Deathstalker

Plot synopsis:
The warrior Deathstalker is sent by a witch on a quest to find a chalice, an amulet, and a sword, two of which are held by the wicked sorcerer Munkar (Bernard Erhard). Deathstalker finds the sword almost immediately, which has been hidden by the witch in a cave guarded by an ogre and an imp. The imp Salmaron reveals himself to be a thief cursed by the witch and aids Deathstalker in defeating the ogre. Deathstalker removes the curse from Salmaron and the thief agrees to accompany Deathstalker on his journey. Sword in hand, Deathstalker sets out to Munkar's castle to gain the remaining objects of power.
On his journey, Deathstalker learns of a tournament from Oghris (Richard Brooker), a charming warrior in midriff-baring armor. Munkar has invited warriors across the land to participate in contests until a winner is determined - the winner will inherit Munkar's kingdom. One night along the way to the tournament, the pair meet Kaira, a defiant female warrior (Lana Clarkson) who wears only a G-string and a cloak. Later that night Deathstalker forcibly removes Kaira's skimpy outfit and has sex with her. Salmaron looks on with amusement at the pair. Kaira joins the group on their journey the next morning.
Munkar reveals to his assistant that his true agenda is for the warriors to fight each other to the death until only a weakened survivor remains for Munkar to kill. This would remove all threats to his rule. Arriving at Munkar's castle, Deathstalker and the other participants gather in Munkar's banquet room the night before the tournament. The warriors are invited to get drunk and rape Munkar's harem slaves, including Princess Codille (Barbi Benton). Oghris connects with one slave girl while Kaira keeps Deathstalker to herself. Deathstalker rescues Princess Codille, briefly, but Munkar takes her back. Munkar transforms his assistant into the likeness of the Princess and sends him to kill the hero; when Deathstalker attempts to rape Codille, he discovers that the woman is not all "woman" and sends her away. Kaira finds the assassin; assuming she is the real Codille, she is tragically killed by the assassin in a sword fight after Munkar's disguise spell wears off.
The night after the first day of the tournament, Oghris is taken by Munkar's men to a prison cell while Salmaron is attacked by prison guards. The thief is knocked into a well that leads to Munkar's harem. It is revealed that Oghris brought Deathstalker to the tournament expressly for Munkar and he is ordered to kill him. Reluctant to kill his friend, Oghris warns Deathstalker and asks the hero to just leave the tournament but Deathstalker refuses and attacks him. During the brawl, Oghris has the chance to draw the sword and kill Deathstalker but chooses to fight fairly and ultimately loses. Deathstalker says goodbye to the fighter and kills him.
The last day of the tournament arrives and there are only two competitors left - Deathstalker and an ogre. After a long fight, Deathstalker kills the ogre and moves to claim his prize. He is attacked by Munkar's men but makes his way to the amulet. Salmaron is discovered in the harem room but frees the women and helps them slay the guards. Deathstalker defeats the holder of the amulet and faces Munkar; he is able to defeat the sorcerer's illusions and claims the third object of power. Deathstalker declares he has no interest in Munkar's power or kingdom - he destroys the three objects of power and throws Munkar to a crowd of slaves who tear him apart.

Tags: fantasy, cruelty, cult, violence, romantic, entertaining

Review:
Rape scenes, free sex, mud wrestling, magic, swords, muscles, blood it's all in there.As a film it is nowhere near the quality of Conan The Barbarian, but it's one of these films you don't watch expecting to be moved to tears (Except by laughter!) Overall a fantastically bad fantasy epic that film snobs should avoid at all costs but everyone else should give a bash on those Saturday nights in with the mates..
The mongoloids arrive, Deathstalker kills all of them (including the dude) on the tunes of some rather inappropriate Mexicanos western score (this is supposed to be a Swords & Sorcery flick, so what's with the 'arriba-trompettos'?), and then goes up to Captive Girl and exposes both her breasts.
Just when they are about to get down to it, this old dude appears, interrupting what could have been the end of a perfect day for Deathstalker (and a possible perfect ending for a short-film).Now tell me Isn't that the point where either a feminist would angrily switch off the movie, or any other male viewer would say "This is going to be one hell of a good movie!" The plot is as simple as throwing a kitten from the balcony: Deathstalker must obtain the Sword of Justice and use it to steal the Amulet of Life and the Chalice of Magic from the evil sorcerer Munkar.Aside from decapitations, dismemberment, random bloodshed, retarded fist fights and embarrassing sword fights, this film also contains a massive amount of t!ts & a$$ shots.
