I know I risk being laughed out of the room for recommending “Deathstalker”. The movie is undoubtedly a cheesy low-budget sword and sorcery film and a clear rip-off of the “Conan” films but I enjoyed it. It’s a ridiculous film but it gives you exactly what you want.

A warrior by the name of Deathstalker (Rick Hill “Liar Liar”) is sent on a deadly quest to obtain and unite three powerful objects to stop the evil forces of the sorcery Munkar (Bernard Erhard) and rescue Princess Codille (Barbi Benton). Deathstalker must enter a fighting competition hosted by Munkar if he hopes to get close enough to the artefacts he seeks.

Deathstalker is a mighty muscle man that wields a powerful sword. He’s not exactly a deep or meaningful protagonist but he is just the sort-of thing this movie requires. Munkar is also the right type of villain for this film. I particularly like the little creature thing that he feeds his victims’ body parts to. Most if not all the women in the movie wear incredibly revealing outfits. I also like the pig man. He looks absolutely absurd but I that’s why I liked him so much. There are some other monster characters but by far my favourite was the pig man.

By no means should “Deathstalker” be considered high-class entertainment but it is a likeable cheesy fantasy flick from producer Roger Corman (“The Terror”). I actually liked it more than the “Conan” movies because it does not waste time with any unneeded scenes and gets right to the action. The cheap special effects have a charm to them. It might not open your mind to anything revolutionary but “Deathstalker” has a pretty good chance of putting a smile on your face so maybe we need a few more movies like this in our lives.

The first “Deathstalker” was undoubtedly a very cheesy fantasy flick but “Deathstalker II” oversteps the mark and feels more like a parody than a legitimate entry in the sword and sorcerer genre. I saw scenes that made fun of films including “Rocky” and “Goldfinger” so I was puzzled by the filmmakers’ intentions. It still has some entertaining moments but it just does not work on the same level as the first one.

Deathstalker (John Terlesky) teams up with Reena the Seer (Monique Gabrielle “Bachelor Party”) to challenge the evil sorcerer Jarek (John Lazar “Beyond The Valley of the Dolls”). At every turn, our hero faces perils to secure his place as a legendary warrior.

The Deathstalker in this film is unrecognisable. He is nothing like the one in the first film, either physically or in terms of personality. I preferred the big muscly one from the original because this new one seems way too self-aware. I’m not entirely convinced that it is even meant to be the same character or if it is just another warrior that goes by the same name. The acting in this film is absolutely atrocious. The performances in the first movie were far from good but they suited the genre well. By far the worst is Monique Gabrielle, who plays both Reena and her evil doppelganger.

The sets in this film look incredibly cheap and the movie even resorts to recycling shots from the original so it was clear very little money was used to make this. There are plenty of amusingly bad moments but the movie feels a lot more self-aware. When you look at the comedic tone and the scenes that parody other films, it seems like the filmmakers wanted to make something in the same vein as “Airplane!” or “The Naked Gun”. “Deathstalker II” will make you chuckle quite a bit but I definitely cannot recommend it.

“Death Wish” is one of the better revenge movies out there because beneath the sea of violence is some true humanity. It stars Charles Bronson (“The Dirty Dozen”, “Assassination”) in a role that could easily become nothing more than an ‘exterminator’ but Bronson remembers to keep the heart to make it work.

In this film, Bronson stars as New York architect Paul Kersey and one day his wife is murdered and his daughter is raped by some muggers. The chances of the police catching the criminals is highly unlikely so Kersey reluctantly resorts to becoming a one-man-army against muggers in the city. As he develops a thirst for it, the entire community begin to the see the positivity of being vigilantes but what price are they ultimately paying? “Death Wish” asks you that and it ends with one of the greatest shots I’ve seen in a long time.

Bronson works here because he isn’t young and he isn’t trigger happy. The character is written not as a killing machine like in many films but rather a real human being. I have great admiration for the work put into this character. It is a shame the other characters don’t really help the film but do look out for the screen debut of Jeff Goldblum (“Jurassic Park”).

“Death Wish” is brutal but the violence never feels unnecessary. This film is one of several collaborations between Bronson and director Michael Winner (the two would later work on some of the sequels to “Death Wish”). It is a movie that has come under much criticism due to its depiction of vigilantism as some feel it has been romanticised but I don’t feel it has. It’s been portrayed like most things in the world; there are some positives and there are some negatives. “Death Wish” is both entertaining and moving.

“Death Wish” used to be a good name but it has definitely run out of steam when a sequel like this comes out. “Death Wish V: The Face Of Death” is one of the dumbest title I’ve ever heard for a film and it’s such a bland film that nobody, even the most die-hard fans I going to want to see.

In “Death Wish V”, architect/vigilante Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson “Death Wish”, “Dirty Dozen”) is back with a new girlfriend (Lesley-Ann Down “The Great Train Robbery”) and you know the formula: she dies, Kersey kills some bad guys and that’s it. Gone is the power of the early films and gone is the humour of the later ones, “Death Wish V” is a dark film that goes by the numbers and is completely forgettable.

