Duel To The Death (1983/88 Films Blu-ray*)/Evil Dead Rise 4K Limited Edition (2023/Arrow 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray*)/Friday The 13th, Part 2 4K (1981/Paramount 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray)/The Girl Who Leapt Through Time 4K (1983/Cult Epics 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray/*all MVD)/Keeper 4K (2025/Decal 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)

4K Ultra HD Picture: A-/B+/B/A- Picture: B-/X/B-/B-/B+ Sound: C+/A-/B/C+/B+ Extras: C+/B+/B/B-/C+ Films: C+/B/B/B-/B

Now for more genre films, usually horror and sometimes science fiction....

Tony Ching's Duel To The Death (1983) is the sometimes more comical than it should be actioner set in the far past with a ten year rivalry between Japanese and Chinese swordsmen and martial artists, but this time, a line is crossed when ninjas invade a Shaolin Temple and steal a sacred kung-fu manual, all hell breaks loose and its fighting galore from there on in.

Of course, that manual is the MacGuffin to keep delivering about 90 minutes of battle scenes and for that, the film is not bad, but don't expect much character development or plot otherwise. To its credit, the fights are well staged, choreographed and delivered. We get another twist or two, but had this had a more well-developed screenplay, this could have been a genre classic of some kind. For what does work, its worth a look for those interested.

Extras include a Feature Length Audio Commentary track with Asian Cinema Expert Frank Djeng

• Duel Identity - Archival interview with actor Norman Chui Siu-keung

• Flora Cheung on Duel to the Death - Archival interview with actress Flora Cheung

• Alternate English credits

• Image Gallery

• Original Hong Kong Trailer

• Reconstructed Tai Seng Trailer

• and a Reversible Sleeve.

Sam Raimi's Evil Dead franchise has grown past the original three films over recent decades with the highly acclaimed Ash vs Dead series, and the 2013 Evil Dead remake. Fast forward ten years, and here we are with another re-imagining of the franchise with Lee Cronin's Evil Dead Rise 4K (2023), which isn't perfect, but miles better than the previous remake. Cronin is about to release, as of this writing, his next film The Mummy, which is a modern horror reimagining of the classic franchise.

Arrow Video has come out with a new collector's edition of Evil Dead Rise on 4K UHD with new extras, but the same transfer as the previous 4K UHD release from Warner Bros.

Set in a dilapidated apartment building instead of an isolated cabin in the woods, this Evil Dead sequel follows a dysfunctional family which includes two estranged sisters who reunite after a series of turmoil in both of their lives and they, along with three younger kids, become accidentally enthralled in the evil that the Book of the Dead, an ancient demonic power which unleashes on anyone who comes in contact with it after the ancient words are spoken (in this film they are played over some old records).

The film stars Lily Sullivan, Alyssa Sutherland, Morgan Davies, Gabrielle Echols, and Nell Fisher. Original franchise creators Sam Raimi, Producer Robert Tapert, and Producer / former lead star Bruce Campbell are in producer roles behind the scenes. If you listen closely you can hear Bruce Campbell do a voice cameo during the scene where the ancient words are spoken.

The film overall is very slick-looking and obviously had some digital touch ups in many areas to help aide the practical (and well executed) special effects. There is an abundance of blood, which is key to any Evil Dead film, and you can tell that Director Lee Cronin is certainly a fan of the franchise and wanted to pay it some respect. There are some influences from not only the original Evil Dead movies, but The Exorcist as well with a pretty gross puking scene. However, it's easy to see how this film could NOT be an Evil Dead movie, and simply a horror film on its own accord with a few script rewrites and a few of the Evil Dead references chopped out.

The original Evil Dead franchise creators tried something different with this production and it seemed to work pretty well. The film was definitely received better than the previous Evil Dead remake by fans and even has some sequel potential if they wanted to go there. As long as future installments don't shy away from the gore and subtle references, I can see more Evil Dead movies popping up on the horizon. This film at least feels less like a remake than the previous installment did and more of its own film that tries something different with the formula, which is certainly a plus. I would recommend this to horror fans.

Evil Dead Rise has some pretty hair raising moments and eye popping gore (including a cringe-worthy scene with a cheese grater), and interesting performances across all of the leads, the film is worth checking out even though Bruce Campbell isn't the star of the project, and is admittedly one of the better sequels (or horror films of that matter) of the 2023 movie season.

