Deathstalker

The man known as Deathstalker (Rick Hill) is asked by an old king to rescue his daughter from the evil wizard Munkar (Bernard Erhard). Deathstalker rejects this plea saying that the days of heroes are over. But when all sword-fighters of the land are called by Munkar to a tournament, he can't resist...

"Deathstalker" picks up all the clichés of fantasy movies, from wizards and princesses to mystical artifacts with great powers, and it adds a whole lot of sex and violence. Actually that happens to a degree that it gets hilariously funny. For example a giant kills a dwarf with several strokes of a heavy war hammer - and only a bit of blood red mud remains. Or the female warrior Kaira (Lana Clarkson) fights topless throughout the film. Go figure. "Deathstalker" goes w-a-y over the top, the ironical music indicates this was probably intended, and the action scenes are at least better directed than those of all the following flicks.

Lana Clarkson became the "Barbarian Queen". Screenplay writer Howard Cohen went on to script "Barbarian Queen" and "Deathstalker 3". Rick Hill returned for "Deathstalker 4". Executive producer Roger Corman spent another 75 bucks (roughly estimated) on the 3 Deathstalker sequels and "Wizards of the Lost Kingdom", to name but a few. And why not, if "Deathstalker" was a success.

The makers of this movie gave absolutely ZERO F**ks, and i respect that. Kill the bad guys, Save the girls, pretty straightforward and fun. Good guy is a blank slate easy to identify with and the bad guy is a good and easy target to hate. lots of random careless nudity and plenty of 'classy' one liners. It's nothing to write home about certainly but those of you who like the 80's metal movies like Conan will love it. pretty basic as far as plot and story line but that's nothing you won't expect from the poster. I think it has great potential as a background movie for any good D&D campaign or reckless party. Epic Metal Movie, get drunk and enjoy

The movie opens with a man dragging a dirty female slave through the forest. Deathstalker (Rick Hill) sneaks into their camp, kills the evil slave master, and frees the girl. Grateful for the rescue, the girl gives herself to Deathstalker (just a bit of nudity, no sex act is displayed). Eventually, Deathstalker meets up with two faithful companions and set off to retrieve a magic sword.

One night they're camping when one of the sidekicks hears a noise. He sneaks out into the dark and finds a female warrior (Lana Clarkson). This mysterious warrior is following them to the city, where a tournament is being staged. Lana does a pretty good job of being an amazon/barbarian warrior woman, so much so that she made three more movies playing almost the exact same character as in this film. She also looks quite striking in cloak, boots, leather shorts, and sword. Yep, under that cloak is all woman, and eventually Deathstalker does what any male warrior would do. Again, some nudity, a bit of sex, but nothing too dirty.

When they reach the city, they announce that they are there for the tournament and are escorted to the warriors' barracks. That night, the king has a big feast for the combatants and, as the night's entertainment, he chains the good princess (Barbi Benton wearing a gauzy top and bikini panties) to a boulder at the top of some stairs. The king announces that whomever reaches the top will receive the princess' hand in marriage. Deathstalker accepts the challenge (though Lana gets a bit jealous) and successfully defeats the other warriors, who stumble about in drunken stupor. He reaches the top, frees the princess, but does not take her hand, for he is in love with Lana.

Anyway, there's more fighting, the king is defeated, and Deathstalker frees the city so that Barbi can rule in peace.

There's a bit of gore, some nudity (mentioned above), but no harsh language or seriously offensive acts.

After this movie, the other Deathstalker films are pretty thin. 'Deathstalker 2' is an attempt at a comedy; I haven't seen 'Deathstalker 3', and 'Deathstalker 4' is a waste of a good 'R' rating (the only offensive scene is a quick nude scene where the female sidekick changes out of a bulky garment into a leather bikini to become a warrior). Sword-and-Sandal fans would do ok with 'Deathstalker', but stay away from the sequels.

If you take this as a fantasy, you'll probably be disappointed: it's as second-grade as they come, with a total blank for a hero and plenty of chaotically staged swordfights. But if you take it as a soft-porn film, you may be more pleased; there is a stimulating (if brief) sex scene midway through, and abundant nudity throughout, though only the beautiful Lana Clarkson escapes the film's depraved attitude toward women. Anyway, the film certainly isn't as bad as the two Ferrigno "Hercules" movies.....(*1/2)

This is an incredibly silly yet entertaining swords and sorcery flick from executive producer Roger Corman. Richard Hill stars as Deathstalker, an oiled-up beefcake of a hero with long blond hair and a lantern jaw, who is tasked by an old witch with finding a trio of magical artifacts before the evil wizard Munkar does and can become all-powerful. Along the way on his quest, Deathstalker meets up with a variety of friends, including a guy who starts off as some kind of goblin in a cave, another happy-go-lucky adventurer, and a warrior-woman who remains shirtless throughout (played by Lana Clarkson, the B-actress who was shot dead by Phil Spector in 2003).

The early 1980's were a big time for fantasy films, with the two Conan films with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dragonslayer, The Beastmaster, and The Sword & the Sorcerer. Deathstalker is their trashy exploitation cousin. This film has it all: a bald bad guy with a dumb tattoo on his face, a pig-man with a snotty nose, giants, lots of people with no shirts, a weird puppet monster in a box that eats fingers and eyeballs, a fighters' tournament, lots of people with no pants, gangs of mutants, silly costumes, harem girls, flashy spells, and Barbi Benton. I was able to appreciate its good points - maybe it's just nostalgia - but most rational people will find it lurid and dumb. This was an American-Argentinian co-production with a sequel that actually is an improvement.