Best movie of this year hands down!

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

"Deathstalker III: Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell" surpasses "Deathstalker II: Duel of the Titans." John Terlesky and company in "Deathstalker II" might as well have been swatting at each other with tennis rackets for all the swashbuckling thrills and chills that the tame first sequel failed to deliver. John Allen Nelson of "Hunk" looks like he could be the eponymous character. Mind you, Nelson is no match for Rick Hill but he is a hundred times better than Terlesky, and Mexican director Alfonso Corona shuns the juvenile antics that Jim Wynorski emphasized in "Deathstalker II." Moreover, nobody gives an embarrassing performance in "Deathstalker III" that compares with the truly abysmal performance of Monique Gabrielle. Although it isn't as campy as its pathetic predecessor, "Deathstalker III" contains some humor. Director Corona prefers to play things along the lines of the straight and narrow. For example, a secondary character dies under tragic circumstances so this second sequel isn't as lightweight as the first sequel. The only flaw in the original "Deathstalker" was the death of our hero's companion too early in the action. Conversely, the character of Marinda here is introduced early in the action and survives until the finale when she helps our unarmed protagonist defeat the villain."Deathstalker" scenarist Howard Cohen sticks to the formula of the strong man who rescues a comely princess from the clutches of an evil sorcerer. Occasionally, Corona and Cohen generate a modicum of suspense, particularly in Deathstalker's torture scene and Cohen scores with one major surprise that enhances the action. Further, Cohen has an adolescent character that is good with a bow and arrow appear at opportune moments, but he foreshadows the child's skill with the weapon. Basically, "Deathstalker III" revolves around two multi-faceted white stones that when combined will yield their power. These two stones will take the owner to Erendor, the city of lost treasure. The villainous tyrant of Southland, Troxartes (Thom Christopher of NBC-TV's "Buck Rogers of the 25th Century"), possesses one stone, while Deathstalker winds up with the second stone. He obtained his stone from a princess running around incognito to find a wizard. Indeed, Carissa (Carla Herd of "Wild Zone" in a dual role) has spent the last three years searching for Nicias (veteran Mexican actor Aarón Hernán) who wanders from village to village prophesying about the villagers' future. One cool looking villain, Inaros (Roger Cudney of "The Border"), rides around with batwings attached to either side of his helmet. This entry in the quartet of sword and sorcery sagas was lensed on location in Mexico, but it is still a low-rent Roger Corman spectacle. The orchestral music by Alejandro Rulfo and Israel Torres captures the atmosphere of this mock-heroic nonsense, and Troxartes makes good use of a falcon as his eyes in the skies.The first scene in "Deathstalker III" resembles the opening scene in "Conan the Barbarian" when the evil warriors stormed a village, killed most of the inhabitants and captured young Conan. Deathstalker is enjoying himself at a village festival, swapping blows with an adversary on a felled tree as they battle with long sticks. At the same time, the long, gray-haired wizard Nicias tells those who can afford his prices what their future holds. Nicias wears a long fur robe. Carissa has been looking for Nicias and shows him her half of the stone, hoping the wizard to have the other half. Suddenly, warriors on horseback wearing ominous armory ride into the village and start slaying people. Deathstalker fights them long enough for Nicias to escape and vanish into thin air with only his smoking footwear to note his presence. Carissa flees, and she winds up in Deathstalker's camp where she identifies herself as a princess. Deathstalker is amused by his luck. "Why is it I keep getting mixed up with princesses?" Carissa tells him about Erendor and its treasure. "Enough to make my people strong forever," she assures him. Deathstalker isn't impressed. "Here I go again, riding hundreds of miles, fighting whole armies, up against magic maybe. In the end all I will get is flowers on my heading telling me how wonderful I am."No sooner has Deathstalker seen his future than the same warriors who raided the village strike his camp and kill Carissa. She gives the stone to Deathstalker. Before she dies, Carissa tells Deathstalker about her sister Belizean. According to Carissa, "It was either me or my sister and she cannot put on her own shoes." This description fits Elizena. Later, after Deathstalker eludes Troxartes, he stumbles into a valley looking for a horse. He tries to steal one from a mother and daughter who live in the valley and live on a diet of potatoes. Marinda (Claudia Inchaurregui of "The Bikini War") is the daughter who hasn't set foot outside the valley and has never made love to a man. Marinda lets Deathstalker deflower her and then leads him out of the valley. Mom believes that Deathstalker has abducted her daughter so she leads Troxartes' army after them. Once he is safely away, Deathstalker runs into Carissa's sister, Elizena, and Elizena is every inch the stuck-up princess that we're used to seeing. Troxartes yearns for the second stone. His mistress Camisarde (Terri Treas of "All That Jazz") asks him, "Aren't you rich enough without one more jewel?" She goes on to add, "You own every inch of land and peasant between here and the sea and me if you ever noticed." Troxartes points out, "That city is power. The magic of a thousand generations lives in the stones of its wall waiting to erupt by the one who puts these stone together. When this is complete the world is mine. With it I'll live forever!" "Deathstalker III" is a relief after the abomination of "Deathstalker II.