For more on the franchise, try our coverage of the older remake:

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/12272/Evil+Dead+(2013+Remake/Sony+Blu-ray+++Digit

And on the TV series:

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/14376/Ash+Vs+The+Evil+Dead:+The+Complete+First+Se

The Special Features are all new as the last release did not have any extras whatsoever and include:

Audio commentary with director Lee Cronin and actors Alyssa Sullivan and Lily Sullivan

Come Get Some, a brand new interview with actor Lily Sullivan

Mommy Deadite, a brand new interview with actor Alyssa Sutherland

The Deadite's Daughter, a brand new interview with actor Gabrielle Echols

The Levitating Dead, a brand new interview with actor Anna-Maree Thomas

Conjuring Deadites, a brand new interview with special make-up effects designer Luke Polti

Chopping Up Deadites, a brand new interview with editor Bryan Shaw

Sonic Possessions, a brand new interview with sound designer Peter Albrechtsen

Music to Swallow Your Soul, a brand new interview with composer Stephen McKeon

The Sound of Evil Dead Rise, a 2023 interview with Cronin and Albrechtsen by Glenn Kiser, director of the Dolby Institute

Raising a New Evil Dead featurette

Ghost Train, a 2013 short film directed by Lee Cronin

Behind-the-scenes video clips and still gallery

Concept artwork gallery / Storyboard gallery / Trailer and TV spots

Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Waldemar Witt

Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Waldemar Witt

and a collectors booklet featuring new writing on the film by Michael Gingold.

The Arrow Video edition of the film is nice, but if you already have the previous 4K you won't be seeing much of a difference in terms of presentation. Still, the new wealth of extras and cool packaging could be enough for hardcore fans to double dip.

The 45th anniversary of Steve Miner's Friday the 13th, Part 2 (1981) has been unearthed on 4K UHD disc from Paramount. The classic slasher film is the perfect followup to the original Sean S. Cunningham classic and features the iconic slasher villain Jason Voorhees before he donned his infamous hockey mask. This of course is fun to look back on now and see the franchise in more of its infancy as this is when the Jason character was just starting to take shape. Seen as just a character with a bag over his head, Jason stalks the victims one by one in bloody revenge over the death of his mother, Pamela Voorhees (played by the late Betsy Palmer), the killer in the original 1980 film.

This 4K UHD edition disc was previously available exclusively in a collectible 4K UHD collection from Paramount Home Video: Paramount Scares, Volume 2.

The film stars Amy Steel, John Furey, Adrienne King, Kirsten Baker, Stuart Charno, and Warrington Gillette.

Special Features:

Inside Crystal Lake Memories

Friday's Legacy: Horror Conventions

Lost Tales from Camp Blood - Part 2

Jason Forever

and an Original Theatrical Trailer.

Not much new in the way of extras, but the transfer looks great. Hoping more films in the franchise come to 4K UHD in the future. I have seen this film on every format going back to VHS and can safely say that this is the best that this film has ever looked on home video. For more thoughts on this film and other early entries in the series, try these links:

First 6 films including the third in 3D on Blu-ray:

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8741/Friday+The+13th+-+Pt+2+(1981/Blu-ray)/Friday+The

First 8 films on Blu-ray:

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1548/Friday+The+13th+1980+-+89+set

Nobuhiko Obayashi's The Girl Who Leapt Through Time 4K (1983) is a hit science fiction mystery with future pop music superstar Tomoyo Harada in her first film as the title character, a gal who has not had enough to eat when she has to clean the school lab herself. When she gets there, she thinks someone is hiding, then she gets knocked out and starts having surreal experiences. Her sense of smell is suddenly elevated and she starts to 'trip' in ways she cannot begin to explain.

Well done for its time with the limited budget and effects they had, the screenplay has nice pacing and keeps building up the various mysteries we run into, the cast is really good and it never wastes our time with its running time. I also liked the editing, pace and feel of the film, so I can see why it was such a success and really needs and deserves to be rediscovered.

I guess it got lost in the massive successes at the time of all the Lucas and Spielberg films, even if it is not a Hollywood production, but it stands up pretty well on its own and all serious film fans and fans of the genres involved will want to see this one at least once. Many such films now could learn a thing or two about filmmaking from it as well.

Extras include R a Feature Length Audio Commentary track by Obayashi Scholar Alex Pratt

• A Movie: Obayashi's Cinematic Life - a visual essay by Max Robinson

• Now and Then, Here and There: Onomichi Pt. 2 - Visual essay by Alex Pratt

• A Conversation with Nobuhiko Obayashi (2015) Japan Society NY

• Director Nobuhiko Obayashi Archival Interview

• The Tomoyo Harada Story

• Toki O Kakeru Shojo music video

• Theatrical Trailers

• New Slipcase art design by Sam Smith

• Reversible sleeve with original Japanese poster art

• and the First Pressing includes repro 24-page Japanese booklet.

