After Conan The Barbarian was released in 1982, a slew of low-budget imitators flooded the shelves of video stores. Everything from The Sword and The Sorcerer to Ator The Fighting Eagle to Red Sonja could be discovered. These movies were pretty much the opposite of politically correct viewing and were filled with sword fighting, monsters, and nudity. As was usually the case when a profitable new subgenre was born, Roger Corman latched right onto the craze and unleashed a boatload of movies on the New World/New Horizons labels including Barbarian Queen, Amazons and, of course, the Deathstalker series.

Deathstalker is one of the better known franchises that Corman was responsible for in the 80's and for good reason and this is great 80's trashy fun. The title character is a sarcastic, swaggering, ladies man who has no problem reaping the rewards of his battles by having his way with any fair maiden who happens to be in his path. Although he did nothing to promote the women's lib movement of medieval times, it made Deathstalker look pretty cool to those of us who were fortunate enough to check out the movies in our early teens. This dude, like many of the other heroes of the genre, was filled with attitude and was kicking ass and taking names while Matthew Broderick was playing with a bird in Ladyhawke.

Deathstalker (Richard Hill) is introduced in the first scene in typical cool-guy fashion as he battles a gang of cro-magnon looking men who are chasing down a fellow rogue. After dispatching the cavemen, 'Stalker proceeds to kill the rogue and then feel up the girl he just saved. The pleasure is short-lived, however, as an old witch tells him how he needs to locate a magical chalice, a sword, and an amulet so that the villain named Munkar (Bernard Erhard) cannot obtain them and use them for evil. In the midst of looking for the three pieces, 'Stalker must enter a tournament of warriors to attempt to win Munkar's kingdom. This leads to a number of swordfights in something that resembles the Bloodsport of medieval times. Through his travels, Deathstalker also comes across a beautiful princess (Barbi Benton), a cocky sidekick (Richard Brooker), and a bare-breasted female warrior named Kaira (Lana Clarkson).

Deathstalker is not going to win any awards for acting or special effects but for entertainment value for males, it is a lot of fun. The fight scenes are brief but get the job done and I am a big fan of action movies that involve tournaments. The make-up effects by John Carl Buechler are decent and include a boar-head monster as well as a weird pet that reminded me of the penis monster from Tromeo and Juliet. There is a great scene at the party before the tournament which has acrobats, midgets, mud wrestling, and the requisite big brawl. Good times. My only gripe is that I wish that they spent a little more time developing the suspense and drama that this type of tournament set up can provide. Rick Hill does a great job handling the title role and it is not his fault that he looks almost identical to Marc Singer (of Beastmaster fame). Hill reprised the role in Deathstalker IV after John Terlesky and John Allen Nelson has their chances in the ensuing sequels.

Horror fans may be surprised to learn that Richard Brooker (the cocky sidekick) played Jason in Friday The 13th Part III. I would never have known that this actor, who kind of looked like David Cassidy, was responsible for the childhood nightmares that the last ten minutes of Friday 3 created in my head. Another fact that surprises me when looking at the cast of this flick is that Barbi Benton did not enjoy more success as a b-movie actress. Benton already had made a bit of a name for herself as she was a Playboy playmate who lived with Hugh Hefner for a number of years but she gave up acting after a couple of appearances in television following this flick. On a final sad note, the beautiful Lana Clarkson was one of the only women in this type of movie who could actually handle a sword and looked damn fine doing so both with and without her top on. Clarkson was murdered under mysterious circumstances in the home of record producer Phil Spector in 2003. Spector was acquitted as a mistrial was declared due to a hung jury. (Josh Pasnak, 12/18/07)

Directed By: James Sbardellati.
Written By: Howard Cohen.

Starring: Richard Hill, Barbi Benton, Richard Brooker, Lana Clarkson.