wishes it was.
Set in a fantastical world full of magic and roaming monsters, we meet the Deathstalker (Daniel Bernhardt). A man who walks the line between life and death, he has no allegiance to the surrounding kingdoms. No care for the lives of others. He simply wanders the earth, stealing for survival and killing when he must. After the Deathstalker robs a dying knight of an ancient amulet, he finds himself caught up in a battle between the ultimate good and evil. Hordes of darkness on his tail, he enlists the help of a goblin sorcerer named Doodad (voiced by Patton Oswalt) and fellow thief, Brisbayne (Christina Orjalo). Together, they’ll have to stop the necromancer, Nekromemnon (Nicholas Rice), from getting his hands on the amulet, or watch the world succumb to horror.
The director behind films like Psycho Goreman and Leprechaun Returns, as well as a creature designer/makeup artist, I knew that, if nothing else, Kostanski would offer up a practical effects-driven gorefest. And he does not disappoint. The very first frame of Deathstalker sees a man beheaded, blood geysering out to the tune of Blitz/Berlin’s rip-roaring score (featuring the guitar shredding of none other than Slash). Every five minutes, it seems, guts are pulled out. Jaws are ripped off. Swords are slashed through faces. Gonzo violence dished out by one eye-popping creature after another. I’m talking two-headed trolls. Slimy bog monsters. Henchmen clad in hellish red armor dubbed Dreadites that frequently pop up like the putty men from Power Rangers. Kostanski delivers sword and sorcery heaven for gore-hounds and creature fanatics alike.
This Deathstalker says no thank you to the constant groping and non-consensual sex of the original. Instead, we get an entertaining trio of Deathstalker, Doodad and Brisbayne, all loners who gradually discover the power of friendship. Antithetical to what you expect from a Deathstalker film, maybe. I get that. But the approach adds a much-needed sense of humor and heart that the original lacks. It’s a joy to watch these three take down monsters together. Bernhardt especially excels in the role of the grizzled, cold-hearted warrior we know. Other characters can’t help but declare “wow” at his deadly skills. Yet through Deathstalker, Kostanski shows that a real man is a guy who can admit when he needs help. One who knows that sometimes, a hug is more effective than a sword. I’ll take that over a sexist meathead any day.
Despite all the gore, monsters, and abject horror, Kostanski’s Deathstalker fully embraces the silliness inherent to stories like it. In every sense, his reboot feels like a Saturday morning cartoon. It’s the kind of movie where the villains are evil caricatures who cackle maniacally. Where we see kaiju monsters battling in the background just because, one of them ends the epic fight by punching the other in the nards. Of course, over 9 minutes of that kind of goofiness can become exhausting. Not all of it works, either. For every joke that has your sides splitting, there’s a line of dialogue like Doodad uttering, “Did I doo-dad?” Sorry, not even Patton Oswalt can land that one.
More tiring than eye-rolling humor is an exposition-heavy plot that left my brain leaking out my ears. Every other scene, there’s a new character to meet. Another thread to explain. One more mission that must be laid out. At a certain point, you might have no clue where our heroes are going or why. The protagonists themselves are engaging, but you can sense in your bones the clunky script struggling to get from one moment to the next. To be perfectly honest, though, you don’t watch this type of film for the plot. If you paid hard-earned dollars to see Deathstalker, it’s for the swarm of monsters, sword fighting, and gore galore. There’s just enough to carry the audience through an otherwise sluggish journey.
Between Kostanski’s Deathstalker and Christopher Nolan’s upcoming The Odyssey, perhaps we’ll see an overdue return of the sword and sorcery film that was so prevalent during the ’80s. I hope they take a note from this reboot, if so. Give me monsters played by guys in a suit. Shower the audience in over-the-top gore. Present us heroes that we can actually root for instead of the rape-y barbarians that populate too many films in the genre. The Deathstalker reboot won’t be winning any best picture awards. But goddamn, does it give the audience exactly what they came for…a practical effects-driven sword and sorcery epic drenched in blood. I sure walked out with a grin slashed across my face.
Deathstalker arrives in theaters on October 10, 2025, from Shout! Studios.
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Deathstalker
Summary
Despite an exposition heavy and sluggish script, Deathstalker loads up on wild gore and jaw-ripping creature effects for an entertaining sword and sorcery adventure.
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