Paul Kersey turns to explosive footballs and acid pools to make his kills but here it’s done without any enthusiasm; actor Charles Bronson looks so incredibly bored here. The bad guys here are awful, one permanently has a lollipop sticking out of his mouth, one has high blood pressure and one suffers from bad dandruff; not exactly threatening, are they? The love interest is just there to die.

“Death Wish V” recycles so much and does it without any precision that it becomes increasingly challenging to find something good here. I like its return to the more harsh and disturbing tone of the older films but it abandons the sense of sophistication that made those movies work; it’s sinister and ugly as opposed to grizzly yet clever. There isn’t even a high body count to entertain viewers who simply wish to see corpses stack, in fact Paul Kersey kills less people here than he does in the first film. “Death Wish V” is a movie that should have been disposed of the moment pen was put to paper.

The first “Death Wish” movie was a thrilled to be admired and “Death Wish II” once again pairs star Charles Bronson (“The Dirty Dozen”) and director Michael Winner to make a very entertaining film that might not be quite as good as the first but is a decent follow-up.

Several years after the events of “Death Wish”, architect/vigilante Paul Kersey (Bronson) is living in L.A. and things seem to be looking better for him, that is until some crooks get a hold of his wallet and pay his maid and daughter a visit. Now Kersey back to his killing days. This time he’s already got a ruthless efficiency, what can stop him?

Bronson is both tough and vulnerable in the early “Death Wish” films and that’s what I like about his performance. Jill Ireland is mediocre as Bronson’s love interest. The chemistry between the two is poor and this is the same with these two in other films where they’re paired together. The criminals in this film are good and they don’t become cartoony, they remain straight like in the first one. Seeing Kersey annihilate the bad guys is entertaining as they’re made mean enough to justify the deadly punishments that they receive from him.

Although set-up wise, it is practically a rehash of the first film, I still liked “Death Wish II” a lot. It takes what I liked about the first film it carries on doing at almost the same level. It lacks the power of the first film as we don’t see Kersey turn gradually towards violence but that being said it is still done with a lot of skill and Bronson once again shows us that he isn’t a guy to mess with and he can get things done (both on and off screen). “Death Wish II” is a step below the original but it’s very entertaining.

While not as good as the serious thrillers that the first two were, “Death Wish 4: The Crackdown” is definitely a comeback for the series after the brainless third outing. It is the first in the series not to be directed by Michael Winner but rather J. Lee Thompson (“Guns of Navarone”) and while it is still flawed, “Death Wish 4” is a relatively smart and entertaining action film.

In this film, Paul Kersey (“Death Wish”, “Dirty Dozen”) is no longer a professional vigilante like in the last film but back to his architect/vigilante as his new girlfriend’s daughter is killed by a drug overdose. Now Kersey is out to take on two big drug dealing groups and pit them against each other like in “A Fistful Of Dollars” but here, it isn’t for profit but rather so he protects the children and teens of L.A. from drugs.

Paul Kersey is a great film character as I love his realistic feel in the first two films, I was disappointed by his invincibility in the third film and then I was pleased to see his resourcefulness in this one (explosive wine bottles anybody?). The villains are pretty average but the main thing is that they’re bad and Bronson gives them what they deserve.

Although at times it seems a little clichéd and a little too much like anti-drug propaganda, it is an entertaining film… and isn’t that the important thing. I think I may have been a little generous with my rating with the third film; I still didn’t like it but still I didn’t criticise as much as it deserved but that’s because I’ve enjoyed the series and I saw good things in it, here I didn’t feel I had to force myself to find positives, it didn’t ooze with good things but it wasn’t like trying to get blood from a stone.

For the third “Death Wish” films the roman numerals were ditched and so was any sense of realism. “Death Wish 3” is a very silly film and while that’s its best attribute, it’s also the thing that’s hindering it the most.

“Death Wish 3” will no doubt make audiences laugh with its cartoonish portrayal of gang violence as we see Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson “Dirty Dozen”, “Death Wish”) returns to New York to bring down criminals but now he seems to be a professional vigilante. The film is kind-of boring throughout most of it as Bronson picks off the occasional gangster but then the ending is all-out war as you’re treated to one of the stupidest yet somehow most entertaining shoot ‘em up finales you’ll ever see.

Bronson lacks the realism and the heart seen in the previous “Death Wish” films but then again, the whole film seems to be lacking in those areas. Although it’s nice to see Kersey fighting for a different reason than before, it just seems forced and unnecessary. The criminals aren’t particularly exciting and neither are the people Kersey is protecting and that’s why this film seems so wooden in comparison to the earlier ones.

