Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell (1988)

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Sure, go ahead; make fun of this movie. Rip it for the occasionally questionable editing, the typically (as far as second rate fantasy movies go) overly-ambitious plot, or the eyebrow raising subtext. Do all of that, and you're still left with a gem, if unpolished, of a sword and sorcery film. For starters, this movie exhibits an enthusiasm, more so than others of its kind, and forgiving a couple marginal performances, the actors and actresses fall right in line with this theme. Is it a classic, up there with Conan the Barbarian, or the Lord of the Rings Trilogy? Of course not. But if you enjoy action, strong female characters, and fantastic stories, then by all means, take the time to watch this little-known pearl, whether it be the original, or the MST version.This is good stuff!! Long live Deathstalker!!

I rented this movie because I caught it's predecessor on cable. Hercules and Xena fans would love Deathstalker 2, which somehow, despite it's second-rate acting from everyone but its star, was so bad it was good. I was expecting to see more of the same but sorry..this one is just plain bad. The acting is bad, the story is bad, the swordplay is bad, and the whole movie looks as if it were shot with a plastic bag over the lens of the camera. Part of the previous movie's appeal was the way it was constantly poking fun at itself. There's none of that here. And I've had shoes more charismatic than the star of this flick, who hasn't learned that taking B-movie dialogue seriously just doesn't work. Do yourself a favor and give it a pass.

I know that some films are made not to be taken seriously and they are just for laughs. Naked Gun, Airplane and Top Gun spring to mind. However somewhere there has to be a line drawn and Deathstalker crosses it. When i first saw this film i didn't know it was third in a series, I bought it second hand without a cover. However, after trying to watch this I was scared at how bad it was. I don't mind films being made for a laugh and just being done to take the micky out of itself, that's one of the the things that makes films like Cherry Falls some of my favorite films. This one however just makes me cringe because of how badly it is made. I couldn't finish the film I just couldn't take anymore of it. I lost the plot half-way through because it just seemed to fizzle out. After steeling myself for a second attempt I still couldn't find it. It was very, very hard going to watch. The acting wasn't even second rate, it barely deserves third rate. As stated I couldn't find a plot, I really lost it half way through and had to force myself to keep watching. Its not even that I don't like the style of film, I actually love the medieval/fantasy type of film. Conan the Barbarian and Red Sonia are examples of this type of film that i really love, its just that Deathstalker doesn't have a decent script or actors like those films do. I later tried watching this film with MST3K insulation and even with the help of Joel and the Bots I barely made it the whole film, and was none the wiser to the plot. I love MST3K, and this is the only MST3K that i nearly didn't watch to the end. Truly a candidate for worst film of all time. Watch only if you really have literally nothing else to do at all, and watch with MST3K insulation, that makes it almost bearable. A grudging one out of two.

Many commenters have failed to mention something that sets this movie apart from the other deathstalker sequels... namely, the lack of stock footage. To me nothing is more annoying in a fantasy movie than when the elements of fantasy are yanked from other movies that did a good job(For example, Almost every Fred Olen Ray movie you can get your hands on will have stolen footage of stop motion dinosaurs from a masterpiece called planet of the dinosaurs.) Deathstalker 2 and 4 are horrible about this problem. they feature minutes upon minutes of unmistakable battle scenes from the first deathstalker. Now I suppose part 3 isnt entirely innocent since it yanks the theme song from battle beyond the stars, but thats okay. Also, I would like to mention that people who see a cover of a deathstalker movie and are disappointed to find the movie is nothing like it are falling for the oldest trick in the exploitation book. Deathstalker 3 is by no means a classic. its a little bit boring and this time the guy playing deathstalker isn't as cool, but I give it much credit for not showing me scenes from the other movies in the series.