Osgood Perkins' Keeper (2025) is another fantastic film in the director's growing filmography. Featuring interesting cinematography and a grounded lead performance by Tatiana Maslany (known as She Hulk). The film reminds me a little bit of Rosemary's Baby or the Hammer film Fear in the Night, where a woman on a seemingly innocent cabin in the woods getaway with her new boyfriend turns to hell once she is left to her own devices and is unknowingly the victim of a sadistic plot.

The film also stars Rossif Sutherland, Tess Degenstein, Birkett Turton, Erin Boyes, and Glen Gordon.

The film has a great narrative structure and tells the story in a very intriguing way. I love how it begins with a point of view shot where we see the rise and fall of various relationships with beautiful women of different races and backgrounds. Right off the bat we know what the perspective we are seeing picks its victims randomly. The montage starts out with smiling faces then jump cuts to future events where we see the expressions range from happy to in love to sad to terrified to screaming in horror. The montage is short but it is an interesting way to open the film and give us an idea of the narrative we are in for.

Much like Blink Twice, another film about men taking advantage of women, Keeper utilizes a chocolate cake as a drug to paralyze its women. The screenplay makes some interesting choices with Liz (Maslany) who makes a point of saying she doesn't like chocolate and at first refuses to eat the cake. It's only after the man makes her feel comfortable that he takes advantage. The film explores similar themes centered on relationship trust, secrets, and manipulation to a drastic degree. The reveal at the end makes the film stronger upon second viewing when you realize the end result of the trap that is hatched from the opening scenes.

Special Features are minimal:

Audio Commentary by Osgood Perkins and a Trailer.

It's a bit less humorous than Osgood Perkins' other films like The Monkey and Longlegs, but Keeper is a horrific thrill ride from the beginning that displays a fresh and polished filmmaking style. I would have liked to have seen more extras on this release and a little more insight on some of the behind the scenes processes that were utilized in the making of the film. I think Osgood Perkins is an interesting filmmaker who is certainly putting out a lot of content as of this writing. I feel like he has plenty more aces up this sleeve and am excited to see more from him in the future. I would suggest Keeper to horror / thriller fans who enjoy thrillers in the same part of the horror genre as Rosemary's Baby.

Neon again proves that it's one of the leading Hollywood studios (along with A24) in bringing unique stories to modern audiences in the midst of the mess that Hollywood has become.

Now for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.35 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Evil Dead Rise 4K and its lossless Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems) are the same excellent combination form the previous 4K edition warner issued on their own.

The 2160p 1.85 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Friday the 13th, Part 2 is presented with an HEVC / H.265 codec and an audio track in English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) lossless sound. The memorable soundtrack by Harry Manfredini is center in the mix, but it should be noted that this is the same audio mix as the 2009 Blu-ray version. The Blu-ray edition of the film is also the same as the 2009 version.

The 2160p HEVC/H.265, HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on The Girl Who Leapt Through Time 4K has various aspect ratios (1.33 x 1 to 1.85 X 1) and is usually in color, but has section where the image is partly or totally black and white. It looks better than the softer than expected regular 1080p Blu-ray also included, but still has visual limits thanks to old, dated optical printing and a few shots that are not as good as the rest. Otherwise, it looks as good in 4K as it likely ever will and the Japanese DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo lossless mixes sound as good as they can make the older audio. Both tracks have their pluses and minuses, so you'll have to try out both to see which one you like best, but they did their best to upgrade the sound in both cases.

Keeper is presented in 2160p on 4K UHD disc with HDR10, an HEVC / H.265 codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.40:1 and an audio track in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) lossless mix. The film looks and sounds fantastic on the 4K UHD format with nothing jarring in terms of the presentation. Also beautifully shot and cut, seeing it in uncompressed 4K is very nice during dark moments where you don't lose detail as you do in the also included 1080p Blu-ray edition, which looks fine as well and above average for the aged format.

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on Duel To The Death is either shot in Super 35 or uses old anamorphic lenses, but you get more grain and weak shots than expected, though the look is at least consistent along with solid color. The Cantonese PCM 2.0 Mono is as good as the film will ever sound with the English dub not as good, both sound aged and older than expected at times and in the case of the Cantonese, as good as the film is likely to ever sound.

- Nicholas Sheffo (Duel, Girl) and James Lockhart

https://letterboxd.com/jhl5films/