The last section of the film is non-stop chaos and it’s actually a lot of fun and there are a few good moments here and there but all-round it’s a disappointing sequel. “Death Wish 3” was the last film long-time collaborators Michael Winner and Charles Bronson worked on together (they’d done the first two “Death Wish” films together among other things) and I’m not surprised they split because Winner has made a lifeless film here. “Death Wish 3” is not a bad film but it’s the type of soulless action film that is easy target practice for both haters and satirists.

I love the original “Death Wish” and some (but not all) of its sequels so I went into this remake with some scepticism. I was pleasantly surprised because this is an enjoyable revenge thriller. However, I think the filmmakers could have called it something else to allow the movie to stand on its own.

In the new “Death Wish”, Bruce Willis (“The Sixth Sense”, “The Last Boy Scout”) stars as Paul Kersey, who is a trauma surgeon in Chicago. When his wife (Elisabeth Shue “The Saint”) is murdered and his daughter (Camila Morrone) is put in a coma, he will turn to vigilantism to get the men responsible. As his campaign against criminals continues, the whole city debates the issues surrounding vigilante justice.

Bruce Willis does a good job but he just is not as good as Charles Bronson from the original “Death Wish” films. For some reason, the filmmakers decided to make Paul Kersey a doctor instead of an architect. The change does not affect the film but it seems an odd decision. Vincent D’Onoforio (“Men In Black”) is okay as Paul’s brother. The villains are fine but you are not going to remember much about them. The police that are investigating both the attack on Kersey’s family and the vigilante activity are moderately entertaining.

Eli Roth (“Hostel”) has directed a good revenge thriller that has plenty of good moments. Surprisingly, I did not find this one quite as violent as the original. While this one contains a scene where Kersey tortures a man, the initial attack on the Kersey family is far less graphic than in the original and no rape takes place. It’s not as good as the original “Death Wish” but it is actually better than some of the later sequels. I recommend checking this film out and I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

“Death To Smoochy” is a film directed by and co-starring Danny DeVito (“Matilda”, “Twins”) with Robin Williams (“Hook”, “Aladdin”) and Edward Norton (“Fight Club”, “American History X”) headlining it and it is seriously disappointing. It is purely aggression and no wit.

In this so-called comedy, Williams is tv kids’ show host ‘Rainbow’ Randolph Smiley, who turns out to be a crook so the network replace him. The new entertainer is a purple rhino named ‘Smoochy’, who is played by Sheldon Mopes (Norton); a man of good ethics. Rainbow Randolph and several others are out to get Smoochy so sit back as Nazis, the Irish mafia and evil charities make attempts on his life but without an ounce of good humour.

Both Williams and Norton are trying really hard but the material is dire. The anger shown by Williams and the niceness shown by Norton are not done creatively and come across as boring. It’s deeply sad to see Williams continue his streak of underwhelming films and to drag Norton down too. DeVito reserves himself a role as a slimy piece of work and doesn’t help the film. The only remotely funny character is a network executive played by Catherine Keener (“Being John Malkovich”).

“Death To Smoochy” doesn’t have the intelligence to make all the naughty words, dirty jokes and violent attitudes the slightest bit amusing and it lacks the humanity to make them emotional as demonstrated perfectly in the scene in which Rainbow Randolph threatens to set himself alight on a crowded street. I like the performance and I like the premise but “Death To Smoochy” is so reluctant in giving its stars even the tiniest bit of anything for them to work their magic; it’s an unpleasant experience to say the least and I’m sad that I’m having to say that about a film I actually had quite high hopes for.

“Death Race 2000” is sort of a mixture of “The Running Man” and the “Mad Max” series with its intense driving scenes and its sinister future that glorifies senseless violence. “Death Race 2000” is funny, thrilling and engaging.

In “Death Race 2000”, we see a dystopian future in which the favourite sport is one where you score points by running over pedestrians. David Carradine (“Lone Wolf McQuade”) stars as Frankenstein (not to be confused with the horror character) as he takes on competitors such as Machine Gun Joe Viterbo (Sylvester Stallone “Rocky”, “First Blood”). All the while a group of rebels hope to ruin the race by targeting the drivers.

David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone are alright as the main racers and Carradine looks especially hilarious while wearing a rubber mask. The other racers such as one who wears an old-fashioned German army style helmet and one who dresses like a cowgirl are okay. However, by far the best characters in the whole film are easily the presenters who pop up several times through the duration of the picture. They’re the best because almost all their scenes are presented like the television ads featured in “RoboCop” and it makes the film all the more amusing.

“Death Race 2000” features some impressive, explosive and all-round entertaining car sequences but it’s the dark humour that makes the film work so well. While this film may seem like merely mindless violence, it’s a biting satire like “Starship Troopers” and “RoboCop”. “Death Race 2000” often seems as if “Wacky Races” became an exploitation picture with tons of brutal violence and nudity. The picture is violent and shocking and will certainly turn off many and it gets a little slow at times but it’s also really funny and you have to love the car chases.