Deathstalker II (1987)

While I have a hard time not laughing myself silly when watching the first Deathstalker film, it was taken pretty seriously by the people who made it and was meant to cash in on the success of genre classic Conan The Barbarian. This sequel has no aspirations of making a serious barbarian film and has far less money to go around on this production. This project is inspired more by Saturday morning cartoons than Conan. Richard Hill does not return this time around as Deathstalker and is replaced by a much thinner John Terlesky. It is true John does not have the buff, He Man like physique of Richard Hill. But he still was in great shape and had enough athletic ability and charisma to carry this action packed film. Deathstalker 2 is a much different type of adventure film than the first installment. This film is very campy, tongue in cheek and full of one liners. The production value, acting and technical aspects to this film are horrible and look very cheap. The tone of this project is light and not taken serious at all and that is the film's strength. It performs well as an outlandish piece of camp. In some ways it reminds me of the series Hercules The Legendary Journeys, if it was made for no money. Overall, Deathstalker 2 is what most people look for in a B movie. Its funny, has heavy doses of swashbuckling action, moves along fast and its over. The first film is no doubt a better film and delivers more in the blood and sex department. But Deathstalker 2 doubles down on outrageousness and cheese in a way that makes this film endearing in its own right.

Deathstalker (John Terlesky) is not a real hero, but rather a reckless rogue who fights only as long as it is fun, and his only ambition is to marry a rich princess some day. He meets Reena (Monique Gabrielle) who claims she can see the future in her crystal ball, but the results are not convincing. However, she also tells him she is a princess, and once the evil sorcerer Jarek (John La Zar) is out of the way, she might sit on the throne, rightfully. Before they face Reena's enemy, the queen of the amazons (Maria Socas, I recognized her from 'The Warrior and the Sorceress') has a special challenge for Deathstalker: wrestling a fat amazon to the death...'Deathstalker II' is a comedy in the first place, the dialogs are hilarious! Actually, 'Deathstalker II' doesn't look like a sequel to 'Deathstalker' at all. 'Deathstalker IV' had Rick Hill return as the hero, 'Deathstalker III' was at least written by the same scriptwriter, but in 'Deathstalker II' there is no personal continuity with the first movie. Which is probably a good thing, because this comedy within the series works very well as a movie of its own.

The prolific director Jim Wynorski knows how to entertain his audience. His movies never pretend to be more than what they are: tongue in cheek B movies that revel in their low budget cheesiness. There's almost always a great degree of appreciable sex appeal in his filmography, too, and "Deathstalker II" is no exception. The ladies are outstanding scenery attractions, the pacing is mostly effective, the dialogue is deliberately modernized and often quite funny, the villains are appropriately campy, and top billed John Terlesky just has fun with the nature of the role and the picture.He's not exactly your typical hero in this sort of thing, having a much more modest physique than the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger or Rick Hill, the star of the first "Deathstalker". But he's likable and engaging, playing a lone warrior enlisted by seer babe Reena (Monique Gabrielle, looking stunning in blonde hair) to go on a quest to restore a princess to her throne. Opposing Deathstalker - or "Stalker", for short - are baddies such as Jarek (John Lazar) and super sultry Sultana (Toni Naples).Filmed cheaply but entertainingly in Argentina, this has decent production design & cinematography, an acceptable amount of action ("Deathstalker II" does hit the ground running) with plenty of swordplay and explosions, numerous breast shots by the lovely female co-stars, and a fun and funky electronic score by Wynorski regular Chuck Cirino (which sounds similar at times to what he composed for "Chopping Mall"). The supporting cast includes Maria Socas ("The Warrior and the Sorceress") as the alluring Amazon Queen, Marcos Woinsky as the pirate, and wrestler / roller derby star / rock star Dee Booher as Deathstalker's opponent in the ring. Wynorski (billed as Arch Stanton) has a cameo as a dying soldier. The movie's biggest assets, however, are its playfulness and its sense of humour. If you watch through to the very end, the closing credits feature several amusing outtakes.Overall, this kills 78 minutes quite easily.Seven out of 10.

In ancient days, Deathstalker is a thief and swordsman who befriends Evie, a strange young woman who promises him great rewards if he can rid the land of the evil sorcerer Jarek. Deathstalker takes up the challenge, but can he defeat this powerful villain, and has Evie told him the whole story …Okay, this movie's a bit cheesy and goofball, with cardboard sets and a scene-chewing cast, but I can't help but enjoy it a lot. Like Piranha, it knows it's cashing in on the success of a better film, but that doesn't stop it being witty, exciting and fast paced. We get medieval barroom brawls, slavegirl mud fights, a tussle in a crypt with a gang of zombies, a wrestling match with an Amazon, a pit and pendulum torture number and a steamy vampire seduction scene. Wynorski sensibly keeps everything moving along nice as you please, with the next fight, joke, fleshpot or scare never far away. He's a really good director, with a fine eye for a shot, clever timing and a complete lack of pretension; check out any of his other films (my favourite is Transylvania Twist). The cast are fun - Terlesky coasts on his goofy good looks as the amiable Deathstalker, and Gabrielle and Naples are both saucy delights, frequently in eye-popping costumes which seem to defy both gravity and human physiology. Topping it all off is a toe-tappingly pleasant muzak score by Chuck Cirino, all kooky chords and crescendos. B-movie afficionados (and if you aren't one, stop taking films so seriously) will find much to enjoy in this good-natured, sexy, low-budget adventure flick. A straight-to-video movie, also known as Deathstalker II: Duel Of The Titans, it has little connection with the more mundane 1983 movie Deathstalker, and two plodding sequels (Deathstalker And The Warriors From Hell and Deathstalker IV: Match Of Titans).