As a big fan of Steven Kostanski’s 80s tributes Psycho Goreman and Frankie Freako, not to mention having an affinity for old-school sword-and-sorcery movies, I was super excited for Deathstalker. On the surface, it has everything I’d want in a modern homage to movies like Krull: terrific practical effects, lovingly shoddy visual effects, fantastic creature design, and self-aware weirdness. So, I’m puzzled as to why I found it so flat and (mostly) lacking in fun. It’s almost like Kostanski is showing too much reverence for the genre, so it veers into being too self-serious. Perhaps this is an expectations problem, and a second viewing is needed.