I know that some films are made not to be taken seriously and they are just for laughs. Naked Gun, Airplane and Top Gun spring to mind. However somewhere there has to be a line drawn and Deathstalker crosses it. When i first saw this film i didn't know it was third in a series, I bought it second hand without a cover. However, after trying to watch this I was scared at how bad it was. I don't mind films being made for a laugh and just being done to take the micky out of itself, that's one of the the things that makes films like Cherry Falls some of my favorite films. This one however just makes me cringe because of how badly it is made. I couldn't finish the film I just couldn't take anymore of it. I lost the plot half-way through because it just seemed to fizzle out. After steeling myself for a second attempt I still couldn't find it. It was very, very hard going to watch. The acting wasn't even second rate, it barely deserves third rate. As stated I couldn't find a plot, I really lost it half way through and had to force myself to keep watching. Its not even that I don't like the style of film, I actually love the medieval/fantasy type of film. Conan the Barbarian and Red Sonia are examples of this type of film that i really love, its just that Deathstalker doesn't have a decent script or actors like those films do. I later tried watching this film with MST3K insulation and even with the help of Joel and the Bots I barely made it the whole film, and was none the wiser to the plot. I love MST3K, and this is the only MST3K that i nearly didn't watch to the end. Truly a candidate for worst film of all time. Watch only if you really have literally nothing else to do at all, and watch with MST3K insulation, that makes it almost bearable. A grudging one out of two.

Many commenters have failed to mention something that sets this movie apart from the other deathstalker sequels... namely, the lack of stock footage. To me nothing is more annoying in a fantasy movie than when the elements of fantasy are yanked from other movies that did a good job(For example, Almost every Fred Olen Ray movie you can get your hands on will have stolen footage of stop motion dinosaurs from a masterpiece called planet of the dinosaurs.) Deathstalker 2 and 4 are horrible about this problem. they feature minutes upon minutes of unmistakable battle scenes from the first deathstalker. Now I suppose part 3 isnt entirely innocent since it yanks the theme song from battle beyond the stars, but thats okay. Also, I would like to mention that people who see a cover of a deathstalker movie and are disappointed to find the movie is nothing like it are falling for the oldest trick in the exploitation book. Deathstalker 3 is by no means a classic. its a little bit boring and this time the guy playing deathstalker isn't as cool, but I give it much credit for not showing me scenes from the other movies in the series.

You know, I admit to enjoying Krull and the Beast Master movies and most of Arnold's Conan films. But this movie was bad, like a rotten potato. The MST3k version is barely tolerable. What's up with them ripping off the Dune soundtrack anyway? Hopefully they paid for the rights. I got to wondering for a while there if our potato girl would start whispering her thoughts out loud to the audience. Of course, I doubt it would have mattered, even Lynch couldn't have saved this turkey from the Bay Watch-like charm of its star.