Deathstalker Review

October 9, 2025 at 9:38pm
By Jason Stettner

This is apparently a remake of a film franchise that received multiple entries. I had no idea whilst walking in to watch this movie and only really realized that there were entries upon writing this. So keep in mind that I don’t have context of what this was derived from. Anyways, this is a totally non-serious wink at you constantly fantasy action movie.

It’s set against the backdrop of a gory world where a not really heroic figure known as the Deathstalker (Daniel Bernhardt) goes about gathering riches and slaying whatever gets in the way. He’s fun, and ends up collecting the wrong artifact in the process. It attaches itself to him and he must go on a journey to deal with the problems that spring up due to having it.

It’s a really well developed world that feels lived in and we’re sort of just along for the ride. In case you’re wondering how it might fit into what came prior. It’s well handled. Along the way he meets up with a fairly useless mage Doodad (voiced by Patton Oswalt) and a quirky thief Brisbayne (Christina Orjalo). There are intense moments, a wild quest for an ultimate strange sword and folks well aware of the type of film they’re making. It just works.

Being very practical in nature this one is really pleasing to see play out. You can tell that it’s sort of budgeted and yet at the same time it leans into that beautifully. They really sell you on the world and that this is a place where a war is going on.

It’s very overly gory, graphic in violence and quite fun in its fantasy environment. It’s quite funny as it’s certainly comedic and I think most will appreciate that in this. Tonally it knows exactly what it’s supposed to be and everyone is on board with that. The combat was fun to witness, the magic sort of cool and I liked the vibe here as I didn’t expect it.

The Conclusion

Deathstalker is a charming, fun remake that balances gore with serious narrative and it’s totally well aware of the type of movie it is. It’s not exactly the highest of art but it’s really enjoyable. The performers certainly nailed the campy sort of vibe they were going for and it was fun. It was just an enjoyable ride with a good amount of violence and great fantasy.

It’s also enjoyable to venture through a world like this, especially one that feels fleshed out and I believe fans may be happy with what this is. I would certainly enjoy seeing this expanded upon as it’s just such an out there sort of world and it feels somewhat Witcher like but with more happy go lucky bits. They lean into the comedy well and I certainly got some laughs out of it for sure.

Deathstalker Review at Theater with Standard Viewing
Screening Provided by Calgary Film

Rating Overall: 6.5