This movie is packed with everything                                  you would expect in a sword and                                        sorcery film(except explicit sex)!There are twenty-five breast shots, twenty-seven butt shots, six sword fights, fifteen impalings, two amputations, one arrow in the neck, three beheadings, on horse dragging, one eye-candy, one finger food, one mud wrestle, one pig face, one magical trans sexual operation, two bitch slappings, one crotch stabbing, one head smashing, and one draw                                        and quartering.It doesn't get much better than this!.
Deathstalker is one of few films that includes sword fighting, nudity, mud wrestling, full frontal nudity, and mid evil characters that talk like they're from New Jersey!
Now that's a woman!As you might have guessed, in an outfit like that Lana was eventually gonna have a soft-porn scene with Rick, which is actually well-done as far as "R" movies go.
Rick Hill fans looking for a good plot will be better off watching him in "I, The Jury" with Armand Assante, where he plays a crazed professional killer who has a thing for redheads.As for Barbi Benton, get a back issue of "Playboy".
The man known as Deathstalker (Rick Hill) is asked by an old king to rescue his daughter from the evil wizard Munkar (Bernard Erhard).
But when all sword-fighters of the land are called by Munkar to a tournament, he can't resist..."Deathstalker" picks up all the clichés of fantasy movies, from wizards and princesses to mystical artifacts with great powers, and it adds a whole lot of sex and violence.
"Deathstalker" goes w-a-y over the top, the ironical music indicates this was probably intended, and the action scenes are at least better directed than those of all the following flicks.Lana Clarkson became the "Barbarian Queen".
This is the first of four movies (so far) to feature the hero/barbarian/rogue character of Deathstalker.Now when you think of heroes in the Sword & Sorcery genre, they often have, shall we say, somewhat loose morals.....fair enough, as the films are often set in the dark ages or even earlier and we could therefore theoretically suppose that chivalry, at least as we know it today was not exactly in place back then (for that matter does it exist now?!) However, having said this, the heroes do still tend to be basically amiable chaps who adhere to some form of justice and honour.
Take Dar from The Beastmaster for instance, he seems like a really decent chap in fact (as long as you don't get on the wrong side of him - in which case he'd probably slice you in twain!) The case of the eponymous Deathstalker is rather different however, for here we have a 'hero' who's immoral actions (particularly against women) give the main villain of the film a good run for his money!
For instance one particularly stupid, pointless scene set in a cave from which our hero must retrieve a magical sword, left my jaw agape at just how ridiculous it was!Thankfully, the second half of the movie is much better and features some rather exciting fight scenes as our hero battles it out in a gladiatorial contest.
Hardly a minute seems to go by without a beautiful woman baring her breasts (all in the most gratuitous manner of course!)Overall then, whilst this film isn't likely to be remembered as a milestone in cinematic history, it does have a few of it's own (B-movie) merits and is certainly not a bad way to spend an hour and a half or so, on perhaps a lazy night in..
Z-movie editing is abundant, including a scene where a character "dies" from a sword thrust that very obviously missed completely!The movie is clearly banking on the charms of the female leads, Barbi Benton and Lana Clarkson, who are paraded around mostly naked throughout the movie.
But the treatment of their characters is so degrading and the sex scenes so casual and joyless, that I couldn't enjoy even this aspect of the movie.Most cheesy movies of this era are at least somewhat redeemed by a light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek feel (the sequel is better in this regard), but DEATHSTALKER seems to take itself completely seriously as heroic fantasy.
DEATHSTALKER is perfect for B-fantasy movie fans; this barely 80-minute travesty of film-making features everything hecklers can ask for--non-existent plotting, terrible acting (save for at least a raspy-sounding old lady), laughable scripting and schlock editing, and bargain-basement style background settings.
I mean, I love naked chicks just as much as the next guy, but this movie went a tad overboard in that department.Well, anyway, if you love bad movies and can stand a disgusting "hero" then I'm sure you'll like this schlock of a film..
"Deathstalker" has it all: blood, violence, trolls, female mud-wrestling, attempted rape, successful rape, life-sized pigs (!), awful hairstyles, hideously oiled muscular bodies, multi-sexual orgies, gay warriors, tournaments-to-the-death, delirious witches, dismemberment, laughable villains and boobs, boobs, BOOOOOOOOOBIES!!
Sword-swinging warrior Deathstalker (Rick Hill, in an unconvincing blond wig) embarks on a quest to unite the three powers - a sword, an amulet and a chalice - in order to defeat evil magician Munkar (Bernard Erhard), who has seized the throne from the rightful king.
What is important is that the makers of this sword and sorcery movie know not to take matters too seriously, taking the cheeze-o-meter up to eleven, making the film a lot of fun despite its obvious budgetary restraints.The result is a gloriously tacky flick featuring all manner of silliness, with lashings of nudity and a smattering of gore.
