DEATHSTALKER (2025)
Label: Shout! Studios
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 102 Minutes 55 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Steven Kostanski
Cast: Daniel Bernhardt, Patton Oswalt, Laurie Field, Christina Orjalo, Paul Lazenby, Nina Bergman
Deathstalker (2025), directed by Steven Kotanski, The Void) is a spiritual segue/reboot to the 1983 Deathstalker which was produced by Roger Corman, a trashy sword n' sandal fantasy film that spawned at least three sequels that I can recall. This wonderfully goopy and gory old school fantasy adventure stars Daniel Bernhardt (John Wick) as the grizzled Deathstalker, a former knight who now loots corpse-strewn battlefields for loot. In doing so he comes across a peculiar amulet. The Kingdom of Abraxeon has long been under siege by the Dreadites, heralds of the long-dead sorcerer Nekromemnon, and this amulet has some connection to the dead sorcerer, which will certainly cause issues down the line. It's while having a pint at a pub he encounters a two-headed troll who seeks the amulet, but the grizzled sword-wielder dispatches it relatively easily. He later realizes the amulet is gonna be a constant source of trouble for him, so he tosses it on a river, only for it to magically find it's way back to him. He seeks the help of the witch Toralva (Tanya Saari), who tells him she cannot read the amulet but she senses that it has bound itself to him until death, advising him to seek the help of a wizard - which he finds in the goblin-sorcerer Doodad (voiced by Patton Oswalt, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, but physically played by Laurie Field). They further team-up with the female thief Brisbayne (Christina Orjalo), and the ragtag trio end up on a quest to find a Prophesied Sword to defeat the rising power of the resurrected Nekromemnon.
This is a wonderful throwback to the Conasploitation flicks of the mid-80s, Deathstalker and The Beastmaster especially, it looks and plays like a 80s VHS fever-dream brought to life with gory effects, cool monster creations, some savage swordplay, and plenty of the action fantasy adventure you crave, dripping with cool practical effects including latex galore, forced perspective, matte paintings, and some fun Harryhausen-esque stop-motion skeleton battling. For a kid who loved 80's dark fantasy this was freaking awesome, and the gore quotient is through the roof!
On their quest they are beset by various monster assassins, we get pig-faced creatures, stone-monsters, and my favorite of the bunch is a buzzsaw-blade slinging one-eyed mummy called Scarabus (Troy James, Nightmare Alley). Kotanski has always done well bringing his imagination to life with rubber and latex, whether that be The Void or PG Psycho Goreman, and he and the special effects team do phenomenal work here, even if some of the rubber and latex are a bit too rubbery looking at times, a couple of scenes you can tell these are simple latex gags with hands working the action inside, but that was all part of the charm.The film looks terrific with some atmospheric staging and lighting, plus a terrific fantasy score by Blitz//Berlin, as well as charging metal-fantasy original song by Slash and Bear McCreary.
Audio/Video: Deathstalker (2025) gets a solid looking Blu-ray from Shout! Studios, presented in 1080p HD widescreen (1.85:1), the digital shot film has vivid, well-saturated colors throughout, the melty and gory special effects look fantastic with plenty of sickly colored lighting. Death and clarity are pleasing, and fine detail, especially in the details of the practical effects and gore impress continuously. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround with optional English subtitles, the track is clean and well-balanced with some nice atmospherics in the surrounds, dialogue is never a chore to decipher, and the action sequences and score have some nice oomph in the mix.
Extras include a pair of commentaries, the first is an Audio Commentary With Writer-Director Steven Kostanski And Star Daniel Bernhardt, the second is an Audio Commentary With Steven Kostanski, Director Of Photography Andrew Appelle, And Editor Robert Hyland. There's also a 44-min Interview with Writer-Director Steven Kostanski and Star Daniel Bernhardt Hosted By Todd Stashwick; a 33-min Conversation with Visual Effects Supervisor Cody Kennedy, Visual Effects Artists Matthew Satchwill and Adarsh Bora, And Moderator Steven Kostanski; 5-min Behind-The-Scenes Look At The Skeleton Fight; 5-min "Deathstalker" Music Video By Brendan McCreary, Chuck Cirino, Slash, and Bear McCreary, plus the 2-min Trailer. The single-disc release arrives in a clear keepcase with a 2-sided non-reversible wrap, plus a Slipcover with the same artwork as the wrap.
- Audio Commentary With Writer-Director Steven Kostanski And Star Daniel Bernhardt
- Audio Commentary With Steven Kostanski, Director Of Photography Andrew Appelle, And Editor Robert Hyland
- An Interview with Writer-Director Steven Kostanski and Star Daniel Bernhardt Hosted By Todd Stashwick (44:21)
- A Conversation with Visual Effects Supervisor Cody Kennedy, Visual Effects Artists Matthew Satchwill and Adarsh Bora, And Moderator Steven Kostanski (33:09)
- A Behind-The-Scenes Look At The Skeleton Fight (4:42)
- "Deathstalker" Music Video By Brendan McCreary, Chuck Cirino, Slash, and Bear McCreary (4:58)
- Trailer (1:45)
Screenshots from the Shout! Studios Blu-ray:
Extras:
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