Deathstalker (2025) [Blu-Ray]

Director: Steven Kostanski

Cast: Daniel Bernhardt, Christina Orjalo, Patton Oswalt

Release Date: February 17, 2026

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 7.5/10
Disc Rating: 8.5/10

Synopsis:

In Deathstalker, the Kingdom of Abraxeon is under siege by the Dreadites, heralds of the long-dead sorcerer Nekromemnon. When Deathstalker recovers a cursed amulet from a corpse-strewn battlefield, he’s marked by dark magick and hunted by monstrous assassins. To survive, he must break the curse and face the rising evil. Death is just the beginning… of great adventure!

Steven Kostanski’s reimagining of ‘Deathstalker’ follows a solo warrior known only as Deathstalker who becomes engulfed in a battle for the fate of the Kingdom of Abraxeon after he is accidently cursed by an amulet he claimed off a dying man. As the Kingdom is overtaken and terrorized by dark forces, black magick and Dreadites, all tools of a long-dead sorcerer named Nekromemnon, Deathstalker must join forces with a pair of unlikely allies as he tries to find a way to remove the curse while also combating a horde of deadly and monstrous assassins that are hunting him.

Written and directed by Steven Kostanski (Frankie Freako, Psycho Goreman) who does a great job at the helm of ‘Deathstalker’ guiding along the new take on the franchise with plenty of blood-soaked, goofy fun in store. The film’s cast includes Daniel Bernhardt (Nobody 2), Christina Orjalo (TV’s Wayward), Paul Lazenby (TV’s Superman & Lois), Nicholas Rice (TV’s Locke & Key), Nina Bergman (Cold Meat) and the voice of Patton Oswalt (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire), with most offering up fitting and generally capable performances in each of their roles for the most part.

Steven Kostanski’s new take on ‘Deathstalker’ serves up a brutally gory, wildly silly and immensely enjoyable ride that embraces the roots of the 1983 film and its goofy, over the top style while also updating the adventure for a modern audience in more ways than one. Much more a re-imagining than a remake as characters and plotlines are far from identical, Kostanski offers a decrease in the cheese element (although still retaining it to some degree) along with upping the ante significantly when it comes to the bloody violence as body parts and heads are lying and flying about with regularity, while at the same time the heavy focus on sex and nudity has been entirely eradicated for this new take along with the title character’s womanizing attributes. It should also come as little surprise that the production values are immensely better as are many of the performances for this new take on the fantasy franchise.

The property is certainly right up Steven Kostanski’s alley and his propensity for impressive carnage and gore fits nicely into the tale, with Kostanski never holding back on that factor. In many ways it’s a very different beast to the original yet at the same time is incredibly familiar which makes for a nice balance of improvement and relatability that works rather well as a whole and allows the film to become its own without ever completely disregarding its roots, and even providing quite a few laughs on top of it all, many of which unsurprisingly come courtesy of the character Doodad who is voiced by none other than Patton Oswalt.

Overall, Steven Kostanski’s reimagining of ‘Deathstalker’ is a fun, wildly violent and bloody, and appropriately over the top fantasy that stays true to many general ideas of the original while updating much of it and fine tuning most of the edges. In addition to upgrading the gore and production values in general, the new film also offers a far more coherent storyline and chain of events than the original which at times seemed to just sort of jump from one scenario to another with a general idea of a story to guide it along. Kostanski may not get deep into the lore and background by any means, but it feels far more balanced with a better flow to say the least and for anyone that enjoyed the original or appreciates a b-level fantasy adventure with plenty of notable gore effects the new ‘Deathstalker’ is recommended, although it certainly won’t be for everyone.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Deathstalker’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation with the film’s original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks great as a whole and provides a nicely detailed presentation that’s clean, sharp and richly colored. Detail is rewarding on character faces and attire, along with the various surroundings and of course the gory violence. Colors remain sharp and vibrant when intended, while black levels remain suitably dark and deep for the most part. Overall, this is a very nice high definition presentation that looks good and as intended and it should please newcomers along with fans.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This multichannel soundtrack offers a clean, sharp and at times fairly aggressive audio presentation that contributes to the bloody fun throughout. It utilizes all five available channels in order to send music, action and war-related effects, plus various other elements throughout the various speakers when appropriate, while never causing any dialogue or other audio elements to become negatively impacted or distorted in the process. Overall, this is a solid 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack that holds up capably throughout and shouldn’t disappoint.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Deathstalker’ offers a nice collection of bonus content that fans should appreciate. Included on the release are ‘2 Audio Commentaries’; the first of which is an ‘Audio Commentary with Writer-Director Steven Kostanski And Star Daniel Bernhardt’ and the second an ‘Audio Commentary with Steven Kostanski, Director Of Photography Andrew Appelle, And Editor Robert Hyland’. Also included are various Interviews and Featurettes including ‘An Interview with Writer-Director Steven Kostanski and Star Daniel Bernhardt Hosted by Todd Stashwick’ (running approximately 44 minutes in length), ‘A Conversation with Visual Effects Supervisor Cody Kennedy, Visual Effects Artists Matthew Satchwill and Adarsh Bora, And Moderator Steven Kostanski’ (running approximately 33 minutes) and ‘Animating Stop Motion Skeletons with Steven Kostanski’ (approximately 5 minutes). The ‘“Deathstalker” Music Video By Brendan McCreary, Chuck Cirino, Slash, and Bear McCreary’ (5 minutes) and the film’s ‘Trailer (2 minutes) are also included.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 7.5/10
Disc Rating: 8.5/10

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Steven Kostanski’s ‘Deathstalker’ Arrives on Blu-ray & DVD February 17, 2026 and is Now Available on Digital from Shout! Studios

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You can purchase ‘Deathstalker (2025) on Blu-ray at Amazon HERE!

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