This Rock Legend Is Trying to Revive the Fantasy Epic One Decapitation and Loincloth at a Time Actorsvaultpro

We aren’t sure who was clamoring for an update to the defunct Deathstalker series other than Patton Oswalt (who appears in this sequel), but the fantasy reboot actually got made, and is out next month in all its cheesy glory. This go-around, actor Daniel Bernhardt (Logan, John Wick, Nobody) assumes the mantle as the Schwarzenegger-esque title character. Director Steven Kostanski (The Void, Psycho Goreman) takes the helm in a collaboration between distributor Shout! Studios, production company BerserkerGang, and comic book publisher Vault Comics. The film sees the hero return to fight the Dreadites in a fantasy universe that looks like it comes straight off the cover of a vintage heavy metal album. That last bit is way more important than it initially seems.

An independent action film is a nifty idea on paper. However, these kinds of retro-homages are tricky in practice, considering they cater to an already small segment of the market. Deathstalker, not surprisingly, could not secure funding through traditional means, as the franchise was nowhere near popular enough to attract a large studio willing to gamble on a cult classic. Alas, the Deathstalker reboot is returning to the big screen thanks to an unlikely patron of the arts and top-hat aficionado. All we needed was just a little patience.

When Monosyllabic Buff Men With Large Swords Ruled Cinema

New World Pictures

Does anyone remember Deathstalker? Devised as a Conan the Barbarian knockoff — in the signature opportunistic style of producer Roger Corman — the 1983 sword-and-sorcery film Deathstalker is mainly memorable today as a peculiar bit of film history trivia. It starred the Jason actor from the Friday the 13th movies, Jason Brooker, and an actress, Lana Clarkson, who later became tragically famous due to her murder. It also starred Barbi Benton, better known as the former Mrs. Hugh Hefner. A spate of sequels followed, with Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell infamously featured on the Comedy Central show Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Suffice to say, these flicks were guilty pleasures, the staple of many a late-night viewing session. The original film series rode on the coattails of the fantasy pulp characters created by author Robert E. Howard, such as Conan the Barbarian, with Corman never concealing his desire to copy whatever was trendy. When the ’80s fantasy revival petered out, Deathstalker continued, but never caught on.

Hollywood has never been able to replicate that vibe of early ’80s gory adventure, either, until Game of Thrones. The only successful entries in that genre were meager-budgeted, syndicated episodic television series, such as Hercules and Xena: Warrior Princess. The mass appeal may have evaporated, but the desire for old-school fantasy adventures clearly never died. Director Kostanski admitted, “I really just wanted to try and reinvigorate that subgenre, and it was just a serendipitous aligning of pieces to get this film made,” to interviewers at the Locarno Film Festival, the IP holder lucking out through the right connections.

Slash Comes to the Rescue

Deathstalker (Daniel Bernhardt) battles in retro-fantasy film

We first covered this campaign two years ago, but as of writing, it has only raised $150,000 in two separate Kickstarters. It’s clear that the movie received funding from somewhere, as that amount doesn’t even cover the catering bill in 2025. Luckily for fantasy fans, the Deathstalker IP was blessed with an unexpected champion who saved the film from obscurity. That benefactor? Slash. The Guns N’ Roses member also contributes music to the film, leaving his imprint on the production, rather than sitting idly on the sidelines. He told The Hollywood Reporter that it’s not a parody, but made in the same style of action films of the ’80s, where escapism was the only purpose:

“I was familiar with the original movies back when I used to work at Tower Video in Los Angeles in the ‘80s, so that’s sort of how I came to be interested in doing this… The original Deathstalker just had a certain kind of looseness to it and a certain kind of fun, and also a certain kind of B movie quality that made it really appealing to me.”

That mix of levity, action, and character-building is harder than it sounds, as the recent Red Sonja flop painfully illustrated. The lasting legacy of the 1982 John Milius epic Conan the Barbarian is a testament to the director, Milius, co-writer Oliver Stone, and the cast, which featured Arnold Schwarzenegger alongside James Earl Jones. Deathstalker was also a massive success for Corman’s company, earning enough for New World Pictures to spawn a long-running franchise, with actor Rick Hill reprising his role in a later sequel. Slash (real name Saul Hudson) has stated that he is also interested in sequels, founding his own horror-themed production company, BerserkerGang, in 2023 to break into the movie business. After six albums bumping heads with Axl Rose, playing movie mogul should be a breeze in comparison.

‘Deathstalker’ Is a Love Letter To Low-Budget Schlock of Yesteryear

Daniel Bernhardt as fantasy hero Deathstalker

A goal for the film, Slash says, was to embrace practical effects, more in line with the look and feel of classic movies. Disavowing CGI, the producers opted for a director who had already proved his bona fides in the genre. Hinting in the same interview that the budget was always a concern, even if it wasn’t a major limitation. Nothing quite puts a crew in the right headspace like anxiety over money, a reality that Corman knew all too well.

In that regard, it’s the most authentic retro-fantasy film we’ve seen in decades. In an era where the John Carter series was DOA, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power depleted goodwill among Tolkien loyalists, and Jason Momoa’s 2011 Conan remake never broke even despite ideal casting, a return to modest independent filmmaking appears to be the only viable route for producing fantasy fare, echoing Roger Corman’s shoestring-budget movie factory. After four decades, we’re back exactly where we started. Deathstalker hits theaters on October 10.