Deathstalker finds a cursed amulet and is plunged into a wild hunt across witch-haunted wilds, crypts and taverns as dark forces close in.
Steven Kostanski writs and directs the film leans hard into practical monsters, swords and gore. Like the comparable Red Sonja, this comes off a little better given its low budget 1983 source material. What it lacks in budget it makes up for in pure fantasy entertainment - cheap but hugely imaginative effects, hands-on creature work, solid swordplay and ragged, effective costumes. The production favours practical monsters, masks and suits over CGI, and that DIY approach gives the fights real weight. Many of the gore and icky revivals are impressive.
Colour timing can look a touch TV-bound at times, and the film wears its low budget on its sleeve - but that TV feel is partly disguised by bold production design and a taste for the grotesque: limbs fly, heads come off. It's grubby, loud and unapologetic packed with pig-men, swamp creatures, a flying eye, a mad bishop, teleporting phantoms, stop motion skeletons, mystics, creatures and more.
Kostanski's fingerprints are all over it, it's all functional, from Andrew Appelle cinematography, Robert Hyland editing and Blitz//Berlin the score which includes the original theme too.
Daniel Bernhardt is great fit in the title role, physical, grimy, and utterly believable as a sword-scarred hero, while Patton Oswalt (voice) Doodad the wizard (with physical performance by Laurie Field) and Christina Orjalo give the supporting cast texture and dark humour.
If you want glossy fantasy, look elsewhere. If you want cheap-charm, practical monsters, real sword fights and a willingness to spill blood for fun, this is exactly the throwback sword-and-sorcery flicks of the 1980s you hoped for. Short, sharp and highly watchable.
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