Female warrior Kaira (the lovely Lana Clarkson) wanders around with her tits out (as do most of the women in the film); Deathstalker encounters a troll-like creature in a cave (a crappy John Carl Buechler creation); Munkar keeps an eye-ball-eating pet monster in a wooden chest; there's a debauched feast at Munkar's castle that features female mud-wrestling; a pig-man pulls a bloke's arm off and uses it as a weapon; and Munkar meets a bloody demise, pulled apart by horses.6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for Clarkson, and beautiful Barbi Benton as sexy Princess Codille..
Richard Hill stars as Deathstalker, an oiled-up beefcake of a hero with long blond hair and a lantern jaw, who is tasked by an old witch with finding a trio of magical artifacts before the evil wizard Munkar does and can become all-powerful.
Along the way on his quest, Deathstalker meets up with a variety of friends, including a guy who starts off as some kind of goblin in a cave, another happy-go-lucky adventurer, and a warrior-woman who remains shirtless throughout (played by Lana Clarkson, the B-actress who was shot dead by Phil Spector in 2003).The early 1980's were a big time for fantasy films, with the two Conan films with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dragonslayer, The Beastmaster, and The Sword & the Sorcerer.
This film has it all: a bald bad guy with a dumb tattoo on his face, a pig-man with a snotty nose, giants, lots of people with no shirts, a weird puppet monster in a box that eats fingers and eyeballs, a fighters' tournament, lots of people with no pants, gangs of mutants, silly costumes, harem girls, flashy spells, and Barbi Benton.
With the lands being ruled by a vile sorcerer who also seeks the sword, Deathstalker is in for a grand adventure as he sets out to free the realm of the looming evil.Right, well the story was adequate, especially for a sword & sorcery movie, right?
Bad enough, but she also has to be rescued because she's not as good as the men.Okay, it's depicting a fantasy barbarian period and brutal warriors who'd just take what they want but the frequency of the rape scenes aside they're all shot in a voyeuristic, exploitative manner or we're supposed to laugh at them.
Deathstalker joins with other characters such as Kaira (Lana Clarkson) and Oghris (Richard Brooker) on the journey to a tournament overseen by Munkar to determine who is the mightiest of all.Joining in the fun are Barbi Benton as Princess Codille and Victor Bo as the villainous Kang.
Nothing is any good about any of the Deathstalker movies, oh the nudity is always welcome but its used as a substitute for better story telling, the action scenes are awful Saturday afternoon TV quality, sets are a joke,the acting and directing are physically painful to watch- It all raises more serious questions, "got the money why make this movie?" "if you are going to have rampant nudity why not just make a porno?" "if its an action movie why not pay for better stunts?" "if this is just going to be a train-wreck B-movie tits-and-ass sword and fantasy thing, why not actually have fun with it?" So what can redeem this movie?
The warrior Deathstalker (Rick Hill) is sent by a witch on a quest to find a chalice, an amulet, and a sword, two of which are held by the wicked sorcerer Munkar (Bernard Erhard).
Sword in hand, Deathstalker sets out to Munkar's castle.The film is noteworthy for launching the career of Lana Clarkson, who became a recognizable cult celebrity in the genre.
Hum, is not so great at all, but still is a reasonable and sword and sorcery flick, "DeathStalker" aka "El cazador de la muerte" have all the ingredients: nudity, violence and muscles.Like many sword and sorcery productions,this one also have, bad actors, mediocre soundtrack,poor sword fights, and a ridiculous nonsense script,but in spite of all this, its fun too watch, the arena scene is +\- ,the Deathstalker fight against the pig guy is +\- ,and the last scene, the Deathstalker vs Munkar (the evil warlock) is +\- too..
If you are a fantasy\sword and sorcery\barbarian maniac like me, I'm sure that you will enjoy "Deathstlaker", if you enjoy this one, i recommend: "Barbarians Queen","The Warrior and the Sorceress", "Wizards of the lost Kingdom" and the rest of "Deathstalker's" sequels..
Lana does a pretty good job of being an amazon/barbarian warrior woman, so much so that she made three more movies playing almost the exact same character as in this film.
He reaches the top, frees the princess, but does not take her hand, for he is in love with Lana.Anyway, there's more fighting, the king is defeated, and Deathstalker frees the city so that Barbi can rule in peace.There's a bit of gore, some nudity (mentioned above), but no harsh language or seriously offensive acts.After this movie, the other Deathstalker films are pretty thin.
This movie is basically a huge rip-off of Conan The Barbarian, the Schwarzenegger classic that came out in 1982, the year before Deathstalker was made, which also had lots of violence, nudity, and one- liners.
Rick Hill, the actor that played Deathstalker, went on to a mildly successful career as a B movie action hero, including two Deathstalker sequels, Deathstalker And The Warriors From Hell (Deathstalker part III) and Deathstalker IV: Match of Titans.
