| Director | Steven Kostanski |
|---|---|
| Budget | $100,000 |
Deathstalker, a former knight, picks through the dead and dying on a battlefield. He steals jewellery and a golden amulet from a dying man. At a nearby village, while Deathstalker is eating in a tavern, a two-headed troll attacks him in search of the amulet. Deathstalker kills the troll, and having decided the amulet is more trouble than it is worth, throws it into a river. However, the amulet reappears in his pocket. After several attempts to get rid of the amulet fails, Deathstalker visits the witch Toralva.
While unable to read the language on the amulet, Toralva tells Deathstalker that it is bound to him until he dies, and that he must search for a wizard who can understand the writing on the amulet. Toralva further warns him that a great evil is rising, but Deathstalker does not believe her.
Following Toralva's directions, Deathstalker enters a cave system in search of the wizard. He is then attacked by man-eating serpents but manages to escape with a chest in which Daedelad the wizard (who everybody calls Doodad) has been imprisoned. Releasing Doodad, he recruits him to help. Doodad is also unable to read the amulet but agrees to help him raid the crypt of a dead wizard for a scroll that will help him translate it.
On the way there, Deathstalker and Doodad learn that an ancient necromancer, Necromemnon, has returned and is after the amulet. They are attacked by evil dreadites, who serve Necromemnon, and their commander is revealed to be Deathstalker's old friend Jotak, whom he thought had died. Deathstalker cuts off Jotak's arm and flees.
However, when they reach the crypt they discover Necronemnon's minions have beaten them to it. While sneaking in disguised as dead bodies, they encounter the thief Brisbayne, who teams up with them. After escaping with the scroll they need, they make camp in the Moaning Woods.
After being attacked by a stone titan and then a blade wielding mummy, Deathstalker is injured, and they are forced to stop to rest. Doodad is able to break the amulet's bond to Deathstalker during the night, and reads to them a prophecy from the amulet, which describes a magical sword that can defeat Necronemnon.
While asleep, Deathstalker and Doodad are betrayed by Brisbayne and taken prisoner by the thief queen, Grendul, who intends to sell the amulet back to the prince. While interrogating them, Grendul accidentally awakens swamp monsters, who attack her people. Doodad is able to befriend the swamp monsters with music, allowing Deathstalker to escape.
Deathstalker takes Grendul's place at the meeting with Prince Baldur and agrees to sell him the amulet. After Baldur double crosses him, the Dreadites attack, slaying the prince's knights. While fleeing, Jotak ambushes Deathstalker, his arm now replaced with a monstrous one. Brisbayne returns to help, but Jotak prevails, and kills both Deathstalker and the prince, taking the amulet.
The swamp monsters heal Deathstalker, and he attacks Necronemnon's fortress to rescue his friends. After freeing Doodad, the two duel Necronemnon and Jotak. A rock fall, caused by Doodad, injures Necronemnon, but not before Brisbayne is transformed into a vessel of the demon Citor.
At the last moment Deathstalker is able to retrieve the prophesied sword, and with it, he destroys Citor and resurrects Brisbayne, finally defeating the Dreadites. Afterwards, Deathstalker decides to destroy the prophesied sword, believing it too powerful to be wielded by man, but Doodad struggles to achieve this with his bad aim.