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.