DEATHSTALKER WEEK: Deathstalker (2025)

Warrior and scavenger Deathstalker (Daniel Bernhardt) is pulled into the "machinations of the gods" when he steals a magical amulet from a dying prince on a battlefield.

Teaming up with goblin-dwarf wizard Doodad (Laurie Field, voiced by Patton Oswald) and thief Brisbayne (Christina Orjalo), this trio of rogues have to first undo the curse on Deathstalker that has bound the amulet to him.

Then they have to find an (impractical) four-bladed magical sword and thwart the apocalyptic plans of the evil sorcerer Nekromemnon (Nicholas Rice), his right-hand goon, the undead Jotak (Paul Lazenby) and their legions of monstrous Dreadite soldiers.

Written and directed by Psycho Goreman's Steven Kostanski (who was born three years after the original Deathstalker was released) Deathstalker (2025) is a loving tribute to vintage, low-budget, swords-and-sorcery flicks.

It is set in a land awash with Hawk The Slayer mist, and our heroes fight their way through a never-ending onslaught of Power Rangers (and Psycho Goreman) style rubber-suit monsters and Evil Dead-style stop-motion creations.

And, yes, the infamous porcine-faced humanoid makes a return appearance, although he's had a bit of a glow-up since the original movies. You may call him a pig-man, but to me he's a Gygaxian orc.

The ultimate weapon that Stalker is seeking - as I suspected the other day - is even an on-the-nose homage to Alert Pyun's The Sword and The Sorcerer.

In fact, the only thing that really differentiates this from the earlier Deathstalker movies is the total absence of sleaze. There's no nudity (gratuitous or otherwise), not even a hint of sexual tension between Stalker and Brisbayne. Instead, they are treated as <shudder> equals!

And, you know what, I didn't miss it. Deathstalker's linear plot is a blood-spattered, non-stop riot of over-the-top cartoonish violence, interspersed with some witty dialogue, subtle foreshadowing, and a cavalcade of rubbery monsters that could easily have just rolled out of an old school Dungeons & Dragons adventure.

You may recognise him as Kirill from John Wick or Agent Johnson from The Matrix Reloaded, but Daniel Bernhardt, who has a definite air of Jon Hamm in his mien, is superb as the titular antihero and the door is definitely left wide open at the end for sequels.

I, for one, would welcome further adventures with Bernhardt reprising the role.

The only nit I would pick with Kostanski's script - and this is as much personal taste as anything - is giving Deathstalker a backstory that necessitates him having a "pre-Deathstalker" name.

Honestly, this is completely unnecessary as the name could have been excised from the script and it would have read just as well if he was a "man with no name" type.

The film was part-funded by Kickstarter in 2024, but (for reasons) as there were no Blu-Rays (or even DVDs) on offer as incentives I just chipped in at the lowest level to get my name in the credits... because I'm easily pleased.

This did mean I had to import the Blu-Ray off my own back this week - thanks to eBay.

I know there are going to be those who moan about what's missing from the traditional Deathstalker formula (even though, surprisingly having now seen the film, it is front-and-centre in the comic book spin-off released by Vault Comics in the wake of the Kickstarter).

However, if anything, 2025's Deathstalker proves you can still make outrageous, trashy, dark fantasy sword-and-sorcery movies in this day and age that cater to audiences both old and new.

My "thank you" in the credits: best $10 I've ever invested in a Kickstarter 😉

Open Range (2003)

It's 1882 and Boss Spearman (Robert Duvall), a wise old cowboy, and his team are leading their herd of free-grazing cattle across Montana when they run afoul of local cattle baron Denton Baxter (Michael Gambon).

Spearman's three-man crew consists of taciturn Charley Waite (Kevin Costner), the gentle giant Mose (Abraham Benrubi), and young Button (an early performance from Diego Luna, the future Cassian Andor).

Baxter wants the free-grazers gone from his territory around the town of Harmonville (so he can steal their cattle) and sets his own men on sorting out "the problem". 

Mose is murdered and Button severely injured - but the worst injustice is the shooting of Waite's old dog, Tig.

This is the classic John Wick inciting incident 11 years before John Wick entered our lives.

Dogs play a pivotal role in this tale as, later on, Charley saving a puppy from drowning helps persuade the town's inhabitants that maybe he and Spearman aren't the "big bads" that Baxter seeks to portray them as.

Needing medical aid for the wounded Button, Charley and Spearman meet Doc Barlow (Dean McDermott) and his beautiful sister, Sue (Annette Bening), who they mistake for his wife for the longest time.

Once this mistake is corrected it opens the door for a sweet, low-key romance to blossom between Charley and Sue, against the backdrop of the increasing tension - and inevitable showdown - between the free-herders and the cattle baron.

Everything comes to a head in a gorgeously choreographed gun battle in the streets of Harmonville, that sees - as it goes on - more and more of the town's residents taking the side of Charley and Spearman against their oppressive, vicious "overlord".

I like a lot of Westerns, of all stripes, but I have to admit that Open Range is up there among my favourites.

Beautifully directed by Costner himself, from a smart and engaging script by Craig Storper (based upon The Open Range Men by by Lauran Paine), this is one of those near-perfect Westerns that has it all.

Costner and Duvall are phenomenal as the pair of aging cattlemen, bickering like an old married couple, and still finding out about each other's backstories a decade into their friendship. 

The realisation, with this viewing, of who was playing Button certainly added a unique spin on the movie (when I last saw it Andor and Rogue One weren't even part of the Star Wars Universe), but the thing that had stuck with me all these years was the incredibly sound effects, particularly during the final gunfight.

I've always had a bit of thing about high-quality movie sound effects (I've long been a bit of a Ben Burtt stan - again with the Star Wars reference - and I like to think in a different life I'd have been a Foley artist) and the first time I heard the gun shots in that extended, final sequence I was gobsmacked by the vividness of the sound.

Watching the movie this week, I was again struck by the work of Open Range's sound team, but also the realisation that there is so much more to the movie than just the epic conclusion.

The former gunslinger who has turned his back on his old ways but is forced to confront those urges by circumstances beyond his control sounds like a Western cliché, but Storper's script does a grand job - thanks to top-quality directing and impeccable performances - of diving deep into the character's psyche and justifying their actions.