Deathstalker II: Duel of the Titans (1987) Review

"I'll have my revenge, and Deathstalker too!" - Sultana.

Immediately following the above line of dialogue emerges the title "Deathstalker II: Duel of the Titans" through the flames. This hilarious reveal lets you know you are in for one hell of a ride, and a film that has become a staple of the "so bad it's good" genre. Following on from the 1983 original (reviewed on this blog last year), Deathstalker II fully embraces it's cheesy sword-and-sorcery setting and features all the elements that make a film like this so enjoyably bad. Like I did with the original film, I won't delve deep into the plot or anything else that could be open for heavy criticism. Instead, I'll take a look at the characters and bizarre moments in order to demonstrate why Deathstalker II is one of the best bad films ever made.

After her kingdom is seized by the ruthless Jarek (John Lazar), Princess Evie (Monique Gabrielle) seeks the help of the renowned adventurer known only as Deathstalker (John Terlesky). With Princess Evie's help (posing as Reena the Seer), Deathstalker must overcome many dangers, including Jarek's accomplice Sultana (Toni Naples) and an evil clone of Evie in order to win back her kingdom. Through a variety of crazy set-pieces and stock footage, this mismatched pairing must learn to get along if they are to save the day, that is if the bickering between the villains doesn't get the job done for them!

The first thing that's immediately obvious is the recasting of the lead role. John Terlesky looks nothing like the muscle-bound Rick Hill from the original, and is given even cheesier lines of dialogue to say. Given the stark contrast in appearance, Deathstalker is written here as more of a swashbuckling adventurer than an emotionless brute, and that makes him more enjoyable to watch as Terlesky fools around and has fun in the role. He seems very self aware that he's in a mad genre film, and he plays this up brilliantly throughout, with plenty of over-the-top facial expressions and confident delivery of his lines. Terlesky played a key-role behind the scenes, too, choreographing the final sword fight between Deathstalker and Jarek, as well as standing in to play one of Jarek's guards towards the beginning of the film. As wacky as the action sequences are in this film, Terlesky did a great job with the choreography for the sword fight, making use of the entire set and including some nifty footwork for both characters.

Accompanying our hero is Monique Gabrielle as Princess Evie, again a very different approach to the companion character compared to Lana Clarkson's skilled warrior from the first film. Evie isn't much of a fighter, and is really only there to provide more comic relief and give Deathstalker someone to hook up with at the end. That, and to provide the worst line readings of any actor in the film. Whilst her acting is bad, it at least fits the chaotic nature of the film, and actually makes the film more enjoyable. Hearing her say such contrived nonsense such as "you can't treat me like this, I'm a princess!" is always funny, and so once again the Deathstalker series has taken a negative and somehow managed to turn it into a ludicrous positive for me.

Whereas the first Deathstalker film only had one memorable villain, all three of this film's antagonists help to give Deathstalker II an even more enjoyable edge. The primary villain is John Lazar's Jarek, who is both a powerful sorcerer and deadly swordsman. Though is appearance isn't as striking as Munkar from the first film, Jarek is still just as powerful and more than a match for our hero. Jarek's henchman include Sultana, who seeks revenge after Deathstalker robs her castle in the film's opening scene, and a clone of Princess Evie. Evie and Sultana spend a lot of their screen time arguing, and it's great fun to see two bland performances clash, complete with some hilarious dialogue. I like how Jarek clearly doesn't care much for either of them, which I think would be most people's reaction after seeing how much they bicker. Whilst Jarek and the Evie clone are given memorable death scenes, Sultana just decides to run away as the final fight breaks out. In one of the most ridiculous character exists ever, she tells Jarek "good luck, your gonna need it" and is never seen again. Maybe they where hoping to bring her back in a spinoff or something, but seeing as that never happened, it's one of the oddest endings for a character I've ever seen.

If the above mentioned descriptions of the characters weren't enough to convince you of the truly silly nature of Deathstalker II, perhaps knowing that the film pays obvious homage to several other films will. Whereas the first Deathstalker film went for a more serious tone, Deathstalker II's set-pieces shatter any notion of this, and as soon as you hear the Rocky theme play during a scene set in boxing ring, you know there's no chance of recovery. Not only does Rocky get parodied, but dialogue from Goldinger is shamelessly repeated almost word for word (if you haven't guessed yet, the "No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die"). There's also a scene with zombies, in which the graveyard set wouldn't look out of place in Ed Wood's Plan Nine from Outer Space (1959). Not only are the settings and dialogue for most of Deathstalker II ridiculous, but the action itself is beyond crazy. In the final battle, an amazonian tribe battle Jarek's forces, with random bolts of lightning striking down a good few soldiers. Never is it explained where this lightning came from or who exactly it's targeting, but it makes for an amusing addition nonetheless. Even the one decent battle scene between Deathstalker and Jarek has its silliness, ending with Deathstalker breaking Jarek's sword with his bare hands and stabbing him through the neck, which is one of the weirdest, but also one of the coolest, moments in the film.

If you've already seen the first film, then get ready to see it again in Deathstalker II, as there's enough stock footage to make a drinking game out of how many times scenes from the original show up. Every scene set in a tavern is accompanied by stock footage of the warriors in Munkar's castle. Such is the laziness of the footage's use, that characters who died in the original film are now in the sequel, such as Oghris casually in the background after having his neck broken previously. That being said, the film is at least edited a lot better than its predecessor, allowing for a more even pace. There are still some dodgy edit moments, however, my favourite being one of Jarek's henchman talking to Sultana in a tavern, and then immediately cutting to him and his men having caught up with Deathstlaker and Evie on the road.

Deathstalker II is the quintessential "so bad it's good" film. It offers everything you could want in a cheesy sword-and-sorcery flick, from bad acting to cheap special effects, and all with a loving wink to the audience throughout. So if you're looking for a good laugh, crazy set-pieces and a rocking soundtrack to go with it, hunt this film down and treat yourself to a glorious serving of 80's action spectacle!