reiher%UCLA-CS@sri-unix.UUCP (01/09/84)
From: Peter Reiher <reiher@UCLA-CS> "Deathstalker" is a new sword and sorcery movie from Roger Corman's current exploitation film company. It looks like it was filmed in Italy, or possibly Spain. It will make the rounds of the film markets one by one, so you may have seen it already, or it may be out in the next few months. "Deathstalker" is pretty bad. Either the director and screenwriter (both out of USC film school) haven't the vaguest idea of how to tell a story, or the film was edited by a chimpanzee. There is no coherence at all to the plot, which concerns a brawny hero with a magic sword of power attempting to get the other two items of power from an evil wizard. The frequent fight scenes are choreographed fairly well, by and large. There are also some moderately funny lines and sight gags. The hero, played by Rick Hill, which may or may not be a pseudonym for an Italian actor, is better than usual. That's about all of the good news, though. The atmosphere is only intermit- tently effective, and, as mentioned, the plot is badly chopped up. The other actors are serviceable, at best. The effects are cheesy. It should also be mentioned that there are an awful lot of bare bosoms in this film, as is the wont in a Roger Corman production. There is an Amazonian heroine, thrown as a sop to feminists, no doubt; but she, too, bares her breasts, and is disposed of rather casually, like most of the other characters. It's a big step up from something like "Ator", but it's not nearly as good as "The Sword and the Sorcerer".