Starring Rick (WARRIOR QUEEN) Hill, Barbi (X-RAY) Benton, Richard (FRIDAY THE 13TH: PART III) Brooker, Lana (AMAZON WOMEN ON THE MOON) Clarkson, Bernard Erhard and Victor Bo. Written by Howard R. (SATURDAY THE 14TH) Cohen and directed by James Sbardellati.

The warrior known as Deathstalker (Hill) goes on a quest to find three objects of power: a chalice, a sword, and an amulet. Deathstalker’s journey will lead him to the castle of a sorcerer,  where there is a tournament with different fights to the death…

DEATHSTALKER was one of the many low budget sword and sorcery films that came out in the wake of John Milius’ CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982). This was one of only two films that James Sbardellati directed, as he was usually a first assistant director on such productions as BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS (1980), HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP (1980) and THE BEASTMASTER (1982), which is one of my favourite sword and sorcery flicks.

DEATHSTALKER, which features a witch, an imp and a weird little finger-eating puppet creature (it also likes to eat eyes), was an Argentine-American co-production (and was the first of several films that Roger Corman produced in Argentina.) As these kinds of threadbare fantasy productions go, DEATHSTALKER is an okay yarn that’s full of oiled warriors, semi-orgies, lots of half-naked women, mud wrestling, a pig-headed, tusked dude and a fairly lighthearted vibe.

The movie, though far, far from being a fantasy classic, is certainly more enjoyable than the likes of ATOR, THE FIGHTING EAGLE (1982) and THE WARRIOR AND THE SORCERESS (1984), though it couldn’t possibly live up to the expectations created by Boris Vallejo’s cool poster. The ogre-creature that Boris depicts in his artwork is huge and impactful, gripping a desperate maiden with one huge hand as the beast-man raises a mace against the lithe hero. In the movie itself, this monstrous character is far less imposing, that’s for sure, but he’s still a fun, human-sized, boar-faced brute that enlivens proceedings.

More DEATHSTALKER films were to follow, and they all boasted posters that were always far better than the movies they represented!

Sadly, Lana Clarkson, who played the blonde warrior woman Kaira, was later murdered by record producer Phil Spector in 2003.

Alright then, one final look at ol’ piggy-features…