MOVIE NEWS – A cult 1980s sword-and-sorcery franchise is being resurrected, thanks to none other than Guns N’ Roses legend Slash. The creative team aims to revive the forgotten magic of the genre while staying true to the campy charm that made the originals so beloved. The new Deathstalker is not just nostalgia – it’s a love letter to the low-budget, high-passion fantasy films of the past.
No one was really asking for a revival of the long-dead Deathstalker series — perhaps only Patton Oswalt, who appears in the sequel — but the reboot is happening, and it’s set to arrive next month in all its glorious cheesiness. This time, Daniel Bernhardt (Logan, John Wick, Nobody) steps into the Schwarzenegger-like lead role, with Steven Kostanski (The Void, Psycho Goreman) directing. The project is backed by Shout! Studios, BerserkerGang, and Vault Comics. The hero once again faces the Dreadites in a fantasy world straight out of a vintage heavy metal album cover.
While an independent action film sounds good on paper, retro homages like this are risky, appealing only to a small niche audience. Unsurprisingly, Deathstalker couldn’t secure traditional studio backing, as the franchise was never big enough to warrant the gamble. Yet, its revival is happening thanks to an unlikely patron — a top-hat-wearing rock legend. All it needed was a little patience.
Does anyone still remember Deathstalker? Created in 1983 as a blatant Conan the Barbarian knockoff by opportunistic producer Roger Corman, it’s now mostly remembered as a quirky footnote in film history. It starred Jason Brooker from the Friday the 13th series, Lana Clarkson, who later became tragically famous due to her murder, and Barbi Benton, the former Mrs. Hugh Hefner. Several sequels followed, including the infamously bad Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell, which appeared on Mystery Science Theater 3000.
These movies were guilty pleasures, late-night TV staples. The original series tried to ride the wave of Robert E. Howard’s pulp fantasy heroes but never achieved mainstream success. Hollywood failed to recreate that blood-soaked 1980s vibe — until Game of Thrones. Aside from syndicated shows like Hercules and Xena, the genre never regained mass appeal. Still, the hunger for classic fantasy never died. As Kostanski put it: “I just wanted to breathe life into that subgenre again, and the pieces just fell into place to make it happen.”
Slash to the Rescue
We first reported on this project two years ago, but so far it’s raised only $150,000 through two Kickstarters — barely enough for catering in 2025. Luckily, the Deathstalker IP found an unexpected savior: Slash. The Guns N’ Roses guitarist not only financed the movie but also contributed music. He told The Hollywood Reporter: “I first discovered the original films back in the ‘80s when I worked at Tower Video in Los Angeles. They had a certain looseness and B-movie charm that really appealed to me.”
Mixing action, levity, and character development is harder than it sounds — as the recent Red Sonja flop showed. The legacy of 1982’s Conan the Barbarian owes much to director John Milius, co-writer Oliver Stone, and stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Earl Jones. Deathstalker was also a financial hit for Corman’s company, and Rick Hill even returned for a sequel. Slash (real name Saul Hudson) says he’s interested in producing more sequels and even founded his horror-focused company BerserkerGang in 2023.
A Love Letter to 1980s Fantasy
Slash says the film aimed to use practical effects and minimal CGI to capture the feel of classic fantasy movies. While the budget was tight, it actually fueled the team’s creativity — much like Corman’s films. The result is one of the most authentic retro-fantasy movies in decades. In a time when John Carter flopped, The Rings of Power alienated fans, and Jason Momoa’s 2011 Conan reboot lost money, independent filmmaking might be the only way forward. Forty years later, we’ve come full circle: Deathstalker hits theaters on October 10.
Source: MovieWeb
