WFG RATING: A

Shout! Studios and Raven Banner Entertainment presents a Hangar 18 Media production. Written and directed by Steven Kostanski; based on characters created by Howard Cohen. Produced by Pasha Patriki, Michael Paszt, and Avi Federgreen. Cinematography by Andrew Appelle. Edited by Robert Hyland.

Stars Daniel Bernhardt, Christina Orjalo, Paul Lazenby, Nicholas Rice, Nina Bergman, Laurie Field, and the voice of Patton Oswalt. 

The legend comes alive once again in this great reimagining of the 1983 Roger Corman-produced cult classic from the director of Frankie Freako and Psycho Goreman.

The Nekromemnon is an evil warlord who has targeted the Kingdom of Abraxeon and sends his army, the Deadites, to wreak havoc on the kingdom. However, there is a legend of a warrior who will stand up against the Deadites and unleash his own brand of justice to save the kingdom. He is known throughout the land as Deathstalker. And anyone who stands in his way will feel his wrath.

When Deathstalker comes upon a battlefield full of bodies, he runs into a mysterious wizard known as Doodad and finds a strange amulet. The amulet, full of dark magic and is cursed, is what Nekromemnon has been looking for. And now that Deathstalker has it, he has become the most wanted man in Abraxeon. Now, hunted down and forced to fight, Deathstalker not only gets help from Doodad but a young thief named Brisbayne. Will Deathstalker be the hero needed to save Abraxeon?

1983’s Deathstalker was one of the biggest cult classics of the sword and sorcery era of the decade. It proved to have such a following that three sequels were made with Rick Hill acting as the “book end” OG with the first and fourth films, followed by John Terlesky in the second and John Allen Nelson in the third. 

Who would be the new Deathstalker and can he live up to the spirit of the OGs? Enter the one and only Daniel Bernhardt, known for his early work as the star of the Bloodsport sequels and in more recent times, his collaborations with the 87Eleven Team. Bernhardt not only succeeds in bringing the spirit of the character, but he brings a certain freshness to the role and with his decades of work in the action genre, he does quite well wielding the sword while using a variety of sword-fighting styles in each battle with a more than forgiving minimal amount of martial arts. This allows Bernhardt to showcase his ability to try other forms of action and it works well here. 

Writer-director Steven Kostanski, a lifelong fan of the original, takes the spirit of the film and adds his own spin on the tale. Where Corman’s original films had the prerequisites of relying on love scenes and nudity, Kostanski wisely veers away from those and makes the film an action epic in the making. We see Deathstalker engage in one battle after another with beats of either comic relief or dramatic scenes from either he and his team or the villains of the film. Kostanski also headed up the amazing creature effects and weapon building, relying on practical effects with only VFX used for magic. 

Patton Oswalt voices the wizard Doodad with Laurie Field as the suit performer and has fun chemistry with Bernhardt as the comic relief. Christian Orjalo makes quite an impact as thief Brisbayne. She has this very exotic look that makes one think she could be a love interest, but as mentioned, Kostanski didn’t want to go that route. Instead, there is a character played by Nina Bergman who also targets Deathstalker, but not just because he has the amulet, but there is a bit of an indication that it could be personal between them. 

Kostanski not only drew inspiration from the original franchise, but interestingly enough, used Ninja Scroll and Shogun Warrior as influences. However, an inspired weapon from the late Albert Pyun’s The Sword and the Sorcerer would be the jaw-dropping moment for Deathstalker in the film’s final battle scene. 

Deathstalker 2025 lives up to the spirit of the original. Roger Corman would be proud as would Rick Hill, John Terlesky, and John Allen Nelson to know that it is in good hands with Daniel Bernhardt in the lead role and Steven Kostanski at the helm. Here is hoping we will get a sequel because I would love to see Bernhardt continue on as the titular warrior. 

The film will be unleashed in theaters on October 10.