Deathstalker is also the name of our shirtless, muscle bound hero(played by Richard Hill)who enters a tournament to liberate the kingdom from evil wizard Munkar(who looks a lot like Church Of Satan founder Anton Lavey).
If you love fantasy films you will love this movie.Rick Hill is great as the fearless Deathstalker who is a brilliant warrior, particularly adept when it comes to chopping villain's heads off and facing evil villains.(SPOILERS AHEAD)Throughout the movie the scenes are great-from the beginning scene where Deathstalker saves a woman from a bunch of creatures and a scoundrel right up to the final scene where Deathstalker battles Munkar the evil wizard.
Muscular blond-maned wannabe heroic scruffy barbarian Deathstalker (the hunky Rick Hill) gets assigned by the all powerful King Tulak to rescue his lovely fair maiden daughter Princess Codille (stunningly beautiful'n'bountiful Playboy Playmate Barbi Benton) from the vile clutches of evil sorcerer Oghris (a delectably hammy performance by Richard Brooker; Jason in "Friday the 13th Part III").
But it is the bad acting, the cheesy effects, and the many errors, that makes this movie so hilarious.SPOILERS AHEAD -Deathstalker (Rick Hill) is an extremely strong and skilled warrior.
Deathstalker is not only to obtain the the three powers of creation, but also to save the old, good king's gorgeous daughter (Barbi Benton) from the claws of evil Munkar.
Luckily, he doesn't get bored on his way to the tournament, since he is allowed hump the gorgeous female warrior Kaira (Lana Clarkson) in the meantime...The film has many great, incredibly stupid and funny scenes.
Some of my favorite scenes include: Deathstalker beheads a bad guy with his sword.
Her breasts are the first thing we see of Lana Clarkson, even before her face.The last warrior Deathstalker has to fight in the tournament, is a giant guy with the body of a man and the head of a pig.Evil Munkar has an ugly little creature locked in a chest.
I like a lot of 80s B movie Fantasies and decided to check out the Deathstalker films after I watched The Barbarians on youtube, which I LOVED.I picked up the Roger Corman Sword and Sorcery Collection and watched the first film last night and was not impressed.
To me what makes a Sword and Sorcery B film so great is when the cast and crew are aware that they are making a sub par film and are in on the joke, but with Deathstalker I felt like they were trying to make a decent movie and just gave up when it became clear they were too incompetent to do so.
I like blood and gore but when the sorcerer was feeding that boy's eye and fingers to his pet creature, that was just a little too far for me when it comes to a movie I want to laugh at (or with).The biggest surprise I had while watching Deathstalker is that some scenes actually look very good when trying to replicate Boris Vallejo's imagery, they were held back only by the anemic production budget, but the rest of the movie is plain old bad film making.
Actually release a sequel or several.Missing any of the above and it goes downhill pretty quick.Incidentally for those wondering Conan The Barbarian and Destroyer are among my other favorites.Don't expect a lot and you will be surprised as for a low budget film this has everything from Humor (yes for real)a quest (no need for a hero without one right).
Like "The Sword and The Sorcerer" and "Ator, The Fighting Eagle," "Deathstalker" and its three sequels sought to cash in on the success of John Milius' "Conan the Barbarian" with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Later,Salmaron takes advantage of the sword's magical powers to convert him back into a human being.Not long afterward, Deathstalker teams up with the two warriors, the agile Oghris (Richard Brooker) and the lovely Kaira (Lana Clarkson of "Barbarian Queen") on their way to Munkar's kingdom.
The fight scenes aren't too bad either - I love the way Deathstalker lets his sword 'drink' the blood of his victims - and there's plenty of nudity and sex to temper the general level of machismo throughout.
Or be like me, someone that watches them specifically for the sword and sorcery!The first of four films about the Deathstalker character, this movie is all about a quest to find a chalice, an amulet and a sword, two of which are held by the wicked sorcerer Munkar.
Kaira is played by Lana Clarkson, who was in the two Barbarian Queen films, but is perhaps better known for being shot and killed by Phil Spector.The real reason for the tournament is that Munkar wants to take out any threat to his competition.
Deathstalker decides the tournament is a good way to get close to Munkar & enters but the evil sorcerer has the tournament rigged in his favour & has no intention of surrendering his power...This Argentinian & American co-production was directed by John Watson & is typically cheap sword & sorcery offering from Roger Corman who was obviously trying to cash-in on the popularity of Conan the Barbarian (1982), personally I think Deathstalker is a pretty poor film with virtually no story or sense & there is little reward in sitting through the admittedly short 76 minute running time which does actually feel a lot longer.