Deathstalker IV: Match of Titans

Wait...there are four Deathstalkers, if they keep this up they can have their own convention!!

Its better than part 3 and that's the only redeeming feature about this....feature.

You would see better action watching Beaches.

Things get off to a decidedly poor start in this, the fourth entry in the Deathstalker series. During the very first scene I was immediately struck by two things: 1)The camera work looked as though it were achieved by strapping the camera to the rear end of a rodeo horse. and 2)Who ever is responsible for the bloody awful, tuneless and distracting 'music' accompanying this scene needs be executed.

On the latter point, words really just cannot describe just how atrocious the aimless, meandering sequence of seemingly random 'notes' are.

Luckily things suddenly look brighter when the original Deathstalker himself, Rick Hill turns up on the scene to save the day (he even performs his trademark 'wipe the blood from sword behind leg' move after he slays the bad guys, just like he did way back when he originally played the titular role) Interestingly, Ricks portrayal of the main character here carries far more humour than in his first appearance (no doubt the script in keeping with the comedic nature of the two previous sequels) Alas, this humour all but dries up save for a few scenes as the film progresses, which I felt was a real shame.

If there's one thing that everyone seems to agree on in the Deathstalker films, it is that the ladies present within them are universally stunning to behold. In this regard, the movie in question surpasses itself by casting the absolutely gorgeous Maria Ford as Deathstalker's love interest who also happens to be an incredibly feisty warrior!

It's such a pity that the rest of the film fails to have the same lustre. Whilst I've certainly watched far worse in my time, this movie overall just feels flat and uninspired and I can really only describe it as average at best. However, it IS great to see Rick Hill back in the title role and as previously mentioned, Maria Ford is truly stunning to behold, which is a real bonus!

You would think that a movie that features a former 'Penthouse Magazine' model would be a bit better than this snoozer flick. The fourth (and perhaps last) of the 'Deathstalker' series movies is probably the most ambitious but second-most miserable failure of them all (though 'Deathstalker 2' was even worse).

It's the usual plot - adventuring hero teams up with beautiful female warrior and frees a city from an evil ruler. So what do you get in between the covers? Well, some good opportunities for Maria Ford to show her 'talents' are wasted for one thing. I would think that if her character was in love with Deathstalker, that there would be at least one scene with intimacy. She also has the ability to keep her clothes on in a fight. Also, every castle has a dungeon, yet we never see anybody being tortured (or even half-dressed). So what's the point of having a dungeon in the first place? And worse than that, with all of the swords being swung about, the gore is a bit slight.

If there's going to be a 'Deathstalker 5', the producers would be wise to give us what we expect in a 'B'-level movie: skin, a couple of torture scenes, and blood.

Hero Deathstalker teams up with beautiful female warrior to free a city from an evil Queen ruler.

The last installment of the Deathstalker tetralogy, opening with some great music from Simo Lazaro, along with a recap of the original Deathstalker and voice over narration from Maria Ford, Howard R. Cohen's Deathstalker IV: Match of Titans quickly dives into the realm of filmmaking dungeons.

Then subpar recycled music kicks in along with other short cut savings, reused footage from other Roger Corman produced productions including The Barbarian Queen (1985) complete with shoddy editing and sound design. The low budget sword and sorcery affair crams in clunky sword fights, self-parody machismo, gladiator action, gratuitous nudity, lion-men and warriors turned into stone-soldiers (disappointedly just grey makeup). Don't expect Ator: Fighting Eagle (1982) or anything resembling Conan the Barbarian (1982), even The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982).

Debatably it's more fun than the mid-nineties TV shows that it paved the way, including the abundance of Hercules, Young Hercules and Xena: Warrior Princess episodes. There's plenty to like, there's well dressed sets, Cohen's productions does benefit from quality costumes and real locations. It's also great to have the original Deathstalker actor Rick Hill reprise his role after being missing from the tongue-in-cheek Deathstalker II: Duel of the Titans (1987) toned down comedy of Deathstalker III: The Warriors from Hell (1988). None of the films deliver on the fantastical poster art work and this instalment is no different.

Nobody is looking for an Oscar and know what their making, but to the cast's credit they play it straight. Hill delivers some fancy sword and footwork. Maria Ford is pretty impressive with a sword and does a adequate job with Cohen's basic script. Fords narration pops up jarringly now and again for exposition. Michelle Moffett's villain sorceress Kana takes her top off as the script dictates. Like Ford, Moffett does well giving the dodgy script, even going as far to give some credence to the shenanigans. Memorable is Bulgarian actoress Anya Pencheva as Janeris who has plenty of screen presence but is sorely underused. Djoko Rosi outacts everyone as Highlander Kurgan sounding Rakshia.

Overall, there's an interesting story hiding beneath Cohen's laughable low budget offering, while it lacks the scope and execution of the Italian swords and sorcery, it's a lot more fun than it should be.

I didn't think anyone else had even heard of the Deathstalker films, let alone actually owned them - so when I saw this 'un on sale for a couple of quid second-hand, the appalling decision had already been made...

It's not a good film, obviously. In fact it's pretty terrible. I can't say just how terrible it is in relation to its three predecessors, because they were experienced way back in my murky, impressionable childhood and the only bits I can remember are the bits that were inexplicably recycled in this one.

But the real tragedy of Match of Titans is that while it's certainly a long way from the likes of the Conan films in terms of production values and, well... everything, really, it's also not quite inept enough to be funny. Don't get me wrong, the scale of incompetence runs pretty high considering it's the fourth instalment in a series, but when it comes to the crunch Rick Hill goes and ruins everything by turning in an inappropriately decent performance. Maria Ford's worth looking at, too. Not worth watching, mind you, but definitely worth looking at. There's a difference.

Still, the 'special' 'effects' are well down to standard for the genre, as are the 'plot', 'dialogue' and 'continuity'. And I can only speculate that the 'fight scenes' were choreographed by a couple of arthritic, wheelchair-bound 85-year-olds drunk on gin, which is great for a film entirely based around a hand-to-hand combat tournament. So it's not all bad, then.