Saturday Morning Cereal Presents:
Bear McCreary & Slash Rock the Sword — “Deathstalker” Rises Again!
Remember those late-night cable double features — the ones where bad wigs, bloody swords, and bigger-than-life theme songs ruled? Well, grab your broadsword and crank the volume, because Deathstalker is back, and this time it shreds.
That’s right — Emmy and BAFTA-winning composer Bear McCreary (The Rings of Power, The Walking Dead) and actual living guitar legend Slash (Guns N’ Roses, everything awesome) have teamed up to resurrect one of the wildest theme songs in cult-cinema history. Their reimagined “Deathstalker” is a blistering tribute to the 1980s sword-and-sorcery classic, built with a dream lineup of heavy hitters: vocalist Brendan McCreary, original Deathstalker IIcomposer Chuck Cirino, metal drum god Gene “The Atomic Clock” Hoglan, bassist Pete Griffin, and guitarist Omer Ben-Zvi.
The new Deathstalker (Songs from the Motion Picture) three-track single drops October 10, 2025, the same day the new film hits theaters — courtesy of Sparks & Shadows Records. It features the title track, a radio-edit, and “Walking Alone,” performed by Nina Bergman and Jonah Nimoy (yes, that Nimoy family).
Pre-save the single now: sparksandshadows.ffm.to/deathstalker
Watch the trailer: youtube.com/watch?v=fAdo8drjc_M
This new Deathstalker isn’t your dad’s bargain-bin VHS hero — though he’d totally watch it anyway. Directed by Steven Kostanski (Psycho Goreman) and executive-produced by Slash himself, it stars Daniel Bernhardt (John Wick, The Matrix Reloaded), Christina Orjalo, Paul Lazenby, Nicholas Rice, and the great Patton Oswalt as Doodad, a wizard you’d actually want on your quest.
Slash says his return to the world of Deathstalker is pure nostalgia:
“I loved the original. It was tongue-in-cheek, over-the-top, and had this killer theme song. When we got the script for this new one, I thought, ‘Man, we could really make a great movie.’ It’s a passion project all the way.”
For Bear McCreary, this was the ultimate cult-cinema full-circle moment:
“In high school I was obsessed with these kinds of movies. Deathstalker II’s music blew my mind — it made me want to score films. Working with Slash, Chuck, and my brother Brendan on this track was surreal. It’s a love letter to that era.”
So yeah — Deathstalker lives again. It’s blood, biceps, and blazing guitars… just like the gods of VHS intended.
