Skip to main content
Deathstalker film image; warriors in epic battle

Deathstalker

This event has passed

The Kingdom of Abraxeon has fallen under siege by the Dreadites, a scourge of bloodthirsty demonic warriors said to herald the return of the sinister, ancient sorcerer Nekromemnon. The titular Deathstalker (martial artist and legendary stuntman Daniel Bernhardt) is a lone wolf who survives by scavenging the corpses strewn about the battlefields. After recovering a mysterious amulet, he becomes cursed by an arcane magick, sending him on a quest to remove the curse and rid the realm of evil.

Inventive practical effects take center stage in FX wizard Steven Kostanski’s (Psycho Goreman, Manborg) thrilling reboot of the 80s cult classic sword-and-sorcery film series. Featuring animatronic demons, rubber masked trolls, stop-motion skeletons, copious amounts of blood, and a hard rock theme song composed by Slash (who is also a producer of the film), Deathstalker is a heavy metal hack-and-slash adventure that offers something for gorehounds, fantasy nerds, and anybody looking for a big dose of direct-to-video nostalgia.

 

Supported by

ZAK logo

Media Partner

Director
Cast

Daniel Bernhardt, Christina Orjalo, Paul Lazenby, Nicholas Rice, Patton Oswalt

Credits
Country of Origin

USA/Canada

Year

2025

Language

English

Film Contact
18+

At International Village

19+

At The Rio

102 min
Action Comedy Horror & Thriller

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits & Director

Executive Producer

Slash

Producer

Pasha Patriki, Michael Paszt, James Fler, Peter Kuplowsky, Andrew Hunt

Screenwriter

Steven Kostanski

Cinematography

Andrew Appelle

Editor

Robert Hyland

Production Design

Joshua Turpin

Original Music

Blitz//Berlin

Steven Kostanski headshot

Steven Kostanski

Filmography: Manborg (2011); Father’s Day (2011); The Void (2016); Leprechaun Returns (2018); Psycho Goreman (2020); Frankie Freako (2024)

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

The Blue Trail

Dir. Gabriel Mascaro
86 min

77-year-old Tereza makes a break for the Brazilian jungle in this trippy septuagenarian fantasy, the latest from Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro is a quirky picaresque, lushly photographed and filled with mordant humour.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Calle Málaga

Dir. Maryam Touzani
116 min

Seventy-nine-year-old María Ángeles lives independently in Tangier's Spanish quarter. When her daughter pressures her into selling her apartment, she refuses to give in, finding in her old age a new resilience and an unexpected romantic connection.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Two Prosecutors

Dir. Sergei Loznitsa
119 min

In the midst of Stalin’s purges, a naïve prosecutor sets out to investigate a prisoner’s innocence, unaware of the labyrinthine bureaucracy awaiting him. A Kafkaesque procedural thriller about the pursuit of justice in the face of corruption.

Image: © SBS Productions

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

A Magnificent Life

Dir. Sylvain Chomet
91 min

Animator Sylvain Chomet (The Triplets of Belleville; The Illusionist) crafts a loving biopic of the revered French writer, playwright and filmmaker Marcel Pagnol (Jean de Florette; My Father's Glory)

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Skeleton of Mrs Morales

Dir. Rogelio A. González
85 min

In this delightful black comedy, an avuncular taxidermist (our old amigo Arturo de Córdova) is beloved by many but not his wife (Amparo Rivelles), a religious fanatic who can't bear to be touched. One day she pushes him too far...

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
The Eyes of Ghana
The Eyes of Ghana film image; person examining a film strip

The Eyes of Ghana

Dir. Ben Proudfoot
90 min

In his debut feature doc Ben Proudfoot unearths the story — and the images — of Chris Hesse, personal cameraman to Ghana's revolutionary leader, Kwame Nkrumah, who was deposed in a coup in 1966. This is a fascinating history reclaimed from the archives.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre